Almost two weeks have passed since the Mideast Peace Conference in Annapolis, Maryland, and there have already been some serious improvements in the relations between Palestine and Israel. About one week ago today, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas closed down 92 charities that had been taken over and run as "financial empires" by Hamas. Hamas claims that only Palestinian citizens will suffer because of how many people relied on those charities; the Palestinian government has already created 11 new charities to take the place of many of those 92 that were closed. Earlier that same day, Israel released 429 Palestinian prisoners, most of which were taken into custody from Abbas's Fatah movement (in combat with Hamas) a few years ago. The results of the Peace Conference have brought very mixed reactions from people around the world, especially in Israel and Palestine. The Conference held no final decisions on actions to be taken in the future except that a peace deal between Palestine and Israel will (hopefully) be made and agreed upon by the end of 2008. The actions taken by both governments in the last two weeks, however, provide at least some amount of assurance that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were serious in Annapolis when they came to their agreement. Let's hope this upcoming year brings real progress for both governments and their citizens.
"Abbas cracks down on Hamas charities; Israel frees 429 Palestinian prisoners"
The Associated Press
2 December 2007
International Herald Tribune
Ramallah, West Bank
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/03/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Palestinians.php?page=1
Post 15
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