Eideard

Israelis continue demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank
Daylife/Demotix Images used by permission

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday U.S. support for Palestinian statehood had yet to move beyond “slogans.”

Abbas said views in the United States and Europe had started to shift in favor of the Palestinians but expressed frustration at recent U.S. opposition to the idea of taking the quest for statehood to the U.N. Security Council.

“The world has started to change. Europe has started to change and America has started to change,” said Abbas, whose administration depends on political and financial backing from the United States and the European Union.

“True, it is still at the stage of slogans, such as ‘We support the two-state solution’ and ‘the establishment of a Palestinian state is in the vital national security interest of the United States’,” he added in a speech to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat…

Abbas, while reiterating his commitment to negotiations, has said the Palestinians are studying alternatives to the two-decade “peace process” if it fails.

One idea is to go to the U.N. Security Council to secure international recognition for a Palestinian state. The United States, Abbas said, had described such a move as a unilateral action — a view echoed in Israel…

Obama, in an address to the U.N. General Assembly in September, said success could lead to an agreement that would allow a sovereign state of Palestine to join the United Nations next year. The remark was widely covered by Arab media.

Abbas, talking about Obama’s remark, said: “I hope this is not just a slogan and when the time comes he says ‘We are sorry we could not (do it). Leave it for next year.’

“All the while you said this in the United Nations, this is a promise and a debt around your neck and it must be realized so that Palestine becomes a full member state of the United Nations,” he said.

I fear that this debt of Obama’s has about as much chance of being paid as his debts to American workers, the gay community, parents, children and educators. Half-measures and tactics more appropriate to Harvard tea party conflicts.

His essential framework remains locked with within the cowardly strictures of a Democratic Party that hasn’t changed foreign policy anywhere in the world since the days of Harry Truman and Golda Meir.

Spanish police say they have seized more than 800kg (1,760lbs) of cocaine from a lorry disguised as an official backup vehicle for the Dakar rally.

The lorry was infiltrated into the race, which now takes place in South America, and loaded with cocaine before being shipped to Spain, police said.

The final destination for the drugs was the Spanish island of Ibiza, home to a major drugs trafficking ring…

The vehicle was sent from Bilbao in Spain to Argentina where it was loaded with the cocaine during a stage of the famous auto and motorcycle rally, held from 1-16 January.

It then followed the race to its conclusion before being shipped back to Bilbao, where it was seized by police when it arrived on Friday.

“The vehicle had been totally transformed to adapt it to its supposed participation in the competition as a support truck, with publicity and logos of the event painted on its side,” a police statement said.

The police said they also seized 15,000 ecstasy pills, hashish, guns and 47,000 euros in cash.

Pretty smooth stunt, actually. No doubt there’s already a movie deal in the works.

You can vary the plot between “superior police analysis” or a “paid mole” turned up the drug smuggling operation. Or even a mechanic at the Dakar Rally happening upon the truth.

Next up…

If you want Jesus on your license plate, the Florida Senate is looking out for you.

Religious specialty plates offered by Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, and Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, made it onto a bill Friday even though many members had not seen images of those plates and none were produced for the debate.

Siplin didn’t mince words when asked what his ”Trinity” plate looks like, saying: “It has a picture of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Storms’ ”I Believe” plate would benefit Faith in Teaching, an Orlando company that funds faith-based programs at schools. The design features a cross over a stained-glass window…

”The issue is whether the state of Florida ought to be producing license plates with religious images on them,” said Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, “and I don’t believe that we should.”

Before the day was over, the Anti-Defamation League and the ACLU registered opposition, and across the hall in the House, proposals for the same plates were withdrawn from legislation.

Florida has more than 100 specialty plates with several new ones proposed this year.

Separation of church from state is always the issue – except when opportunist political hacks are trying to claw a few more votes.