4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo . Massive natural disasters like this are only one reason why it’s a really immoral idea to have a national spending cap, or to cut government services. The federal government will step in (as it should) with all kinds of aid to help the victims of this huge disaster, and it’s going to cost money — which, as tea lovers like to point out, doesn’t grow on trees. This is why we don’t cut FEMA, or aid to first responders, or highway crews, or any of the hundreds of necessary services that are on the chopping block right this minute — because when you need them, you really need them: PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. — More than 200 people died after more than 100 different tornadoes ripped through the South, leaving behind a trail of flattened homes and buildings in an region already battered by storms. Tornado watches were issued Thursday by the National Weather Service along nearly the entire East Coast — from Georgia to the Boston area — a designation that carries with it the possibility of severe storms and winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. “We expect an eruption of tornadic activity and thunder storms along a boundary moving along the Eastern seaboard,” said Mike Mach, a National Weather Service meteorologist. States of emergency had been declared from Alabama to Virginia. Alabama appears to have been hit the hardest, with at least 131 people killed and more than 300 injured by storms that descended on the northern and central parts of the state Wednesday evening, said Yasamie August, information manager of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. President Obama, who is scheduled to visit Alabama on Friday, said at the White House on Thursday that “the loss of life has been heartbreaking, especially in Alabama.” He said the federal government “will do everything we can to help you and we will stand with you as you rebuild.”
Continue reading …4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo . Massive natural disasters like this are only one reason why it’s a really immoral idea to have a national spending cap, or to cut government services. The federal government will step in (as it should) with all kinds of aid to help the victims of this huge disaster, and it’s going to cost money — which, as tea lovers like to point out, doesn’t grow on trees. This is why we don’t cut FEMA, or aid to first responders, or highway crews, or any of the hundreds of necessary services that are on the chopping block right this minute — because when you need them, you really need them: PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. — More than 200 people died after more than 100 different tornadoes ripped through the South, leaving behind a trail of flattened homes and buildings in an region already battered by storms. Tornado watches were issued Thursday by the National Weather Service along nearly the entire East Coast — from Georgia to the Boston area — a designation that carries with it the possibility of severe storms and winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. “We expect an eruption of tornadic activity and thunder storms along a boundary moving along the Eastern seaboard,” said Mike Mach, a National Weather Service meteorologist. States of emergency had been declared from Alabama to Virginia. Alabama appears to have been hit the hardest, with at least 131 people killed and more than 300 injured by storms that descended on the northern and central parts of the state Wednesday evening, said Yasamie August, information manager of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. President Obama, who is scheduled to visit Alabama on Friday, said at the White House on Thursday that “the loss of life has been heartbreaking, especially in Alabama.” He said the federal government “will do everything we can to help you and we will stand with you as you rebuild.”
Continue reading …4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo . Massive natural disasters like this are only one reason why it’s a really immoral idea to have a national spending cap, or to cut government services. The federal government will step in (as it should) with all kinds of aid to help the victims of this huge disaster, and it’s going to cost money — which, as tea lovers like to point out, doesn’t grow on trees. This is why we don’t cut FEMA, or aid to first responders, or highway crews, or any of the hundreds of necessary services that are on the chopping block right this minute — because when you need them, you really need them: PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. — More than 200 people died after more than 100 different tornadoes ripped through the South, leaving behind a trail of flattened homes and buildings in an region already battered by storms. Tornado watches were issued Thursday by the National Weather Service along nearly the entire East Coast — from Georgia to the Boston area — a designation that carries with it the possibility of severe storms and winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. “We expect an eruption of tornadic activity and thunder storms along a boundary moving along the Eastern seaboard,” said Mike Mach, a National Weather Service meteorologist. States of emergency had been declared from Alabama to Virginia. Alabama appears to have been hit the hardest, with at least 131 people killed and more than 300 injured by storms that descended on the northern and central parts of the state Wednesday evening, said Yasamie August, information manager of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. President Obama, who is scheduled to visit Alabama on Friday, said at the White House on Thursday that “the loss of life has been heartbreaking, especially in Alabama.” He said the federal government “will do everything we can to help you and we will stand with you as you rebuild.”
Continue reading …4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo . Massive natural disasters like this are only one reason why it’s a really immoral idea to have a national spending cap, or to cut government services. The federal government will step in (as it should) with all kinds of aid to help the victims of this huge disaster, and it’s going to cost money — which, as tea lovers like to point out, doesn’t grow on trees. This is why we don’t cut FEMA, or aid to first responders, or highway crews, or any of the hundreds of necessary services that are on the chopping block right this minute — because when you need them, you really need them: PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. — More than 200 people died after more than 100 different tornadoes ripped through the South, leaving behind a trail of flattened homes and buildings in an region already battered by storms. Tornado watches were issued Thursday by the National Weather Service along nearly the entire East Coast — from Georgia to the Boston area — a designation that carries with it the possibility of severe storms and winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. “We expect an eruption of tornadic activity and thunder storms along a boundary moving along the Eastern seaboard,” said Mike Mach, a National Weather Service meteorologist. States of emergency had been declared from Alabama to Virginia. Alabama appears to have been hit the hardest, with at least 131 people killed and more than 300 injured by storms that descended on the northern and central parts of the state Wednesday evening, said Yasamie August, information manager of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. President Obama, who is scheduled to visit Alabama on Friday, said at the White House on Thursday that “the loss of life has been heartbreaking, especially in Alabama.” He said the federal government “will do everything we can to help you and we will stand with you as you rebuild.”
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MSNBC's Chuck Todd rattled off a list of reasons to explain the sharp rise in the price of oil – none of which included Barack Obama's offshore drilling moratorium – and was “confused” about why anyone would blame the president for the prospect of $4 per gallon gasoline. On the April 28 “Daily Rundown,” Todd suggested the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing measures and increases in global demand account for the dramatic spike in oil, but he absolved the president of any blame. “I guess what I'm confused about, how is this an administration – what is it that the president could have done about the price of gasoline?” wondered Todd, interviewing Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). The junior senator from Mississippi retorted that the president should stop “slow-walking” permits for oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico to allow domestic firms to tap into the “plentiful oil resources that we have here in the United States of America.” After making excuses for the Democratic president, Todd boldly asserted that “there doesn't seem to be any expert that believes” Obama could have done anything to prevent the price of gasoline from eclipsing $4 per gallon. Perhaps the morning anchor meant to say there doesn't seem to be any liberal experts who are criticizing Obama for not doing more to curtail rising gas prices: the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, offered the president some policy advice on this precise issue. “So what’s the solution?” wrote Mike Brownfield in an April 20 blog post. “The president needs to change course, lift the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf, and open up our domestic resources for exploration.” Heritage colleagues John Ligon and Nicolos Loris echoed Brownfield's assessment, claiming that “increasing access to oil reserves in the U.S., both onshore and offshore, would help offset rising demand, increase jobs, and stimulate the economy.” Responding to Todd's incredulity, Wicker noted that he and 28 senators recently introduced a resolution to “send a message to the president” in support of streamlining the review process for oil permit applications. And just so NBC's political director knows, Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu (La.) and Mark Begich (Alaska) joined the chorus of congressional opposition to Obama's squelching of offshore oil drilling. “This de facto shallow water drilling moratorium is having a painful impact on the Gulf Coast's economy,” explained Landrieu. “I don't know how much more it will take before this administration understands the harsh consequences of its intransigence.” A transcript of the relevant portions of the segment can be found below: MSNBC The Daily Rundown April 28, 2011 9:11 a.m. EST CHUCK TODD: I guess what I'm confused about, how is this an administration – what is it that the president could have done about the price of gasoline? I mean, you have an issue with the Federal Reserve pumping money into the economy, pumping more dollars into the world economy. You have global demand. Is there any policy that could have been done that could have stopped $4 per gallon? There doesn't seem to be any expert that believes that. Sen. ROGER WICKER (R-Miss.): I joined with 28 members of the Senate just recently, sending a message to the president, asking him to quit slow-walking the permits. You know, we had the Gulf of Mexico disaster last year, the president cut of drilling there. Then he supposedly lifted the moratorium but the process since then has been to slow-walk the permits and so there's hardly any new drilling that's going on in the Gulf of Mexico. If the president would take that action, and if we were to have a national energy policy of using the plentiful oil resources that we have here in the United States of America, it would do a lot to bring down the price of a barrel of oil worldwide and it would certainly help us here in the United States of America. That is the action that the president has failed to take in allowing us to get back to drilling our own oil. SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Alright, Senator Roger Wicker, we got to leave it there, we're out of time, it's good to have you with us, sir. And keep us posted on the situation in Mississippi. Our thoughts are with the people of that state. –Alex Fitzsimmons is a News Analysis intern at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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Mathematical model uses the way dye moves over time within skin to predict how a tattoo will blur and fade It may be small comfort if you wake up after a heavy night with a hazy memory and some unsuitable words tattooed across your shoulder, but it is now possible to predict what a piece of body artwork will look like in years or decades hence. A mathematical model uses the way dye moves over time within skin to predict how a tattoo will blur and fade. The tool may also be some comfort to the handful of celebrities sporting misspelled tattoos in foreign languages. The footballer John Carew can look forward to the day that his “my life, my menstruation” tattoo , which was supposed to read “my life, my rules” in French, will be illegible. Britney Spears, who sports a Chinese tattoo that was supposed to say “mysterious”, but instead reads “strange”, may be keen to find out when hers will fade. Tattoos are created by puncturing the skin with a steel needle up to 3,000 times a minute and depositing a drop of insoluble ink into the dermis with each puncture. The indelible markings are not resistant to the effects of ageing, however, and over time the ink particles disperse as the cells that contain them either divide or die and exit the body. How quickly an image will degrade depends on factors including the tattoo size, detail, location and exposure to the sun. Skin type, age and dye ink will also influence how a tattoo disperses. Ian Eames, a reader in fluid mechanics at University College London, who has published details of the model in Mathematics Today and , said small details in a tattoo were lost first while thicker lines were less affected, and larger tattoos fared better in appearance than smaller ones. The details of complex patterns are lost after about 10 years. Eames’s model enables him to estimate the movement of ink particles and predict how a particular design will change with time. “The dye spreads in some sense like heat spreading along a metal bar. But the rate of spreading is very, very small and takes many years to spread a few millimetres,” he said. This may come as a surprise to the growing number of human canvasses in the UK. Tattoos have become more socially acceptable, with the likes of Samantha Cameron sporting a dolphin on her ankle, and a fifth of all British adults now have tattoos. Beauty Fashion Mathematics Emine Sinmaz guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Oh look. The Birthers are already playing with the new toy President Obama gave them.
April 28, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Memo to President Obama: You may have thought you finally shut the Birthers up yesterday . But you will never shut them up. These are people who are deeply invested, emotionally and otherwise, in believing that you are not a legitimate president. It’s the only way they can cope with the concept of you holding the office of the presidency in the first place. All you really did yesterday was give them a nice shiny new toy to play with. The proof was on Fox Business News last night, where Eric Bolling hosted a panel led by wingnut extraordinaire Pam Geller, one of the most reptilian creatures of the entire wingnutosphere . The entire show was a discussion of Bolling’s evident belief that what the president presented yesterday was a forgery: BOLLING: Pamela, were any of these notation on here – I don’t know if our camera can get it in too close — you can see some of these numbers that are clearly written in handwriting on the side. We don’t know what they are. Trying to figure out a zero, a two there, an X up over here, a one up here. Were they on the short form? GELLER: Look, this is a certification of live birth. When I left the hospital, I left with a birth certificate. I’m sorry, I didn’t bring with it me, but it looked very much like Donald Trump’s. It’s a little piece of paper, you’ve got the nurse — you know what I’m talking about? Certificate – you know, birth certificate. This is a certification of a live birth. This is actually not a birth certificate. BOLLING: I need to know this. You see this fold. This has clearly been photocopied from a book. You see that? It kind of folds back to, like, almost like a binding of a book. And then for some reason, there’s a green border around it that had to be Photoshopped in. Trying to figure out why they would do that. GELLER: Well, this whole border is suspect. I mean, if you’re taking a scan of something, it would, to your point, it would be white. Why is this the color of the same — BOLLING: Note this – note this, you guys, April 25, 2011 — two days ago — is when this was requested from the state registrar, Alvin Onaka. So we’ll keep our eye on it. We’ll keep digging. Hey, listen. It may or may not be, but certainly opens up the can of worms that there are at least questions for it. The absurdity didn’t end there. Perhaps the height of absurdity came when, as Ben Dimiero at Media Matters points out, Bolling suggested that the doctor who delivered Obama should have traveled forward in time in order to know that he had delivered the president: BOLLING: Very quickly, Pamela, this doctor right here, the guy who signed it four days after the birth. He passed away, but his wife today, TMZ had his wife saying I had no idea. She didn’t know about it. His son said I had no idea. It came as a complete shock to him as well. If you gave birth to the president of the United States, don’t you think your family would know about it? GELLER: Maybe he doesn’t know about it, either. I mean, I think it’s very telling that for three years he didn’t release it. There’s a big question there. We have to say why — why didn’t he release it after three years? As Dimiero acidly observes: The doctor died in 2003. Let that sink in for a second. At the time, Barack Obama was a little-known state senator in Illinois. If the doctor had told his family before he died that he delivered the future president, that would have spawned a much more interesting conspiracy theory (he’s a wizard!). Apparently Eric Bolling thinks obstetricians give their families a list of the most interesting people they delivered — with a special section for “potential future presidents” — before they die. Then Monica Crowley chimed in with the argument that Obama might now be disqualified because he was not “a natural born citizen” because his father was African: Rather hilariously, Crowley claims that the “courts have not adjudicated” the issue of the meaning of “natural born citizen” — when, in fact, they have done so numerous times. Most recently, the current Supreme Court rejected this argument without comment. Crowley is just promoting the next phase of the Birthers’ claims, one that’s been floating out there for awhile and has gone nowhere — for good reason. But that never matters to these fanatics.
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Islamist faction makes demand as part of Palestine unity pact with Fatah, set to be signed in Cairo next week Hamas has insisted on the departure of Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister favoured by Israel and the west, under a deal agreed with its rival faction Fatah for a unity government, according to sources in Gaza. The Islamist organisation also said it would keep control of the Gaza Strip under the accord, which is expected to be formally signed by leaders of the two factions in Cairo next week. The plan drew further criticism on Thursday from Israel, which has said it would not deal with a Palestinian government that included members of Hamas. However, the interim Hamas-Fatah government will have no involvement in negotiations with Israel. Talks will still be conducted by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas said a caretaker government would feature technocrats and exclude Hamas members. “The people will be independents, technocrats, not affiliated with any factions,” he said. He said it was “too early to tell” whether Fayyad, an independent and non-elected prime minister, would continue in post. Under the reconciliation deal, presidential and legislative elections will be held next year. Egypt said it would send a security team to Gaza. “An Egyptian security delegation will head to Gaza to help settle and organise the internal security situation there, now that the reconciliation agreement is finally in place,” an Egyptian security source told Reuters. Egyptian negotiators, who brokered the deal in a series of secret meetings, persuaded Hamas to accept a non-political cabinet, which will not deter foreign donors, and convinced Fatah to allow Hamas to maintain its security control of Gaza, sources told the Guardian. But Hamas insisted on the removal of Fayyad as prime minister. Although his stewardship of the Palestinian Authority and success in reforming its institutions has been praised by the international community, Fayyad is seen as anti-Hamas and his continued premiership would seem like a defeat for the Islamist faction. Abbas will appoint the new prime minister. The most popular candidate is Munib al Masri, a US-educated businessman respected by both factions. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders continued to criticise the agreement. President Shimon Peres called it a “fatal mistake that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will sabotage chances of peace and stability in the region … the world cannot support the establishment of a state that part of its regime is a terror organisation”. Israel’s hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the Army Radio station: “Hundreds of terrorists will flood the West Bank and therefore we need to prepare for a different situation.” The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, urged the international community to put pressure on the Palestinians to ensure the new government renounced violence and recognised Israel’s right to exist. The two factions were persuaded by “friends in the Arab World and the European Union that it was time to finish the split”, said Faisal Abu Shahla, a Fatah legislator in the Gaza Strip. But some expressed scepticism about the extent of reconciliation. Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, described the agreement as “a very vague format which will allow Palestinians to speak with one voice but, at a practical level, there will remain two separate entities in the West Bank and Gaza in terms of security. “Hamas will be able to maintain its militias and its rhetoric of resistance to Israel. There will not be many changes on the ground. Each one will be in charge of their territory,” he said. Hamas officials indicated that the organisation understood the unity agreement could be jeopardised by any militant operations. “We have to be careful of how we respond to Israel because they will do everything to dismantle the agreement,” said Ghazi Hamed, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister. “It is clear that Israel does not like us. They want to divide us because it gives them more power. I expect they will try to provoke us and create chaos to put pressure on Mahmoud Abbas. All sides admit that the agreement is the first step of a complicated process. Hamed said: ” The challenge will be to implement the agreement. If we succeed in choosing a strong PM and a strong minister of interior, we stand a better chance of success.” Abu Shahla said one consequence of the agreement would be that Fatah would be able to operate openly in Gaza for the first time since 2007 and Hamas would be able to do the same in the West Bank. Following the signing of the deal, Abbas may make his first visit to Gaza in more than four years. Palestinian territories Middle East Israel Hamas Fatah Gaza Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Islamist faction makes demand as part of Palestine unity pact with Fatah, set to be signed in Cairo next week Hamas has insisted on the departure of Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister favoured by Israel and the west, under a deal agreed with its rival faction Fatah for a unity government, according to sources in Gaza. The Islamist organisation also said it would keep control of the Gaza Strip under the accord, which is expected to be formally signed by leaders of the two factions in Cairo next week. The plan drew further criticism on Thursday from Israel, which has said it would not deal with a Palestinian government that included members of Hamas. However, the interim Hamas-Fatah government will have no involvement in negotiations with Israel. Talks will still be conducted by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas said a caretaker government would feature technocrats and exclude Hamas members. “The people will be independents, technocrats, not affiliated with any factions,” he said. He said it was “too early to tell” whether Fayyad, an independent and non-elected prime minister, would continue in post. Under the reconciliation deal, presidential and legislative elections will be held next year. Egypt said it would send a security team to Gaza. “An Egyptian security delegation will head to Gaza to help settle and organise the internal security situation there, now that the reconciliation agreement is finally in place,” an Egyptian security source told Reuters. Egyptian negotiators, who brokered the deal in a series of secret meetings, persuaded Hamas to accept a non-political cabinet, which will not deter foreign donors, and convinced Fatah to allow Hamas to maintain its security control of Gaza, sources told the Guardian. But Hamas insisted on the removal of Fayyad as prime minister. Although his stewardship of the Palestinian Authority and success in reforming its institutions has been praised by the international community, Fayyad is seen as anti-Hamas and his continued premiership would seem like a defeat for the Islamist faction. Abbas will appoint the new prime minister. The most popular candidate is Munib al Masri, a US-educated businessman respected by both factions. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders continued to criticise the agreement. President Shimon Peres called it a “fatal mistake that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will sabotage chances of peace and stability in the region … the world cannot support the establishment of a state that part of its regime is a terror organisation”. Israel’s hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the Army Radio station: “Hundreds of terrorists will flood the West Bank and therefore we need to prepare for a different situation.” The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, urged the international community to put pressure on the Palestinians to ensure the new government renounced violence and recognised Israel’s right to exist. The two factions were persuaded by “friends in the Arab World and the European Union that it was time to finish the split”, said Faisal Abu Shahla, a Fatah legislator in the Gaza Strip. But some expressed scepticism about the extent of reconciliation. Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, described the agreement as “a very vague format which will allow Palestinians to speak with one voice but, at a practical level, there will remain two separate entities in the West Bank and Gaza in terms of security. “Hamas will be able to maintain its militias and its rhetoric of resistance to Israel. There will not be many changes on the ground. Each one will be in charge of their territory,” he said. Hamas officials indicated that the organisation understood the unity agreement could be jeopardised by any militant operations. “We have to be careful of how we respond to Israel because they will do everything to dismantle the agreement,” said Ghazi Hamed, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister. “It is clear that Israel does not like us. They want to divide us because it gives them more power. I expect they will try to provoke us and create chaos to put pressure on Mahmoud Abbas. All sides admit that the agreement is the first step of a complicated process. Hamed said: ” The challenge will be to implement the agreement. If we succeed in choosing a strong PM and a strong minister of interior, we stand a better chance of success.” Abu Shahla said one consequence of the agreement would be that Fatah would be able to operate openly in Gaza for the first time since 2007 and Hamas would be able to do the same in the West Bank. Following the signing of the deal, Abbas may make his first visit to Gaza in more than four years. Palestinian territories Middle East Israel Hamas Fatah Gaza Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Islamist faction makes demand as part of Palestine unity pact with Fatah, set to be signed in Cairo next week Hamas has insisted on the departure of Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister favoured by Israel and the west, under a deal agreed with its rival faction Fatah for a unity government, according to sources in Gaza. The Islamist organisation also said it would keep control of the Gaza Strip under the accord, which is expected to be formally signed by leaders of the two factions in Cairo next week. The plan drew further criticism on Thursday from Israel, which has said it would not deal with a Palestinian government that included members of Hamas. However, the interim Hamas-Fatah government will have no involvement in negotiations with Israel. Talks will still be conducted by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas said a caretaker government would feature technocrats and exclude Hamas members. “The people will be independents, technocrats, not affiliated with any factions,” he said. He said it was “too early to tell” whether Fayyad, an independent and non-elected prime minister, would continue in post. Under the reconciliation deal, presidential and legislative elections will be held next year. Egypt said it would send a security team to Gaza. “An Egyptian security delegation will head to Gaza to help settle and organise the internal security situation there, now that the reconciliation agreement is finally in place,” an Egyptian security source told Reuters. Egyptian negotiators, who brokered the deal in a series of secret meetings, persuaded Hamas to accept a non-political cabinet, which will not deter foreign donors, and convinced Fatah to allow Hamas to maintain its security control of Gaza, sources told the Guardian. But Hamas insisted on the removal of Fayyad as prime minister. Although his stewardship of the Palestinian Authority and success in reforming its institutions has been praised by the international community, Fayyad is seen as anti-Hamas and his continued premiership would seem like a defeat for the Islamist faction. Abbas will appoint the new prime minister. The most popular candidate is Munib al Masri, a US-educated businessman respected by both factions. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders continued to criticise the agreement. President Shimon Peres called it a “fatal mistake that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will sabotage chances of peace and stability in the region … the world cannot support the establishment of a state that part of its regime is a terror organisation”. Israel’s hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the Army Radio station: “Hundreds of terrorists will flood the West Bank and therefore we need to prepare for a different situation.” The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, urged the international community to put pressure on the Palestinians to ensure the new government renounced violence and recognised Israel’s right to exist. The two factions were persuaded by “friends in the Arab World and the European Union that it was time to finish the split”, said Faisal Abu Shahla, a Fatah legislator in the Gaza Strip. But some expressed scepticism about the extent of reconciliation. Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, described the agreement as “a very vague format which will allow Palestinians to speak with one voice but, at a practical level, there will remain two separate entities in the West Bank and Gaza in terms of security. “Hamas will be able to maintain its militias and its rhetoric of resistance to Israel. There will not be many changes on the ground. Each one will be in charge of their territory,” he said. Hamas officials indicated that the organisation understood the unity agreement could be jeopardised by any militant operations. “We have to be careful of how we respond to Israel because they will do everything to dismantle the agreement,” said Ghazi Hamed, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister. “It is clear that Israel does not like us. They want to divide us because it gives them more power. I expect they will try to provoke us and create chaos to put pressure on Mahmoud Abbas. All sides admit that the agreement is the first step of a complicated process. Hamed said: ” The challenge will be to implement the agreement. If we succeed in choosing a strong PM and a strong minister of interior, we stand a better chance of success.” Abu Shahla said one consequence of the agreement would be that Fatah would be able to operate openly in Gaza for the first time since 2007 and Hamas would be able to do the same in the West Bank. Following the signing of the deal, Abbas may make his first visit to Gaza in more than four years. Palestinian territories Middle East Israel Hamas Fatah Gaza Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk
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