7/02 Links Part 1: Kerry's Folly, Egypt Burns, Erdogan the Tyrant and Saudi Feminism.

From Ian:

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Elliott Abrams: Israelis and Palestinians: What if they get to the table?

There is a viewpoint that the two sides are "an inch apart" and just a bit of serious negotiating will bridge the gap, but that has always seemed like nonsense to me (and I discuss this in detail in my recent book, "Tested By Zion: The Bush Administration and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"). An inch apart on the many Israeli security demands, such as control of the Palestinian air space and electromagnetic spectrum and of the Jordan Valley? An inch apart on Jerusalem itself, which great numbers of Israelis do not wish to see divided ever again but which most Palestinians demand at least significant parts of as their capital? An inch apart on the "refugee" issue -- when Palestinian leaders have never told their own people that there will be no "right of return" and that Palestinian "refugees" will never go to Israel? To the extent that "everyone knows what an agreement would look like," both Israeli and Palestinian leaders and populations have for decades rejected those terms.

Kerry’s Middle East Folly Has a Price

Egypt is coming apart at the seams. The Syrian civil war has taken the lives of over 100,000 people and the Assad regime—which President Obama has demanded give up power—appears to be winning with the help of Russian and Iranian arms and Hezbollah ground forces. Iran has vowed to continue enriching uranium, as it gets closer to amassing enough to build a nuclear weapon. And the Putin government in Russia continues to thumb its nose at the United States by refusing—as did China—to hand over NSA leaker/spy Edward Snowden.
With all that on its plate, you’d think America’s foreign policy chief would be up to his neck dealing with these crises. But in case you hadn’t heard, Secretary of State John Kerry wasn’t paying much attention to any of that in the last few days. Instead, Kerry was shuttling back and forth between Jerusalem and Ramallah like a low-level functionary attempting to craft an agreement that would finally bring the Palestinians back to the Middle East peace talks they’ve been boycotting for four and a half years.

Palestinian Authority President Rejects Israeli Confidence-Building Measures, Peace Talks Offer

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected a package of Israeli goodwill gestures designed to coax the Palestinian leader back to peace talks, where further Israeli concessions would be discussed. A Palestinian official told Xinhua that the Israeli confidence-building measures – which included the release of security prisoners and programs designed to bolster Abbas – were insufficient for President Abbas to resume talks

Fatah official: Washington biased toward Israel

As US Secretary of State John Kerry attempted to get peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians back on track, a senior Fatah official blasted the United States, calling it a greater obstacle to peace than Israel.
Azzam Al-Ahmad, who heads Fatah’s parliamentary bloc, told Sky News Arabia on Sunday that Kerry’s recent three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories had exposed the American administration’s “biased role” toward the negotiating sides.

PMW: PA TV attacks PMW for using word “terrorists” for PA “heroes"

The official Palestinian Authority media continues its condemnation of Palestinian Media Watch for exposing that the PA promotes hatred and terror.
The latest PA TV attack comes in response to PMW's recent bulletin exposing that PA TV glorified three Palestinian terrorists who are serving a total of166 life sentences for planning suicide bombings and preparing the bombs that were used in numerous terror attacks.

Barry Rubin: In Egypt, Army Threatens Coup while U.S. Policy has backed the Regime

Let us remember that four years ago Obama gave his Cairo speech sitting the Muslim Brotherhood leaders in the front row. President Husni Mubarak was insulted and it was the first hint that the Obama Administration would support Islamist regimes in the Arab world. Then Obama vetoed the State Department plan for a continuation of the old regime without Mubarak. Then Obama publicly announced--before anyone asked him--that the United States would not mind if the Brotherhood was in government. Then Obama did not give disproportionate help to the moderates. Then Obama pressed the army to get out of power quickly, which the moderates opposed since they needed more time than the Islamists to organize.
Many will say that the president of the United States cannot of course control events in Egypt. That's true.'But he did everything possible to lead to this crisis.

For the Brotherhood, Morsi’s fall would have a domino effect

The first battle between the the opposition and the ruling Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt ended in the early hours of Monday morning, when millions of demonstrators slowly dispersed to their homes after a long and bloody night.
According to figures from the Egyptian Health Ministry, 10 people died and 613 were injured during the confrontations that broke out between supporters of the two camps. The most severe clashes were near the Muslim Brotherhood building in the Muqqatam area south of Cairo, where four people were killed, but also in other cities, such as Asyut, Port Said, Al-Mahala, Al-Kubrah, and others.

Daniel Pipes: Should Egypt’s Morsi Stay or Go?

I was not present in Egypt yesterday, June 30, but I watched some of the wall-to-wall broadcasts on Egyptian television of packed squares and streets across the country, of gesticulating orators, defensive government spokesmen, and articulate commentators. The demonstrations across the country were, by consensus estimates, 7 to 10 times larger than the biggest anti-Mubarak crowds in early 2011. They dwarfed street rebellions such other those in Iran in 1979 or Peking in 1989. Simply put, they were probably the largest political demonstration in human history.

Egypt: Morsi’s failure

President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) seem increasingly impotent as mass protests mark the anniversary of his reaching office.
His opponents hope to bring about a second revolution two and a half years since the overthrow of Mubarak. Whether or not they succeed, it is clear Morsi’s administration has thus far been largely a failure.
He has focused on consolidating power while ignoring Egypt’s grave economic and security problems, and, ironically, in so doing has actually weakened his position. Furthermore, the Brotherhood’s inability to compromise has demonstrated its immaturity as a political force.

Morsi Rejects Army Ultimatum, 6 Ministers Resign, Pro-Morsi Rallies

The Miami Herald’s Frida Ghitis wrote that one of the most striking aspects of the massive protests that have broken out across Egypt is the intensity of the people’s anger directed at the Muslim Brotherhood. In her opinion, the failure of the Brotherhood’s man to introduce positive changes in Egypt, while imposing a plethora of ideological, religious rules on the country, may signal the end of this movement as a viable political alternative in Egypt and the rest of the Muslim world.
“What happens to the Brotherhood in Egypt will affect Brotherhood parties across the region. Already its image of incompetence and non-inclusiveness is a stain that will be difficult to erase,” Ghitis wrrote.

Egyptian Protesters Criticize MB Rule and Obama Administration

Elections also do not guarantee stability, writes Eric Trager of the Washington Institute on Near East Policy. Mohamed Morsi is "now president in name only." The United States needs to gear its policy toward a longer vision and try to limit the damage done to the state by the ongoing turmoil.
Protesters tried to issue a similar message Sunday. They chanted against the United States and carried signs criticizing Obama and U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson.
Arabic media reports claim Patterson held secret meetings with Brotherhood deputy leader Khairat al-Shater last week. And many protesters carried signs with Patterson's image crossed out alongside Morsi, or with critical comments.

Christian Egyptians confront Muslim stronghold

The southern Egyptian city of Assiut has long been a haven for radical Islamists, and its Christian minority has largely kept a low profile. That all changed this weekend.
An estimated crowd of 50,000 packed the streets this weekend to join protests calling for President Mohammed Morsi’s ouster, prompting a violent response that left three people dead.

Neighboring countries close doors to Syria war refugees

Syria's neighbors have closed or tightened restrictions at several border crossings, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded within Syria's dangerous frontier regions, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.
It said Iraq, Jordan and Turkey had all restricted the flow of people trying to flee a conflict which has killed 100,000 people and, according to the United Nations, has already driven 1.7 million more to take sanctuary outside Syria.

Erdogan the tyrant and his EU accomplices

Today, President Barack Obama is good buddies with Erdogan and has repeatedly stated that Turkey should serve as an example to the Islamic world. The EU is aiding in the marginalization of the Turkish armed forces, which are indeed dictatorial, but by their nature friendly to the West, and thus paving the way for the consolidation of the power of a hostile ideology: political Islam.
The Turkish general’s fear in 1952 still seems justified in the 21st century.
On this matter, the West has truly and thoroughly stabbed itself in the back.

Feminism Saudi-style: Hundreds turn out do discuss women in society... but not a single member of the audience is female

This image show attendees at a conference in Saudi Arabia on the topic ‘women in society’ – and not a single one is female.
The conference, reportedly held at the University of Qassim last year, was attended by representatives from 15 nations, apparently all men.