A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

April 27, 2008 Hamas Accepts Egyptian Ceasefire Proposal, Syria Talks Peace

Hamas has accepted the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire. Lest anyone think that this was any step towards peace, in an interview, Hamas leader Halad Mashal explained that in any conflict there is time to step back and time step up the fighting. Now Hamas could use a lull so it is accepting the proposal. Mashal stated that Hamas could not impose the ceasefire on the smaller groups such as the Islamic Jihad. Israel has rejected the agreement and said that Hamas only wants to buy time. Palestinian leader Abbas has also rejected the deal, for observers believe that if it came about, he would be proved totally irrelevant.

There is additional talk of discussions on the Syrian front. Assad says that as soon as he receives public assurances of a withdrawal from the entire Golan Heights, indirect negotiations will continue through Turkey. It is interesting, as there seems to be a peace offensive on Syrian television with talk of how Syrians are ready for peace.

The Syrian spokesman has denied all the CIA's claims regarding a nuclear facility. It was interesting listening to the Syrian spokesman in Arabic denying the fact and claiming that Photoshop was being used. I guess its not only Hebrew that has many English words seeping into it.

Israel Channel 10 news is running a moving segment every night bringing alive the pictures of Israeli history today. Tonight was the first segment. They showed the photo the famous picture of the raising of the Israeli flag in southern city of Eilat. Part of the story is about how the Palmach unit that was sent to capture Eilat discovered it did not have a flag. The company secretary drew the flag with ink. Channel 10 took the remaining living members of the unit, including that same secretary, six men and one woman all in the eighties, to Eilat to reenact the event. It was a moving ceremony, and rather sad, as all seven of them stated that the country had not lived up to their expectations.