Annapolis, Annapolis, this name is haunting me everywhere I go – in newspapers and blogs and on TV. For me, Annapolis seems to be a Greek city near The Acropolis [1], or something. But the truth is, it is an American city where a peace conference was held between the Arabs, Israelis, and Americans. Egyptians, like most of Arabs, prefer to waste their valuable time discussing political issues, and this includes the Arab leaders who attended the Annapolis Peace Conference, as well as the Egyptian bloggers commenting on it.
The Big Pharaoh [2], decided to address President Bush directly [3]:
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing to tell you that you are on the verge of fulfilling something you have long desired ever since you stepped into the Oval Office. You have always wanted to do something profound for the future and change the course of the world’s history with it. I have good and bad news for you. The good news is, as I’ve said, you are on the verge of fulfilling this desire. The bad news is that you can easily miss it and drop down as one of the United Sates most failed presidents.
Mr. President, up till today I personally consider you a colossal failure as far as doing something profound in the world is concerned. The world remembers Roosevelt with World War Two, Kennedy with how he made the US loved around the world, Carter with the peace between Israel and Egypt, Regean with the fall of the Berlin Wall, and your father with the liberation of Kuwait. What will the world remember you for? I am afraid your current score is negative.
….
Now, you have one more and final chance to make history. It is called Annapolis, Maryland. The upcoming peace summit between the Palestinians and the Israelis that might incompass Arab countries such as Syria and Saudi Arabia. Every US president, ever since the US decided to search for peace in the Middle East, has dreamt of participating in finalizing a lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. You have the chance to do so today.
*****
On the other hand, Zeinobia [4] decided not to pin hopes on this conference in her post, “Annapolis ,Building Castles in The Air [5]“:
Without fancy introduction I do not put hopes on Annapolis at all , the Arabs will go there and return back with nothing, sorry they [will] give and return back with nothing.
Seriously I do not know why 16 Arab countries are going to attend the meeting , first the main countries in the meeting that will have direct talks are : Israel and the Palestinian authority representing only half of the Palestinian territories ,as the other half is under Hamas’ rule, these Arab countries agreed to stick to the Arab initiative Saudi Arabia proposed in the Beirut Arab Summit 2002, the same initiative Israel refused totally so I do not know what the rest of the Arab countries other than Syria are going to do , they have no business what so ever there , as long as the Saudis swore that they won't shake hands with Israelis at least in front of the cameras.
…
The Americans and Israelis think that this is just like the famous Sadaat visit to Tel Aviv from 30 years , well there is a huge difference Sadaat went there as a victorious not as a weak beggar pushed by the United States !!!
Bush administration is searching for some victory , a lonely victory to be added before he leaves the white house in 2008 , they lost hope in having victory in wars and so they are trying their luck in finding victory in Peace.
Fasakonya [6] wrote here [7] comparing between the Israelis and the Palestinians speeches:
بينما اولمرت و بمجرد صعوده للكلمة .. اخذ يتحدث عن الارهابيين الفلسطينين و الذعر المصاب به المواطن الاسرائيلي دوما فيخشى ركوب اتوبيس او الذهاب لملهى لانهم يفجرونة .. حتى المشي فالشارع يهدد حياه المواطن الاسرائيلي الغلبان .لان السماء تمطر صواريخ قسام التي يطلقها الارهابيين الفلسطينين
و بمنتهى البساطة اي فرد في العالم عندما يشاهد الحديثين سيتعاطف مع الشعب الاسرائيلي المقهور المذعور من عمايل الفلسطينيين
على الرغم من ان في نفس ذات اليوم كان ثلاث فلسطينيين لقوا مصرعهم في قطاع غزه نتيجة قصف اسرائيلي .. لم يلتفت لهم ابو مازن و لو بكلمة في حديثة و كأن غزه ليست تابعه لفلسطين و من بها ليسوا فلسطينيين
While Olmert, once he stepped up to give his speech … He started talking about the Palestinian terrorists and how the Israelis are always scared from riding buses or going to night-clubs as they always blow them up … Even walking in the streets threatens the lives of the poor Israeli citizens, as the sky always rains Qassam rockets launched by the Palestinian terrorists.
And simply anyone who will see this speech will symphasize with the Israeli people who suffer from the Palestinians.
However, on the very same day, three Palestinians passed away after and Israeli raid on Gaza … Abu Mazen didn't even mention it in his speech as if Gaza doesn't belong to Palestine and the people living there are not Palestinians.
The word Anna-Polis can be translated in Arabic into “I am a Policeman”, so Nawara [8], the daughter of the Egyptian famous poet Ahmed Fouad Negm, decided to make fun of the whole thing and create a new blog, named Anna-Haramy [9], “I am a Thief”, where Israel is supposed to be the thief:
مدونة أنا حرامي
ح نعملها مؤتمر مواز لانا بوليس
وح تسير على خطين متوازيين
الاول بوستات بالعربي ومقالات لتوعية القارئ العربي
بخطورة مؤتمر أنابوليس للسياحة
قصدي للسلام
والتاني بوستات بالانجليزي عن تاريخ فلسطين
وحقوق الفلسطينيين وعدم مشروعية الوجود الصهيوني
على أرض فلسطين
ودي موجهة للقارئ الاجنبي
Annaharamy Blog
It will be a parallel conference to Annapolis
And it will be divided into to main sections
Arabic posts, and they will be mainly for warning the Arabs of the dangers of the Annapolis Conference for Tourism, ehm, Peace.
And the English Posts will be about the history of Palestine, and the Palestinian People rights, and the Zionists illegal presence in the Palestinian territories. And this section will be mainly for the foreign readers.
And Finally, Not Green Data [10], wrote about the Arab-Israeli peace conferences and how he doesn't really care [11] about them.
Now a days there is a Peace Conference held in Annapolis in USA, and many Arab countries are participating in it. But let me ask you, why do countries such as Egypt, Saudi, or Jordan have to participate in such conference. Why are we supposed to care about the Palestinian-Israeli endless conflict. Let them manage their own business. In face, sometimes poking our noses all the time in this issue, may be one of the reasons that it was never solved. Let them try to fix it themselves and see what will happen. And let's concentrate on more useful issues instead of wasting our valuable time talking and talking and doing nothing.
I know, Israel is our enemy (…) and holds many negative world records [12]. But I really don't care, let them go to hell. I don't want to love, or hate them. I don't want to buy anything from them, nor sell anything to them. And for sure, I don't want to waste my time negotiating with them. And for me listening to a boring song like Mireille Mathieu's Acropolis Adieu is more useful than watching the Arab and Israeli clowns performing in the International Circus of Annapolis.