doing business with the enemiy

There was a loud thunderclap last night, which announced the first proper rain we have seen here for nearly 6 weeks. After its sustained overnight dousing, this morning the garden seemed to glow with verdant loveliness. There have been intermittent "pulses" of rain throughout today as well, quickly making up for the recent deficit. What does it mean? Has the jest stream changed course? It has been protecting us so far, sending the weather systems around Britain rather than over it. But it could still turn on us again, spoiling the summer. Let's hope to Christ it likes u this year...

COMMENT

Earlier this week, the Palestinians achieved what I thought was going to be as good as impossible; namely the uniting of Hamas and Fatah. And naturally Israel's leader Benjy Netenyahu has said he won't work with any organisation that has Hamas in it. Say will what you will about Benjy, by the way, but he is a bloody intelligent, charismatic and sexy man who definitely has the Israeli people behind him. And their attitude is understandable to some extent. Hamas has steadfastly refused to recognise the state of Israel and has made no secret of its desire to throw all the Jews back in the sea where they came from, if it could.

However, regardless of the long lasting and deep-rooted enmity which exists between these groups, the fact is that they must sit down and talk at some stage, because that's what you have to do sometimes. The British sat down and talked to the IRA, even though the latter had killed many British policemen, soldiers and civilians in horrible atrocities. Nelson Mandela sat down and talked with the Boers, even though his people had been oppressed and cast down by them for generations.

If they can do it, the Israelis can. And if Hamas could recognise Israel's right to exist, it miht help a bit

On Thursday I went up to the damp, miserable little hovel that is our local church and voted in the elections. I voted for the labour guy, mainly to get the Lib-dem incumbent out, just to punish them for their perfidy over the past year (it worked I am please to announce).
On the voting paper for choosing an electoral system, I put a cross against BOTH options, and then put a neat bracket round them and added the word in neat capitals:

NEITHER.