Meanwhile, Back at the West Bank

While the attention of the Middle East press has been on Washington and Jerusalem, the real action continues to be in the West Bank. Israel continues to build - while pretending to dismantle, continues to drive Palestinians off more and more of their farmland, and continues to make life miserable for the Palestinians, in the hopes that their best and the brightest will just up and leave.

Today I added, to the list of links at the right, two new blogs - Ibn Ezra and Across the Borderline - that report on the West Bank from the perspective of Israeli peace activists of the mixed Jewish-Arab group Tayush. If you are interested in following the day to day happenings on the West Bank you should follow these two blogs.

In their latest stories: Ibn Ezra, reports on how the settlers are rebuilding illegal outposts within days (hours in some cases) of the army's dismantling them - and all this with a nudge nudge wink wink from the authorities; while Across the Borderline reports on settler harassment of Palestinian farmers and their supporters from Tayush as well as the army and police complicity in this harassment.

Depressing stuff - but important. We need to keep our eyes in the reality on the ground to better understand the stakes behind the plays being put on in Washington and Jerusalem.