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OPT: Week in review - Internal violence mars Obama optimism

The world watched on June 4 as US President Barack Obama addressed the Muslim world in his much anticipated speech in Cairo. The eloquent American president addressed a number of issues concerning the US's relationship with Muslims, including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. While he unsurprisingly opened this leg of his speech with support for Israel- "America's bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable" - Obama did pleasantly surprise many with what came after.

"It is also undeniable that the Palestinian people - Muslims and Christians - have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than sixty years they have endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations - large and small - that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own," he told the crowd.

"If we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth: the only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security."

On the much contended issue of Jewish settlements, Obama was also very clear on his administration's stance, adding the word 'Palestine' in a welcomed change.

"Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop."

The President also addressed the issue of Hamas and its "responsibilities" of ending violence and recognizing Israel's right to exist. He then called on the Israelis to live up to their obligations in terms of ensuring a secure and safe life for the Palestinians, comparing the Palestinian struggle to that of African Americans, stressing on their need to adopt nonviolent means of resistance.

Obama's speech was met positively among most Palestinians, especially in comparison with his predecessor George W. Bush. While the Israeli government was cautiously approving of the speech, some Israeli expressed reservations as to his reference to a settlement freeze and a Palestinian state.

However, just as President Obama is coming with a different mentality, which seeks reconciliation rather than isolation and hostility, the Palestinians and Israelis still seem to have a long way to go to follow his lead.

On June 5, 30-year old Yusef Srour was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Nilin during the weekly protest against the separation wall there.

A day earlier, three people were killed in a standoff between PA security forces and Hamas gunmen in Qalqilya. Earlier in the day, a PA security officer was killed by an apparent grenade from Hamas operatives holed up in a building in the city. The officer was identified as Riyad Al Din, 26.

The three others were all Hamas members who were killed in the armed standoff, Mohammad A'tieyah, Iyad Al-Abtali and Ala' Thiab, although the PA denies it killed Thiab, maintaining he was lightly injured.

This day of violence comes after an even more violent day on May 31 when six people were killed in Qalqilya when PA forces tried to arrest Hamas operatives who holed themselves up in a building. As a result, the building owner was killed along with three PA security men and two Hamas gunmen.

The resumption of interfactional violence is some of the worst in the last two years and has deeply threatened the already tense Cairo talks between Hamas and Fateh. Although the talks are scheduled to resume on July 5, Hamas has already said it may cop out because of the Qalqilya situation.

On June 1, Hamas upped the ante by saying that its fighters would violently resist any PA forces that attempted to arrest them.

On June 4, 17 members of the UN team investigating human rights violations during Israel's 22-day invasion of Gaza left the Strip via Rafah after Israel refused to cooperate with it in the West Bank or Israel proper.

The head of the team, Richard Goldstone has said he was "shocked by the devastation" he saw during his four day tour of Gaza. While he did not disclose any of the teams' findings, at a press conference on June 4, Goldstone said Israel repeatedly refused their calls to cooperate.

"The response," he said, "was a complete refusal."

Still, Goldstone said this would not deter them. "But we will not let that stop us from carrying out our mission," he said, "... the refusal of cooperation will not in any way decrease the weight of our investigation."

On June 5, the Israeli military began demolishing a Bedouin encampment, which is home to 180 people in the northern Jordan Valley after demolition orders were issued to them on Monday by the Israeli military. According to the army, the Bedouins were demanded to evacuate their homes on the premise that the area was a "closed military zone.

On June 2, 33-year old Amjad Abu Khdeir was killed near Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate when an extremist Israeli shot him after inquiring about whether he was "Arab." Abu Khdeir, a father of four, was with his Israeli employer on the way to work when they were attacked by the man. The employer was also shot and injured.

Settlers from the settlements of Yitzhar and Qadumim near Nablus went on a violent rampage on June 1, setting fire to hundreds of dunams of Palestinian crops. The fires were the peak of four days of attacks on Palestinians in the area, which resulted in six wounded Palestinians after settlers threw heavy stones at them on the main road.