From No 10 to the Middle East: Blair gets a new job

[legin]

Source: guardian

Tony Blair has landed a major diplomatic job as the international Middle East peace envoy, responsible for preparing the Palestinians for negotiations with Israel. His role, to be announced today, will be largely to work with the Palestinians over security, economy and governance.

Working from an office in Jerusalem, and possibly another in the West Bank, Mr Blair will become the special representative for the Middle East quartet of UN, EU, US and Russia. The announcement comes on the eve of his departure from Downing Street tomorrow and is privately welcomed by Gordon Brown.

The arrangement, which has been under preparation for weeks, is due to be agreed at a meeting of the quartet today.

Friends of Mr Blair suggest he would make it a central purpose of his mission to work to restore Palestinian unity after the armed takeover of the Gaza Strip by the Islamist movement Hamas.

...

Read more: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/tonyblair/story/0,,2111456,00.html

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Not quite official yet but almost.

[acmavm]

1. Oh f**k, that's absolute surreal.

[legin]

2. And on another note...

(snip)

The meaning of life

According to Absurdism, humans historically attempt to find meaning in their lives. For some, traditionally, this search follows one of two paths: either concluding that life is meaningless and that what we have is the here-and-now; or filling the void with a purpose set forth by a higher power, often a belief in God or adherence to a religion. However, even with a spiritual power as the answer to meaning, another question is posed: What is the purpose of God? Kierkegaard believed that there is no human-comprehensible purpose of God, making faith in God absurd.

For some, suicide is a solution when confronted with the futility of living a life devoid of all purpose, because ending, suicide is only a means to quicken the resolution of one's ultimate fate. For Albert Camus, in The Myth of Sisyphus, suicide is not a worthwhile solution because if life is veritably absurd, then it is even more absurd to counteract it; instead, we should engage in living and reconcile the fact that we live in a world without purpose.

For Camus, the beauty that people encounter in life makes it worth living. People may create meaning in their own lives, which may not be the objective meaning of life but still provides something for which to strive. However, he insisted that one must always maintain an ironic distance between this invented meaning and the knowledge of the absurd lest the fictitious meaning take the place of the absurd.

Camus introduced the idea of "acceptance without resignation" and asked if man can "live without appeal", defining a "conscious revolt" against the avoidance of absurdity of the world. In a world devoid of higher meaning, or judicial afterlife, man becomes absolutely free. It is through this freedom that man can act either as a mystic (through appeal to some supernatural force) or an absurd hero (through a revolt against such hope). Henceforth, the absurd hero's refusal to hope becomes his singular ability to live in the present with passion.

(snip)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism

[ananda]

6. How existentially surreal.. or else

surrealistically existential.

[redqueen]

7. nice. n/t

[shain from kane]

3. Return of the British mandate in Palestine.

[Vidar]

4. Fox reporting back to henhouse.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Blair 'preparing to resign as MP'

because the Middle East job is getting certain, it seems.

The Labour Party has been put on standby for an announcement by Tony Blair that he is resigning as an MP, triggering a by-election.

Mr Blair is expected to be confirmed as a Middle East envoy on Wednesday by the Mid-East quartet - made up of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU.

Officials said Mr Blair was expected to attend a local Labour Party meeting after resigning as prime minister.
...
One local source in his Sedgefield constituency said: "If he gets a job on the worldwide stage, I think there will be a by-election."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6242788.stm

[daleo]

8. Irony is dead

Again.

[moondust]

9. Blech.

EVERYBODY posting on the BBC forum says Blair does not belong in the job. It appears to be unanimous.

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=6701&start=0&&&edition=2&ttl=20070626194733

[oberliner]

10. Blair to Accept Position as Mideast Envoy

The United States and its allies in the international "Quartet" that oversees the Middle East peace process are expected to announce tomorrowthat Prime Minister Tony Blair has accepted the position as their new special envoy, according to U.S. officials.

Blair's new mission will be to mobilize international support for the Palestinians, help build institutions of governance to entrench the rule of law, and work on economic development issues, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/26/AR2007062601325.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[LeftishBrit]

11. At least it gets him out of England (yes, I know, very selfish of me!); but how insane!

Peace Envoy? Reminds me of "1984": War is Peace.

[WHAT]

15. Reminds me of "1984" or 1948...

I'm just glad that others have the same reaction I had...

This is absurd

[IndianaGreen]

12. The Quartet turned out to be a joke, nothing but window dressing!

(Blair) responsible for preparing the Palestinians for negotiations with Israel

The Palestinians don't need a closeted Catholic that was slammed by the Pope to "prepare" them for anything! All Israel has to do is get the hell out of all the land taken in 1967, and relocate Sharon's Wall to the pre-1967 borders.

[IndianaGreen]

13. The Guardian: Blair as Peace Envoy Would Be ‘Disaster for Palestinians’

Published on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 by the Guardian/UK

Blair as Peace Envoy Would Be ‘Disaster for Palestinians’

by Conal Urquhart

GAZA CITY - It is unlikely that Tony Blair will get a warm welcome in Gaza City or anywhere in the Palestinian territories if he is confirmed as the Quartet’s new Middle East peace envoy.

In recent years, Mr Blair and by association Britain have become perceived as supporters of the US and Israel and antagonists of Arab and Palestinian interests.

Mohammed Taher, 32, a civil servant, described the appointment of Mr Blair as “a disaster” for Palestinians. “We have been saying for a long time that Blair is nothing more than George Bush’s poodle. We remember his stance on Iraq and Britain’s lead role in imposing an embargo on the Palestinian Authority after we did not vote the correct way,” he said.

“It’s difficult to see how he can be neutral and independent after the positions he has taken. The envoy should be someone who has good relations with both sides not just one side.”

The Gaza Strip is now undergoing its second year of economic embargo. There is enough food but other items such as cigarettes are running out. According to Riad Musa, 29, an officer in a non-governmental organisation, in recent years Britain’s foreign policy has become indistinguishable from that of the US.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/26/2117/

[jpgray]

14. Middle East PEACE envoy?

:rofl: v :cry:

[JawJaw]

16. ..In Other News

-Elmer Fudd appointed Minister for Wabbit Welfare