Everyone knows about Jerusalem, but not as many know about Sharm el Sheikh, so I thought a little context might be interesting. This will not be her first time there as Secretary of State, making this seaside city worthy of a little attention. Below we see her arrival there last March 1 for a donors conference for the reconstruction of Gaza. With her is the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Margeret Scobey. The gent might be Egypt's ambassador to the U.S., Sameh Shoukry, but I am not certain of that.
Located at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula between Mount Sinai and the Red Sea, Sharm el Sheikh is known as the City of Peace due to the many peace conferences it has hosted and making it a perfect spot for these talks to resume. The Sinai itself has been contested territory through the latter half of the 20th century having gone from Egyptian to Israeli hands and back a few times. As it is solidly Egyptian now, Sinai provides Egypt entrée to the list of countries that occupy more than one continent spanning the northeast corner of Africa into Asia.
Sharm el Sheikh itself is a resort city with a variety of outdoor and water-related sports and activities available and an active night life. Given the "personality" if you will, of resort towns, the emphasis on activity and entertainment, I am going to stick my neck out and predict that no matter how tightly her schedule is packed, Mme. Secretary will find a way to jam a few TV interviews in while she is there. She will want to make the case to the Egyptian people for Egypt's support of these talks. That will be the perfect way to do it.
If you thought this post was going to be about her leaving Foggy Bottom and hitting the trail, sorry. Not this time.
