Israel Has Capitulated, Too
ABC News has the story of how Israel has now decided that they will release funds to the Palestinian Authority. This comes just 24 hours AFTER the US and EU also gave in to the demands of people crying that the Palestinians will wither away and die without the funds they feel they are entitled to.
(Hat-Tip: Cox & Forkum)
Israel has agreed to release tens of millions of dollars it withheld from the Palestinians after Hamas ascended to power and is considering easing restrictions on the movement of goods between Israel and the Gaza Strip, officials said Thursday.
Senior members of Hamas and rival party Fatah called for acceptance of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Such an implied recognition of Israel would mark a major breakthrough for Hamas, which remains committed to the destruction of the Jewish state.
It was unclear whether the program would be backed by the Islamic militant group, which has resisted international demands to renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept existing peace agreements.
A Hamas spokesman praised the effort to create a joint platform which was drafted by senior Hamas and Fatah members who are imprisoned by Israel but he did not commit to it.
"It could be a good base for a national platform and a national dialogue, but it still needs more discussion," spokesman Mushir al Masri said.
Israel stopped transferring some $55 million in tax and customs revenues it collects monthly on behalf of the Palestinians shortly after Hamas won January parliamentary elections.
The withholding of those funds, coupled with a cutoff in aid from the U.S. and European Union, has left the Palestinians broke and two months behind in paying salaries to government workers who provide for about a third of the people in the West Bank and Gaza.
The potential humanitarian crisis is fueling international alarm.
Palestinians' savings are rapidly dwindling, merchants are forced to buy and sell on credit, gas stations have no fuel and teachers have started striking for back wages. International aid workers and government officials say the Palestinian health care system is on the verge of disaster and sanitation and sewage systems are liable to crash if money is not found soon.
International Mideast negotiators, worried by the reports, agreed at a meeting Tuesday in New York to release humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and to set up a special fund to administer the transfer.
All right. Release humanitarian funds. But hopefully those same people in New York will not peg the UN to handle the transfer of funds. That money will end up in their pockets, and the pockets of the militants in Hamas. But Israel has made it quite clear that these funds will go only for the easing of the humanitarian crisis that is brewing:
With the West softening its stance, Israel followed suit. On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Channel 10 TV that Israel, too, was willing to release withheld tax and customs revenues "for humanitarian needs such as medicines and health needs."
Livni said Israel would not agree to use the funds to pay salaries of Palestinian government employees. The government hasn't decided how much money would be released, or when, officials said.
Israel's dovish new defense minister, Amir Peretz, meanwhile, was considering easing restrictions on the passage of goods between Israel and Gaza, as international mediators had urged on Tuesday.
Israel has kept the main Karni cargo crossing closed for much of the year. The Israeli military cites security concerns, but Palestinians say they are being penalized for electing Hamas.
Um, hello? The Palestinians went to the polls and put a terrorist group in charge of their "nation." Is there really a reason why Israel would trust or try to keep a dialogue with the same people who have vowed to kill them? Having outrage over Israel's treatment of the PA because Hamas now leads them would be like being upset over how the US is trying to wipe out al Qaeda and Zarqawi over in Iraq instead of trying to make peace with him.
You cannot make peace with a rabid dog. Hamas, and now Fatah (as they have joined the mix) are rabid dogs. And frankly speaking, if Hamas and Fatah play nice, I believe they will use proxies to attack Israel. This was my belief after the Islamic Jihad bombing in April. A proxy strikes Israeli targets, Hamas condemns it publicly, but like Arafat used to do, they praise them privately. Nothing has changed.
But by limiting their funds, The "Quartet" and Israel might be able to contain Hamas. (Of course that is a pipe-dream and wishful thinking. We will see that soon enough.) But this decision by the Israelis to help their enemies is a mistake. This carrot that they are offering will cause them to get their arm gnawed off by the same dog they should have put down permanently years ago.
The Bunny ;)
ABC News has the story of how Israel has now decided that they will release funds to the Palestinian Authority. This comes just 24 hours AFTER the US and EU also gave in to the demands of people crying that the Palestinians will wither away and die without the funds they feel they are entitled to.
(Hat-Tip: Cox & Forkum)
Israel has agreed to release tens of millions of dollars it withheld from the Palestinians after Hamas ascended to power and is considering easing restrictions on the movement of goods between Israel and the Gaza Strip, officials said Thursday.
Senior members of Hamas and rival party Fatah called for acceptance of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Such an implied recognition of Israel would mark a major breakthrough for Hamas, which remains committed to the destruction of the Jewish state.
It was unclear whether the program would be backed by the Islamic militant group, which has resisted international demands to renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept existing peace agreements.
A Hamas spokesman praised the effort to create a joint platform which was drafted by senior Hamas and Fatah members who are imprisoned by Israel but he did not commit to it.
"It could be a good base for a national platform and a national dialogue, but it still needs more discussion," spokesman Mushir al Masri said.
Israel stopped transferring some $55 million in tax and customs revenues it collects monthly on behalf of the Palestinians shortly after Hamas won January parliamentary elections.
The withholding of those funds, coupled with a cutoff in aid from the U.S. and European Union, has left the Palestinians broke and two months behind in paying salaries to government workers who provide for about a third of the people in the West Bank and Gaza.
The potential humanitarian crisis is fueling international alarm.
Palestinians' savings are rapidly dwindling, merchants are forced to buy and sell on credit, gas stations have no fuel and teachers have started striking for back wages. International aid workers and government officials say the Palestinian health care system is on the verge of disaster and sanitation and sewage systems are liable to crash if money is not found soon.
International Mideast negotiators, worried by the reports, agreed at a meeting Tuesday in New York to release humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and to set up a special fund to administer the transfer.
All right. Release humanitarian funds. But hopefully those same people in New York will not peg the UN to handle the transfer of funds. That money will end up in their pockets, and the pockets of the militants in Hamas. But Israel has made it quite clear that these funds will go only for the easing of the humanitarian crisis that is brewing:
With the West softening its stance, Israel followed suit. On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Channel 10 TV that Israel, too, was willing to release withheld tax and customs revenues "for humanitarian needs such as medicines and health needs."
Livni said Israel would not agree to use the funds to pay salaries of Palestinian government employees. The government hasn't decided how much money would be released, or when, officials said.
Israel's dovish new defense minister, Amir Peretz, meanwhile, was considering easing restrictions on the passage of goods between Israel and Gaza, as international mediators had urged on Tuesday.
Israel has kept the main Karni cargo crossing closed for much of the year. The Israeli military cites security concerns, but Palestinians say they are being penalized for electing Hamas.
Um, hello? The Palestinians went to the polls and put a terrorist group in charge of their "nation." Is there really a reason why Israel would trust or try to keep a dialogue with the same people who have vowed to kill them? Having outrage over Israel's treatment of the PA because Hamas now leads them would be like being upset over how the US is trying to wipe out al Qaeda and Zarqawi over in Iraq instead of trying to make peace with him.
You cannot make peace with a rabid dog. Hamas, and now Fatah (as they have joined the mix) are rabid dogs. And frankly speaking, if Hamas and Fatah play nice, I believe they will use proxies to attack Israel. This was my belief after the Islamic Jihad bombing in April. A proxy strikes Israeli targets, Hamas condemns it publicly, but like Arafat used to do, they praise them privately. Nothing has changed.
But by limiting their funds, The "Quartet" and Israel might be able to contain Hamas. (Of course that is a pipe-dream and wishful thinking. We will see that soon enough.) But this decision by the Israelis to help their enemies is a mistake. This carrot that they are offering will cause them to get their arm gnawed off by the same dog they should have put down permanently years ago.
The Bunny ;)
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 3:17 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home