Israel’s War on Gaza – The Aftermath

George Mitchell is to return to the region within weeks – Hillary Clinton says “This is the first of what will be an ongoing high level of engagement by Senator Mitchell”.

Clinton is completely and unrealistically intransigent on negotiating with Hamas, thus showing she backs the Zionist murderers and land thieves to the hilt.

How will the Palestinians work around the American/Zionist position?

Abbas, whom Hamas do not recognise as legitimate as his term expired on January 9, is in Europe and is touting the formation of a national unity government, which will include Hamas.

The French foreign minister said: “The president and I talked about the Palestinian reconciliation and that is a major issue, that would leave open the possibility to find an agreement to work out a Palestinian unity government to be put in place.

“First of all, in Gaza, the gates must be opened. The checkpoints must be opened. This is not sufficiently the case right now.”

Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera’s Palestinian West Bank correspondent, said that Abbas “wants European assurances that they will deal with a Palestinian government of national unity that will include Hamas, no doubt, if and when that government is formed”.

“In 2007, the Europeans did not agree to deal with a government of national unity headed by Hamas. So Abbas does not want a repeat of that,” she said.

“He is telling the Europeans that it is simply unacceptable for them to adopt that same position because it literally jeopardises the future of Palestinians and their aspirations to unite.”

Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas would be predicated on “two essential principles”, Abbas said.

They are “a national unity government whose formation will not lead to a blockade [and] a national unity government that considers itself bound by international legality and previous agreements,” he said.

“If Palestinian reconciliation is achieved, if the US administration is ready for work and the Israeli government is formed in a short period, I believe that the conditions would make it possible for the political process.”

While in Paris, Abbas also met Sarkozy, the French president, and Bernard Accoyer, the president of the lower house of France’s parliament.

If Hamas is successful in negotiating the opening of the Gaza concentration camp doors, and if they become amenable to forming a ‘unity’ government, the Euros might become sympathetic. Even so, my prediction going on past history is that Israel and its puppy dog America will find some new excuse to avoid just settlement with the Palestinian people.

Some sad pictures and commentary about the destruction of the beautiful Islamic University of Gaza demanded my attention today. Israel’s despicable obliteration of places of education is always excused, yet the metaphor of its actions speaks louder than its propaganda.

Comments I like include:

That’s what happens when you hide terrorists in your school library.

I’ve learned now that Terrorism just means “fighting for your homes against the imperials”

I watched Star Wars. I know who’s side I’m on.

The Rebel Alliance.

Obviously, the problem is all that worthless hand-me-down stuff they get from the US. Must be faulty equipment. Look at the track record. They keep trying to kill “terrorists” and it keeps hitting schools, mosques, hospitals, UN buildings, small children. Clearly, the equipment is to blame — otherwise, one could never explain 1) why it happens ALL the time, 2) why a group of ragged, starving “terrorists” can kick the butts of the 3rd strongest military in the world and 3) the US has the same problem in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Clearly the answer is for Israel to IMMEDIATELY send back all defective product, refuse further equipment from the US, refuse all aid from the US (don’t want to be pressured into using that money to buy any defective US equipment). I firmly believe that if Israel bought its OWN weapons with its OWN money, the problem would be solved.

Such an easy solution … wonder why Obama doesn’t push that one. He could go down in history as the man who solved the middle east crisis.

Puppet story of the day – the BBC is slavishly repeating the dictatorial press release of the Israeli Foreign Ministry reported in Haaretz imposing sanctions on Al Jazeera staff based in Israel. ‘Fascists’ is the appropriate terminology for those limiting the freedom of the press – apparently the BBC is heading down the same track, adding insult to injury after its management’s refusal to broadcast the DEC humanitarian appeal for Gaza.

The government will impose sanctions on Israel-based employees of the Al Jazeera network in response to the closure last month of the Israeli trade office in Qatar, which hosts and funds the network. Qatar had closed the office in opposition to Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Following the closure, the Foreign Ministry, in conjunction with the newly-formed national information directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office, considered declaring the station a hostile entity and closing its offices in Israel. After submitting the idea to legal review, however, concerns emerged it would not be permitted by the High Court of Justice.

Instead, it chose to limit the network’s activity in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. First, Israel will not renew the visas of Al Jazeera’s non-Israeli employees or grant visas to new employees. Second, station representatives will have reduced accessibility to government and military bodies, and will not be allowed into briefings or press conferences.

Rafahkid examines a war crime carried out by Israel since the supposed Israeli unilateral truce:

Israeli armed forces opened fire on a group of Human Rights Workers (HRWs) and civilians in the Beit Hannoun area of the Gaza Strip on Thursday 29th January. International HRWs were accompanying residents of Beit Hannoun, in the far north of the Gaza Strip, to their homes, in order to salvage belongings from the rubble, after the homes were bulldozed by Israeli forces during the Israeli war on Gaza.

One Palestinian family, the Tarrabin family, were anxious to try to retrieve important items, such as identity cards; cash; and clothes, that Israeli soldiers prevented them from taking with them when they were evicted moments before their home was destroyed. Residents had been further prevented from returning to their homes, which lie in close proximity to the Green Line, by Israeli military firing upon them whenever they attempted to enter the area. Families were advised by soldiers, upon being evicted from their homes, that the area had been declared a “Closed Military Zone”.