This is what happens when you deal with clans, not democratic institutions, cloaked though some may be with that mantle. So much for peace with the Palestinians. If they are not careful, they will find themselves Jordanian subjects and not "Palestinians". In 2000, had Yasir Arafat had the word "yes" in his vocabulary, they would have a state right now. Alas, Arafat had what seems to be a congenital defect among Palestinians: sadly, they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Randy Shiner
Fatah and Hamas may be getting ready for another bloodbath
By The Daily Star Monday, July 28, 2008
Editorial
After three deadly bombings and a string of tit-for-tat arrests, tensions between Fatah and Hamas are once again running dangerously high. The last time that the rivalry between the two groups degenerated into street violence nearly a year ago, hundreds of innocent people were killed as a result. If the leaders of both Palestinian factions fail to come to their senses and rein in their respective supporters, the streets of Gaza and/or the Occupied West Bank could soon see yet another needless bloodbath.
Hamas leaders acted rashly when they almost immediately accused Fatah of carrying out an attack in Gaza late Friday night - and then responded by rounding up almost 200 Fatah members and shutting down cultural and sports offices. Fatah upped the ante of irresponsible behavior when it retaliated to Hamas' move by arresting 20 the Islamist group's members in the Occupied West Bank. Both groups know what can happen when these kinds of retaliatory actions get out of hand and both groups now have an urgent responsibility to prevent that from happening again.
Over the past few years, the rivalry between Hamas and Fatah has rapidly made its way up the list of threats to the Palestinians' existence. In some circles, it is still fashionable to blame Israel for all of the Palestinians' troubles, but in this instance, the leaders of Hamas and Fatah have committed crimes of equal magnitude against their own constituents. Not only have scores of people died at the hands of their armed forces, the fighting has also served to greatly undermine the Palestinian cause. It has become increasingly difficult for the international community to feel sympathy for the Palestinian people when their own leaders provide so much media ammunition to distract the world from their plight. The image of lawlessness and internecine warfare conveys the image of a people who are simply not ready for self-governance or an independent state.
The lessons from the Occupied Territories ought to also weigh heavily on Lebanese leaders, who have also shown a propensity to allow their power struggles to degenerate into violence that claims the lives of innocent victims. International mediators will soon grow tired of helping those who show no interest whatsoever in helping themselves.
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
18 June 2008
Rockets rain on Negev ahead of truce
View from the booth: That the Hamas terrorists have only their own power and control in mind, they purposely shoot at engineers and workers as well as directly at the Nahal Oz fuel plant that supplies these charming people with the gas they need to operate, and then blame Israel when it gets shut down as a result of damage to the facility. This is some kind of alternate sick reality.
Randy Shiner
Rockets rain on Negev ahead of truce
Published: 06/18/2008
Dozens of Kassam rockets hit southern Israel the day before a truce was expected to go into effect.
One of at least 40 rockets fired Wednesday from the Gaza Strip struck a house in Sderot. Another hit a greenhouse in the western Negev. Several mortars were also fired into Israel.
The attacks came shortly after the Israeli government confirmed that it accepted the terms of an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire with Hamas set to go into effect Thursday morning.
Palestinian gunmen also fired on engineers working near the border fence. In response, Israel closed the Nahal Oz fuel depot.
Randy Shiner
Rockets rain on Negev ahead of truce
Published: 06/18/2008
Dozens of Kassam rockets hit southern Israel the day before a truce was expected to go into effect.
One of at least 40 rockets fired Wednesday from the Gaza Strip struck a house in Sderot. Another hit a greenhouse in the western Negev. Several mortars were also fired into Israel.
The attacks came shortly after the Israeli government confirmed that it accepted the terms of an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire with Hamas set to go into effect Thursday morning.
Palestinian gunmen also fired on engineers working near the border fence. In response, Israel closed the Nahal Oz fuel depot.
On Collective Punishment From Someone Who Lives and Works Under the Kassam Rockets
A little background: Julia Chaitin crosses the same parking lot to go to her job at Sapir University as the 43 year old father of three who was killed when a Kassam Rocket killed him as he strolled from his car to the doors of the building at Sapir University. She has called living in the area "involuntary Russian Roulette".
Randy Shiner
Julia Chaitin, Ph.D.
Kibbutz Urim &
Department of Social Work - The Sapir College
As a resident of the area and a lecturer at the Sapir College, a place that is in the heart of "kassam land", I stand with the people of the western Negev in their demand that the extremely threatening and frightening situation cannot continue. Innocent people are being harmed – physically, but also no less importantly psychologically – from the kassam and mortar attacks. This widespread and deadly violence, on the part of the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad against citizens, who only want to live their lives, is neither justified nor moral.
All forms of non-violent protest on our part – directed against the decision makers on both sides of the border – are legitimate.
In recent weeks, some residents of the area have been gathering near the borders to prevent the transfer of supplies, food and medicines to people in Gaza, who are living under conditions that are much worse and much more dangerous than the conditions under which we Israelis live. Their reasoning: As long as the rocket attacks continue, we will prevent the people in Gaza from having access to needed supplies.
This is both an unjustified and immoral act.
Preventing the transfer of supplies that are necessary for the sustaining of life is collective punishment – and it constitutes widespread and indiscriminate violence on our part against innocent people on the other side.
Neither the children in Sderot and Otef Aza, nor the children in the Gaza Strip, are responsible for the violent conflict that exists between Israel and the Palestinians.
I call upon residents of the region not to support, and to actively oppose, acts of protest that prevent the transfer of food, medications and any and all supplies that are necessary for ordinary people – such as us – who live on the other side of the border. This is a violent act that is an immoral one.
We need to demand from our leaders and decision makers that they find other ways to solve to the insufferable ongoing rocket fire on Sderot and Otef Aza regions, but not by imposing collective punishment against innocent people.
Our protest against this impossible violent situation needs to be grounded in respect for human life – ours and that of the population in Gaza. We cannot allow ourselves to be convinced into believing that supporting, and even worse, encouraging collective punishments, that directly harm the basic rights of the people, is a legitimate form of protest. In the end, such forms of protest and punishment will become a deadly boomerang. If we adopt non-violent measures that are rooted in demanding human and civil rights for all peoples in Israel and the Gaza Strip, we will not only be fighting for the rights to live securely in our home, but for the true honor and morality of this home.
Randy Shiner
Julia Chaitin, Ph.D.
Kibbutz Urim &
Department of Social Work - The Sapir College
As a resident of the area and a lecturer at the Sapir College, a place that is in the heart of "kassam land", I stand with the people of the western Negev in their demand that the extremely threatening and frightening situation cannot continue. Innocent people are being harmed – physically, but also no less importantly psychologically – from the kassam and mortar attacks. This widespread and deadly violence, on the part of the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad against citizens, who only want to live their lives, is neither justified nor moral.
All forms of non-violent protest on our part – directed against the decision makers on both sides of the border – are legitimate.
In recent weeks, some residents of the area have been gathering near the borders to prevent the transfer of supplies, food and medicines to people in Gaza, who are living under conditions that are much worse and much more dangerous than the conditions under which we Israelis live. Their reasoning: As long as the rocket attacks continue, we will prevent the people in Gaza from having access to needed supplies.
This is both an unjustified and immoral act.
Preventing the transfer of supplies that are necessary for the sustaining of life is collective punishment – and it constitutes widespread and indiscriminate violence on our part against innocent people on the other side.
Neither the children in Sderot and Otef Aza, nor the children in the Gaza Strip, are responsible for the violent conflict that exists between Israel and the Palestinians.
I call upon residents of the region not to support, and to actively oppose, acts of protest that prevent the transfer of food, medications and any and all supplies that are necessary for ordinary people – such as us – who live on the other side of the border. This is a violent act that is an immoral one.
We need to demand from our leaders and decision makers that they find other ways to solve to the insufferable ongoing rocket fire on Sderot and Otef Aza regions, but not by imposing collective punishment against innocent people.
Our protest against this impossible violent situation needs to be grounded in respect for human life – ours and that of the population in Gaza. We cannot allow ourselves to be convinced into believing that supporting, and even worse, encouraging collective punishments, that directly harm the basic rights of the people, is a legitimate form of protest. In the end, such forms of protest and punishment will become a deadly boomerang. If we adopt non-violent measures that are rooted in demanding human and civil rights for all peoples in Israel and the Gaza Strip, we will not only be fighting for the rights to live securely in our home, but for the true honor and morality of this home.
29 May 2008
U.S. Withdraws Fulbright Grants to Gaza
Regardless of US Government infighting, the ultimate problem rests upon the people under Hamas' rule. 40 years ago, students all over Europe, while not starting revolution, started a change to open Europe to new ways of thinking and living after WWII. It is the responsibility of those who are suffering directly and exactly because of the actions of Hamas against Israel who are ultimately at fault. It is a pity that they do not have their own people's true interests in mind when they launch rockets at Israel and perpetuate an ideology and way of life that has no future. As was pointed out by the commentator yesterday in the Beirut Daily Star with respect to Hezb'Allah, Hamas likewise has no raison d'etre once peace is hopefully and finally attained. At present, as long as they have a compliant, subjugated and timid people under their violent thumbs, Hamas will stay in power. The sooner students and others who are denied the things that come with freedom - responsibility - decide that enough is enough and revolt against Hamas, the better.
U.S. Withdraws Fulbright Grants to Gaza
By ETHAN BRONNER
Published: May 30, 2008
GAZA — The American State Department has withdrawn all Fulbright grants to Palestinian students in Gaza hoping to pursue advanced degrees at American institutions this fall because Israel has not granted them permission to leave.
Ali Ali/European Pressphoto Agency, for The New York Times
Hadeel Abukwaik, standing, an engineering software instructor in Gaza, was in disbelief over losing her Fulbright grant.
Ali Ali/European Pressphoto Agency
Abdulrahman Abdullah, a Palestinian Fulbright candidate, in Al Deira hotel in Gaza City.
Israel has isolated this coastal strip, which is run by the militant group Hamas. Given that policy, the United States Consulate in Jerusalem said the grant money had been “redirected” to students elsewhere out of concern that it would go to waste if the Palestinian students were forced to remain in Gaza.
A letter was sent by e-mail to the students on Thursday telling them of the cancellation. Abdulrahman Abdullah, 30, who had been hoping to study for an M.B.A. at one of several American universities on his Fulbright, was in shock when he read it.
“If we are talking about peace and mutual understanding, it means investing in people who will later contribute to Palestinian society,” he said. “I am against Hamas. Their acts and policies are wrong. Israel talks about a Palestinian state. But who will build that state if we can get no training?”
Some Israeli lawmakers, who held a hearing on the issue of student movement out of Gaza on Wednesday, expressed anger that their government was failing to promote educational and civil development in a future Palestine given the hundreds of students who had been offered grants by the United States and other Western governments.
“This could be interpreted as collective punishment,” complained Rabbi Michael Melchior, chairman of the Parliament’s education committee, during the hearing. “This policy is not in keeping with international standards or with the moral standards of Jews, who have been subjected to the deprivation of higher education in the past. Even in war, there are rules.” Rabbi Melchior is from the Meimad Party, allied with Labor.
The committee asked the government and military to reconsider the policy and get back to it within two weeks. But even if the policy is changed, the seven Fulbright grantees in Gaza are out of luck for this year. Their letters urged them to reapply next year.
Israel’s policy appears to be in flux. At the parliamentary hearing on Wednesday, a Defense Ministry official recalled that the cabinet had declared Gaza “hostile territory” and decided that the safety of Israeli soldiers and civilians at or near the border should be risked only to facilitate the movement out of Gaza for humanitarian concerns, like medical treatment. Higher education, he said, was not a humanitarian concern.
But when a query about the canceled Fulbrights was made to the prime minister’s office on Thursday, senior officials expressed surprise. They said they did, in fact, consider study abroad to be a humanitarian necessity and that when cases were appealed to them, they would facilitate them.
They suggested that American officials never brought the Fulbright cases to their attention. The State Department and American officials in Israel refused to discuss the matter. But the failure to persuade the Israelis may have stemmed from longstanding tensions between the consulate in Jerusalem, which handles Palestinian affairs, and the embassy in Tel Aviv, which manages relations with the Israeli government.
The study grants notwithstanding, the Israeli officials argued that the policy of isolating Gaza was working, that Palestinians here were starting to lose faith in Hamas’s ability to rule because of the hardships of life.
Since Hamas, a radical Islamist group that opposes Israel’s existence, carried out what amounted to a coup d’état in Gaza against the more secular Fatah party a year ago, hundreds of rockets and mortar shells have been launched from here at Israeli civilians, truck and car bombs have gone off and numerous attempts to kidnap Israeli soldiers have taken place.
While Hamas says the attacks are in response to Israeli military incursions into Gaza, it also says it will never recognize Israel.
“We are using the rockets to shake the conscience of the world about Israeli aggression,” argued Ahmed Yusef, political adviser to the Hamas foreign minister in an interview in his office here. “All our rockets are a reaction to Israeli aggression.”
The Israeli closing of Gaza has added markedly to the difficulty of daily life here, with long lines for cooking gas and a sense across the population of being under siege. Israel does send in about 70 truckloads per day of wheat, dairy products and medical equipment as well as some fuel, and it permits some medical cases out.
But Israel’s stated goal is to support moderates among the Palestinians so that Hamas will lose power, and even some security-conscious Israeli hard-liners say that the policy of barring students with grants abroad is counterproductive.
“We correctly complain that the Palestinian Authority is not building civil society, but when we don’t help build civil society this plays into the hands of Hamas,” said Natan Sharansky, a former government official. “The Fulbright is administered independently, and people are chosen for it due to their talents.”
The State Department Web site describes the Fulbright, the American government’s flagship program in international educational exchange, as “an integral part of U.S. foreign relations.” It adds, “the Fulbright Program creates a context to provide a better understanding of U.S. views and values, promotes more effective binational cooperation and nurtures open-minded, thoughtful leaders, both in the U.S. and abroad, who can work together to address common concerns.”
Sari Bashi, who directs Gisha, an Israeli organization devoted to monitoring and increasing the free movement of Palestinians, said, “The fact that the U.S. cannot even get taxpayer-funded Fulbright students out of Gaza demonstrates the injustice and short-sightedness of a closure policy that arbitrarily traps 1.5 million people, including hundreds of Palestinian students accepted to universities abroad.” She said that their education was good not just for Palestinian society, but for Israel as well.
Some Israelis disagree strongly.
“We are fighting the regime in Gaza that does its utmost to kill our citizens and destroy our schools and our colleges,” said Yuval Steinitz, a lawmaker from the opposition Likud Party. “So I don’t think we should allow students from Gaza to go anywhere. Gaza is under siege, and rightly so, and it is up to the Gazans to change the regime or its behavior.”
Hadeel Abukwaik, a 23-year-old engineering software instructor in Gaza, had hoped to do graduate work in the United States this fall on the Fulbright that she thought was hers. She had stayed in Gaza this past winter when its metal border fence was destroyed and tens of thousands of Gazans poured into Egypt, including her sister, because the agency administering the Fulbright told her she would get the grant only if she stayed put. She lives alone in Gaza where she was sent to study because the cost is low; her parents, Palestinian refugees, live in Dubai.
“I stayed to get my scholarship,” she said. “Now I am desperate.”
She, like her six colleagues, was in disbelief. Mr. Abdullah, who called the consulate in Jerusalem for further explanation after receiving his letter, said to the official on the other end, “I still cannot believe that the American administration is not able to convince the Israelis to let seven Palestinians out of Gaza.”
Taghreed el-Khodary contributed reporting.
U.S. Withdraws Fulbright Grants to Gaza
By ETHAN BRONNER
Published: May 30, 2008
GAZA — The American State Department has withdrawn all Fulbright grants to Palestinian students in Gaza hoping to pursue advanced degrees at American institutions this fall because Israel has not granted them permission to leave.
Ali Ali/European Pressphoto Agency, for The New York Times
Hadeel Abukwaik, standing, an engineering software instructor in Gaza, was in disbelief over losing her Fulbright grant.
Ali Ali/European Pressphoto Agency
Abdulrahman Abdullah, a Palestinian Fulbright candidate, in Al Deira hotel in Gaza City.
Israel has isolated this coastal strip, which is run by the militant group Hamas. Given that policy, the United States Consulate in Jerusalem said the grant money had been “redirected” to students elsewhere out of concern that it would go to waste if the Palestinian students were forced to remain in Gaza.
A letter was sent by e-mail to the students on Thursday telling them of the cancellation. Abdulrahman Abdullah, 30, who had been hoping to study for an M.B.A. at one of several American universities on his Fulbright, was in shock when he read it.
“If we are talking about peace and mutual understanding, it means investing in people who will later contribute to Palestinian society,” he said. “I am against Hamas. Their acts and policies are wrong. Israel talks about a Palestinian state. But who will build that state if we can get no training?”
Some Israeli lawmakers, who held a hearing on the issue of student movement out of Gaza on Wednesday, expressed anger that their government was failing to promote educational and civil development in a future Palestine given the hundreds of students who had been offered grants by the United States and other Western governments.
“This could be interpreted as collective punishment,” complained Rabbi Michael Melchior, chairman of the Parliament’s education committee, during the hearing. “This policy is not in keeping with international standards or with the moral standards of Jews, who have been subjected to the deprivation of higher education in the past. Even in war, there are rules.” Rabbi Melchior is from the Meimad Party, allied with Labor.
The committee asked the government and military to reconsider the policy and get back to it within two weeks. But even if the policy is changed, the seven Fulbright grantees in Gaza are out of luck for this year. Their letters urged them to reapply next year.
Israel’s policy appears to be in flux. At the parliamentary hearing on Wednesday, a Defense Ministry official recalled that the cabinet had declared Gaza “hostile territory” and decided that the safety of Israeli soldiers and civilians at or near the border should be risked only to facilitate the movement out of Gaza for humanitarian concerns, like medical treatment. Higher education, he said, was not a humanitarian concern.
But when a query about the canceled Fulbrights was made to the prime minister’s office on Thursday, senior officials expressed surprise. They said they did, in fact, consider study abroad to be a humanitarian necessity and that when cases were appealed to them, they would facilitate them.
They suggested that American officials never brought the Fulbright cases to their attention. The State Department and American officials in Israel refused to discuss the matter. But the failure to persuade the Israelis may have stemmed from longstanding tensions between the consulate in Jerusalem, which handles Palestinian affairs, and the embassy in Tel Aviv, which manages relations with the Israeli government.
The study grants notwithstanding, the Israeli officials argued that the policy of isolating Gaza was working, that Palestinians here were starting to lose faith in Hamas’s ability to rule because of the hardships of life.
Since Hamas, a radical Islamist group that opposes Israel’s existence, carried out what amounted to a coup d’état in Gaza against the more secular Fatah party a year ago, hundreds of rockets and mortar shells have been launched from here at Israeli civilians, truck and car bombs have gone off and numerous attempts to kidnap Israeli soldiers have taken place.
While Hamas says the attacks are in response to Israeli military incursions into Gaza, it also says it will never recognize Israel.
“We are using the rockets to shake the conscience of the world about Israeli aggression,” argued Ahmed Yusef, political adviser to the Hamas foreign minister in an interview in his office here. “All our rockets are a reaction to Israeli aggression.”
The Israeli closing of Gaza has added markedly to the difficulty of daily life here, with long lines for cooking gas and a sense across the population of being under siege. Israel does send in about 70 truckloads per day of wheat, dairy products and medical equipment as well as some fuel, and it permits some medical cases out.
But Israel’s stated goal is to support moderates among the Palestinians so that Hamas will lose power, and even some security-conscious Israeli hard-liners say that the policy of barring students with grants abroad is counterproductive.
“We correctly complain that the Palestinian Authority is not building civil society, but when we don’t help build civil society this plays into the hands of Hamas,” said Natan Sharansky, a former government official. “The Fulbright is administered independently, and people are chosen for it due to their talents.”
The State Department Web site describes the Fulbright, the American government’s flagship program in international educational exchange, as “an integral part of U.S. foreign relations.” It adds, “the Fulbright Program creates a context to provide a better understanding of U.S. views and values, promotes more effective binational cooperation and nurtures open-minded, thoughtful leaders, both in the U.S. and abroad, who can work together to address common concerns.”
Sari Bashi, who directs Gisha, an Israeli organization devoted to monitoring and increasing the free movement of Palestinians, said, “The fact that the U.S. cannot even get taxpayer-funded Fulbright students out of Gaza demonstrates the injustice and short-sightedness of a closure policy that arbitrarily traps 1.5 million people, including hundreds of Palestinian students accepted to universities abroad.” She said that their education was good not just for Palestinian society, but for Israel as well.
Some Israelis disagree strongly.
“We are fighting the regime in Gaza that does its utmost to kill our citizens and destroy our schools and our colleges,” said Yuval Steinitz, a lawmaker from the opposition Likud Party. “So I don’t think we should allow students from Gaza to go anywhere. Gaza is under siege, and rightly so, and it is up to the Gazans to change the regime or its behavior.”
Hadeel Abukwaik, a 23-year-old engineering software instructor in Gaza, had hoped to do graduate work in the United States this fall on the Fulbright that she thought was hers. She had stayed in Gaza this past winter when its metal border fence was destroyed and tens of thousands of Gazans poured into Egypt, including her sister, because the agency administering the Fulbright told her she would get the grant only if she stayed put. She lives alone in Gaza where she was sent to study because the cost is low; her parents, Palestinian refugees, live in Dubai.
“I stayed to get my scholarship,” she said. “Now I am desperate.”
She, like her six colleagues, was in disbelief. Mr. Abdullah, who called the consulate in Jerusalem for further explanation after receiving his letter, said to the official on the other end, “I still cannot believe that the American administration is not able to convince the Israelis to let seven Palestinians out of Gaza.”
Taghreed el-Khodary contributed reporting.
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