3enak, 3enak!
Said regarding the closure policy adopted by Israel in retaliation against Hamas being elected.."[The clossure policy] is to put the Palestinians on a diet but not make them die of hunger."
- Dov Weisglass
For more about the current situation in Gaza city visit here
posted by x @ 11:08 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
At 3/03/2006 8:58 AM,
Anonymous said…
how infuriating! of COURSE the ppl there wont have money....the US and Israel are pulling their aid out....i cant believe it....they are literally trying to make them starve. as if things are bad enough!
i give major props to this Laila girl...she is very admirable mashallah.
At 3/03/2006 8:44 PM,
Anonymous said…
anonymous, I have to disagree with you. The ones elected in the past abused the use of funds and the people suffered for it. They did what we here in America have been doing. If one party fails us we elect the other party. Sometimes that is not much better. There is no reason for innocent men,women or children should have to suffer. By refusing them help how is that going to help them?
At 3/03/2006 10:04 PM,
Anonymous said…
I am the anonymous who wrote the original comment.
In response to chet:
I understand that the people chose Hamas in part because of Fatah's corruption. However, there were, in fact, other candidates running such as Mustafa Barghouti who are more moderate and reasonable. They were virtually ignored by the Palestinians.
The fact that the Palestinians were able to ignore Hamas's past terrorism and violence, their unwillingness to engage in an any substantitive negotations with Israel, as well as their Islamist agenda for society, says something about the nature of the Palestinian society today.
At 3/03/2006 11:51 PM,
Anonymous said…
Anonymous, I respect what you have to say, but not everyone voted for Hamas and they are the ones who will suffer the most. The children had no say so as far as who would run their country. I guess I just can't see how cutting off the help to the people will help make anything better. I am not trying to argue with you, I just see things differently.
At 3/04/2006 2:26 AM,
Anonymous said…
Anonymous again,
Well, Chet, I agree with that. It is unfortunately the case that the innocent children are the ones who suffer most in any conflict of this nature.
I don't think the US and Europe will actually cut off all aid rather I think it will be rerouted through non-government sources outside of the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas's position is impractical. There is no possible way the Palestinians are going to defeat the Israelis and, as you said, it is the Palestinian children who suffer the most from this situation.
If Hamas would simply make a concession to reality; make the token gesture of recognizing Israel and agreeing a negotiated settlement is the only way forward (not even having to specify what they would demand in such negotiations) this would alleviate a lot of pressure, perhaps not from Israel, but from other Western nations. It doesn't surprise me that Hamas won't do this, though. After all, this is the same group that has a history of recruiting young people for suicide bombings - they clearly don't care very much about the welfare of Palestinian children.
At 3/04/2006 8:38 PM,
Anonymous said…
i think what they need over there is EDUCATION...i feel they are sorely lacking in that area. Anonymous, if you get a chance, read Suicide in Palestine. it's a great book that looks into the psyche of these "suicide" bombers....its not what we all think. there is so much more that goes into their lives and the decisions they make. its very interesting to read.
At 3/05/2006 1:49 PM,
x said…
Thanks guys for having a civilized conversation..
Just a few comments mainly responding to Anonymous..
“other candidates such as Mustafa Barghouti who are more moderate and reasonable were virtually ignored by the Palestinians.”
Barghouti is in jail! How do you expect people to vote for him? What kind of campaign can he run from his jail cell? Plus, he was part of the Palestinian government before he was jailed, wasn’t he “moderate and reasonable” then?
“The fact that the Palestinians were able to ignore Hamas's past terrorism and violence, their unwillingness to engage in an any substantitive negotations with Israel, as well as their Islamist agenda for society, says something about the nature of the Palestinian society today.”
Hamas to the Palestinians is a lot more than what you think. Hamas built schools, provided healthcare for the poor, gave interest free loans, among many other things. While they are often portrayed as bloody murderers, the media has failed to show that Hamas actually benefits Palestinians in need. Heck! If Bush provided healthcare, a better education and gave interest fee loans, he might even have a chance at a third term?! ;)
On another note, Chet said it best “not everyone voted for Hamas and they are the ones who will suffer the most. The children had no say so as far as who would run their country. I guess I just can't see how cutting off the help to the people will help make anything better.”
I think starving people (especially civilians) based on who they voted is a crime against humanity. But in this case we’re starving innocent children and even people who didn’t vote for Hamas!! How’s that any different from Bin Laden targeting American civilians based solely on the fact that they’re Americans!! I think both examples mentioned are acts of terrorism, one run by a state, the other by Al Qaeda.
Lastly, “if Hamas would simply make a concession to reality; make the token gesture of recognizing Israel and agreeing a negotiated settlement is the only way forward”
So you’re trying to convince me that all it takes is Hamas recognizing Israel to make peace? The previous PA recognized Israel for over a decade now, and look how much progress we made… more settlements built, more settlers moved in (the 8000 kicked out of Gaza all went to the West bank plus a few thousands more), and an Apartheid wall forming the biggest jail in the world. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think anyone can view these moves as being positive. Perhaps that’s why they voted for a different political party.
At 3/05/2006 2:59 PM,
Anonymous said…
"Barghouti is in jail! How do you expect people to vote for him? What kind of campaign can he run from his jail cell? Plus, he was part of the Palestinian government before he was jailed, wasn’t he “moderate and reasonable” then?"
Omar, you are confusing Marwan "Al-Aqsa Martyr" Barghouti with, no relation, Mustafa "the Moderate" Barghouti. Check the Wikipedia articles on these two men.
"Hamas to the Palestinians is a lot more than what you think. Hamas built schools, provided healthcare for the poor, gave interest free loans, among many other things. While they are often portrayed as bloody murderers, the media has failed to show that Hamas actually benefits Palestinians in need."
No doubt they do all of what you are saying, but if Al-Qaida tried this, they would still not win my support.
"Heck! If Bush provided healthcare, a better education and gave interest fee loans, he might even have a chance at a third term?!"
Come on, Omar! Admit it. Even if Bush did all this you still wouldn't encourage people to vote for him. ;)
"So you’re trying to convince me that all it takes is Hamas recognizing Israel to make peace?"
Like I said, I didn't say Israel would compromise, I said the West (and the Arab World for that matter) would be in a stronger position to assist the Palestinian Authority if they looked like they weren't hellbent on Israel's complete annihilation.
Concerning your comments regarding children and starvation. I stated that it was unfortunate that children suffer
As I stated earlier, the West will likely reroute the money to sources outside of the Palestinian Authority's control to assist the Palestinian people in their humanitarian needs. Still, if the Palestinians are so concerned about starvation and about children, then Fatah should have managed its finances better over the years and Hamas should stop recruited the young and impressionable for senseless and useless suicide bombings.
Finally, concerning your attempt at comparing Western policy regarding how to best contain Hamas and help Palestinians at the same time to al-Qaida's willful engagement in mass murder aimed at all non-Salafist humanity, please don't be ridiculous. This is not even a comparison worthy of debate.
Post a Comment
<< Home