Text 1713, 124 rader
Skriven 2006-07-16 14:00:00 av BOB KLAHN (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av ALAN HESS
Ärende: complaint re Israel
===========================
 AH> Looks like someone doesn't understand what "acts of war"
 AH> and the consequences thereof are.

 Looks like nobody over there does.

 AH> The path of Israel's wall should be addressed in
 AH> negotiations, but Israel correctly won't negotiate with an
 AH> entity that seeks Israel's demise, and promotes rocket
 AH> attacks on and terrorist attacks in Israel.  Most of the
 AH> world, of course, will blame Israel for everything. *******

 And why would the other side negotiate with a country that has
 as it's ultimate aim the takeover of the entire area?

 Olmert himself was a believer in Greater Israel until 2 years
 ago, and his opposition used his conversion against him in the
 election.

 AH> washingtonpost.com

 AH> Aggression Under False Pretenses

 AH> By Ismail Haniyeh
 AH> Tuesday, July 11, 2006; A17

 AH> GAZA, Palestine -- As Americans commemorated their annual
 AH> celebration of independence from colonial occupation,
 AH> rejoicing in their democratic institutions, we Palestinians
 AH> were yet again besieged by our occupiers, who destroy our
 AH> roads and buildings, our power stations and water plants,
 AH> and who attack our very means of civil administration. Our
 AH> homes and government offices are shelled, our
 AH> parliamentarians taken prisoner and threatened with
 AH> prosecution.

 And just how does Isreal expect the Palestinians to establish a
 functioning state if they destroy the means to do so?

 AH> The current Gaza invasion is only the latest effort to
 AH> destroy the results of fair and free elections held early
 AH> this year. It is the explosive follow-up to a five-month
 AH> campaign of economic and diplomatic warfare directed by the
 AH> United States and Israel. The stated intention of that
 AH> strategy was to force the average Palestinian to
 AH> "reconsider" her vote when faced with deepening hardship;
 AH> its failure was predictable, and the new overt military
 AH> aggression and collective punishment are its logical
 AH> fulfillment. The "kidnapped" Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit is
 AH> only a pretext for a job scheduled months ago.

 Whether it was schedualed months ago, I do not know. Wouldn't
 put it past the US neo-cons. Do know, when you demand they have
 democratic elections, you may have to put up with a government
 you don't like.

 ...

 AH> I hope that Americans will give careful and well-informed
 AH> thought to root causes and historical realities, in which
 AH> case I think they will question why a supposedly
 AH> "legitimate" state such as Israel has had to conduct
 AH> decades of war against a subject refugee population without
 AH> ever achieving its goals.

 Every Israeli should be asking that question.

 ...

 AH> rights in an integrated manner. This means statehood for
 AH> the West Bank and Gaza, a capital in Arab East Jerusalem,
 AH> and resolving the 1948 Palestinian refugee issue fairly, on
 AH> the basis of international legitimacy and established law.
 AH> Meaningful negotiations with a non-expansionist,
 AH> law-abiding Israel can proceed only after this tremendous
 AH> labor has begun.

 All of which involves adherence to the legal basis for the
 region. And basic humanity.

 ...

 AH> However, we do not want to live on international welfare
 AH> and American handouts. We want what Americans enjoy --
 AH> democratic rights, economic sovereignty and justice. We
 AH> thought our pride in conducting the fairest elections in
 AH> the Arab world might resonate with the United States and
 AH> its citizens. Instead, our new government was met from the
 AH> very beginning by acts of explicit, declared sabotage by
 AH> the White House.

 For all those years we heard that Israel was the only democracy
 in the region. Now that there are two, we have to deal with that
 fact.

...

 AH> those same rights. Meanwhile, our right to defend ourselves
 AH> from occupying soldiers and aggression is a matter of law,
 AH> as settled in the Fourth Geneva Convention. If Israel is
 AH> prepared to negotiate seriously and fairly, and resolve the
 AH> core 1948 issues, rather than the secondary ones from 1967,
 AH> a fair and permanent peace is possible. Based on a hudna
 AH> (comprehensive cessation of hostilities for an agreed
 AH> time), the Holy Land still has an opportunity to be a
 AH> peaceful and stable economic powerhouse for all the Semitic
 AH> people of the region. If Americans only knew the truth,
 AH> possibility might become reality.

 And that seems increasingly important. We seem to have limited
 time to turn it around. It looks more and more like it will
 expand throughout the region.

 Isreal could win the war, and lose the peace, as has been so
 well known to the US.

 AH> The writer is prime minister of the Palestinian National
 AH> Authority. + 2006 The Washington Post Company

BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... Yes, but you're taking the universe out of context            .
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