Trapped By Gaza Blockade, Locked In Despair -- New York Times
GAZA CITY — The women were bleary-eyed, their voices weak, their hands red and calloused. How could they be expected to cook and clean without water or electricity? What could they do in homes that were dark and hot all day? How could they cope with husbands who had not worked for years and children who were angry and aimless?
Sitting with eight other women at a stress clinic, Jamalat Wadi, 28, tried to listen to the mental health worker. But she could not contain herself. She has eight children, and her unemployed husband spends his days on sedatives.
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My Comment: It is hard to feel sympathy for a people who openly advocate genocide against the people of another country (i.e. Israel) .... but elections have consequences and for the Palestinians in Gaza that has taken the shape of Hamas and a hostile and destructive Israeli/Egyptian blockade.
As for any hope of a two state solution and/or peace process being successful between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza .... after reading this New York Times story I walk away with zero confidence.
Hi Victor, Irwin Cotler: Simple questions for a complex situation - Full Comment.
ReplyDeleteSo let's review the facts:
* Israel is fighting for its very existence, whereas Hamas is not fighting for an independent Palestinian state, but the advancement of a radical Islamic ideology.
* Israel is not opposed to creating a Palestinian state, and even has dismantled Jewish settlements to allow such a state to being created; Hamas's party platform calls for the destruction of Israel, and not the creation of a Palestinian state living peacefully side-by-side with the Jews.
* Israel was founded by Jews seeking a national homeland after the Holocaust; Hamas was founded by Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Islamic group that worked with the Nazis and spawned most of today's terrorist groups.
* Israel does not deliberately target civilians; Hamas suicide bombs any Jew it can and purposely uses schools and mosques as staging grounds for attacks, thus using civilians as shields.
* Israel is democratic, protecting the rights of both its Jewish and Arab citizens; Hamas is a tyrannical organization that kills its critics.
* Israel took measures to warn civilians of impending assaults; Hamas breaks ceasefires unilaterally and repeatedly views Jews living in Israel as legitimate targets for attack.
* Israel is treating Palestinian civilians injured in the conflict in their hospitals; Hamas uses hospitals as terrorist staging grounds.
victory by Israel over Hamas is a victory for all those seeking peace between Israelis and Palestinians; it is a victory for those desiring an independent, peaceful Palestinian state that does not live in a state of war with the Israelis; and it is a victory for those that care about the well-being of the Palestinians, rather than the destruction of the Jewish state.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/01/22/newholder1.aspx
Thank you Mr. Cotler for your comment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything that you are saying with the exception that I do not believe that Hamas can be defeated.
Hamas enjoys enormous support in Gaza .... with many (if not the entire population) in Gaza supporting the idea of destroying Israel and expelling the Jews to somewhere else.
To change such a cultural mindset will take generations, but with a population growth that is closer to 40% (every 14 years) and economic despair prevalent throughout the Gaza strip .... there will be a point where everything will explode for the simple reason that such a status quo is not sustainable.
My prediction .... that day will probably come sooner than what we think.