Israel is attempting to ratchet up pressure against tomorrow’s historic signing of a reconciliation pact between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo. It has announced it will begin withholding $90-million per month in taxes which it collects on behalf of the PA, which is in violation of international agreements it has signed to pass this revenue directly on to the Palestinians. Israel’s argument that the funds, which now go to the PA, would somehow end up in the hands of Hamas is ridiculous considering that Fatah currently runs the PA, and even the transitional government which will take over for the next year will contain solely independent figures with no formal loyalties to either party.
No, this is pure payback. It is akin to the Israeli siege on Gaza which is claimed as a counter-terror measure, when it is actually a form of collective punishment for the enclave’s 1.5 million people for choosing the wrong horse in the last election. If Israel thinks that withholding $90 million will get the Palestinians’ attention or force it to do Israel’s bidding, this thinking is daft. The Palestinians are focussed on creating a state and Israel is foccused on what it can do to impoverish them. There seems to be a major disconnect in the two positions.
Bibi is off on a major European junket at which he will pitch England and France on the jeopardy into which the new unity government will throw not just the Middle East, but the entire world. That’s right. Just as Iran wants to destroy not just Israel but Jews worldwide, so Hamas’ entrance into such a government will endanger the entire world (somehow). France’s Sarkozy has let Bibi know even before his arrival that anything he can will likely be futile. His government announced that unless there is a marked shift in the dynamics, France would be supporting a Palestinian state come September.
Looks like Bibi’s trip is likely to fizzle even before it starts.
Three brave Israeli Palestinian MKs were invited by Egypt to participate in the signing of the unity pact and they are in Cairo now. When they return, the far right Knesset bloc will no doubt have their heads, calling them traitors and the lot.
The premise of this piece is faulty. The “tax” money is fungible, as is all money. That being said, whether in Fatah’s hands or those of Hamas, this represents cash that could be diverted for armaments to be used against Israel.
Both Fatah and Hamas are terrorist organizations and do not deserve to be treated as “governments in waiting” by the world community or any nation, including Israel. Where did the author come up with this nonsensical notion that because the Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas that any action by Israel against this sworn enemy is “collective punishment” of 1.5 Million Gaza residents?
dear joel, Fatah has sorta given up on the terrorism. ya might have noticed that.
the PA has been recognized as a government in waiting for long years despite Arafat’s failures. since his too-long delayed demise, the PA has mostly been digging out of the ruins and attempting to work out a deal for 2states.
Hamas is a different story and is still in need of a whale of a lot of modification, which won’t easily be achieved.
Richard,
Yuval Diskin (outgoing head of Shabak) is in agreement with you vis a vis the withholding of taxes collected on behalf of the P.A.and you are both right.
The P.A. and Salām Fayāḍ in particular have made great efforts in adopting a pragmatic approach to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
In the name of Peace and Tolerance, Israel should reciprocate and do all she can to support the moderate P.A.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4064614,00.html
You’re not one to condemn Israel for violating international law when you refuse to condemn your own president for ordering an unlawful operation in the sovereign nation of Pakistan and the murder, execution style, of an unarmed man.
If Obama knew Bin Laden was in Pakistan, he should have requested an arrest and extradition of the man to be tried in accordance with international. How did Obama know Bin Ladan was in Pakistan anyway. Do you want to tell me that the US spies on their allies? Say it aint so.
Anyway, in the last thread on which I posted you called me a hasbarist troll, and meant it to be an insult. This is a violation of your first comment rule. My comments, on the other hand have been very civil. I have therefore decided to ban this blog from my computer. Tikun Olam indeed.
“I have therefore decided to ban this blog from my computer. Tikun Olam indeed.”
Funny!
i pity netanyahu and fear his reaction when he is cornered as he is now with this hamas-fatah deal … let’s hope he’s not now thinking of another assassination attempt to turn jordan into the palestinian state he always wished it to be …
Israel’s Campaign Against Palestine is nothing compared to the Palestinian’s campaign against Palestine:
‘Hamas praises Osama bin Laden as holy warrior’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/hamas-osama-bin-laden
Off-topic. Non sequitur. Grandstanding. Point scoring.
Do NOT violate the comment rules with extraneous off topic comments.
If quoting Haniyeh is to be considered point scoring, what about quoting Aberjil/Sevillia? At least Haniyeh represents something.
It is off-topic though.
I wouldn’t count on the Guardian or any other Western newspaper on reporting Haniyeh’s words on the assassination of Ben Laden. He called him a ‘mujahîd’, considered him a ‘shahîd’ (even kids killed during Cast Lead are considered ‘shuhada’) and criticized the American intervention on foreign territory. Haniyeh also clearly stated that Hamas and al-Qaïda don’t share a common ideology, but that of course hasn’t been reported by Western newspapers. Maan News which is not really known for any pro-Hamas stance has reprinted Haniyeh’s statement, also in the English version if my memory is correct.
and what might ‘mujahîd’, considered him a ‘shahîd’ be ?
Is the first one “a person who is doing Jihad” ?
Since Jihad is one of the bases of Islam, then Hayina thinks 9/11 was part of a holy war and Osama was fighting for Islam by killing all those people.
This is the 2nd time you have done violence to Haniya’s name. You were warned about this the first time. This is deliberately disrespectful, mean-spirited & racist & I WILL NOT allow it. Do you understand?? Now you will be moderated & any further comment rule violations will cause yr privileges to be revoked.
This is again off topic. The subject of this blog post is not 9/11 nor even Osama bin Laden.