**GOOD NEWS FROM GAZA** Time for Mubarak to deal with "Palestinian brothers".Good deal for a change to all of us.....

Hamas considering economic disengagement from Israel


In interview with London paper, senior advisor to Hamas leader states that organization seeks economic unity with Egypt, which would supply Gaza with fuel, electricity


Hamas is seriously contemplating severing the Gaza Strip’s economic ties with Israel, said Ahmed Yousef, a senior advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in a Saturday interview with the London-based newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat
Yousef furthermore stated that Hamas has already generated plans and proposals to unite economically with Egypt instead of Israel. According to Hamas, Egypt can serve as ‘Gaza’s gateway’ to the Arab and Muslim world and as its in-depth strategic partner.
The organization has already generated plans, likely presented to the Egyptian government during a Hamas delegation visit to Cairo last week, whereupon Egypt can supply the Gaza Strip with fuel and electricity, as well as opening the Rafah Crossing for commerce with Gaza.
“Several Arab countries have already expressed marked willingness to trade with Gaza and to fund energy export projects should Egypt prove willing,” said Yousef, noting that Hamas wants to bolster Gaza’s economy by ending its nearly absolute economic reliance on Israel.
When asked whether Hamas is also considering abandoning the use of Israeli currency in the Strip, Yousef indicated that this “might be possible in the future. Residents of Gaza can always trade in American Dollars, Jordanian Dinars or Egyptian Pounds at a later point.”

Egyptain reaction unclear, Fatah objects


It is still unclear how Egypt plans to respond to this Hamas proposal, since this economic disengagement is by no means a quick or simple feat, especially as the Palestinian Authority has signed several binding economic accords with Israel.
The Fatah movement’s reaction to this Hamas proposal, however, was far more emphatic, and decidedly negative. A spokesman for the Fatah movement, Fahmi Al-Za'areer, stated that “Hamas’ proposal to lean on Egypt economically via the Rafah Crossing is a decided disaster, and allows Israel to sever the Gaza Strip from the West Bank, thereby dividing the (Palestinian) state as Israel has always longed to do.”
Al-Sharq al-Awsat also reported Saturday that senior Palestinian Authority officials blamed Syria for breaching the border fence between Gaza and Egypt in retaliation for Egyptian involvement in Lebanon. “What Hamas has done goes hand in hand with and the marked role that Egypt plays in Lebanon,” stated the Palestinian officials.



[link to www.ynetnews.com]

"For the “innocent” civilians of the Gaza strip, life is getting worse every day, and the situation will certainly not improve in the foreseeable future.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and other terror organizations exist only through terror. They will go on bombing Israeli civilians and of course, Israel will react by bombing Gaza.
For the inhabitants, future seems gloomy.
In order to have a chance for a better future for themselves, but mainly, for their children, the Arabs living in Gaza will have to choose between politics and well-being : they should think about emigrating, discretely, to other Arab countries, (most of these countries are not very populated and can easily integrate them). "
As to the law, International Law authorizes Israel to initiate military countermeasures in gaza as explained at : [link to israelagainstterror.blogspot.com]

Thursday, January 31, 2008
International Law and Gaza: The Assault on Israel's Right to Self-Defense. Part I


By Abraham Bell

1st part of 2


International law authorizes Israel to initiate military countermeasures in Gaza. If Gaza is properly seen as having independent sovereignty, Israel's use of force is permissible on the grounds of self-defense. If Gaza is properly seen as lacking any independent sovereignty, Israel's use of military force is permissible as in other non-international conflicts.

The rule of "distinction" includes elements of intent and expected result: so long as one aims at legitimate targets, the rule of distinction permits the attack, even if there will be collateral damage to civilians. The rule of "proportionality" also relies upon intent. If Israel plans a strike without expecting excessive collateral damage, the rule of proportionality permits it. Israeli attacks to date have abided by the rules of distinction and proportionality.

Israel's imposition of economic sanctions on the Gaza Strip is a perfectly legal means of responding to Palestinian attacks. Since Israel is under no legal obligation to engage in trade of fuel or anything else with Gaza, or to maintain open borders, it may withhold commercial items and seal its borders at its discretion.

The bar on collective punishment forbids the imposition of criminal-type penalties to individuals or groups on the basis of another's guilt. None of Israel's actions involve the imposition of criminal-type penalties.

There is no legal basis for maintaining that Gaza is occupied territory. The Fourth Geneva Convention refers to territory as occupied where the territory is of a state party to the convention and the occupier "exercises the functions of government" in the territory. Gaza is not territory of another state party to the convention and Israel does not exercise the functions of government in the territory.

The fighting in Gaza has been characterized by the extensive commission of war crimes, acts of terrorism and acts of genocide by Palestinians, while Israeli countermeasures have conformed with the requirements of international law. International law requires states to take measures to bring Palestinian war criminals and terrorists to justice, to prevent and punish Palestinian genocidal efforts, and to block the funding of Palestinian terrorist groups and those complicit with them.


Since Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, Palestinian groups including Hamas, Fatah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Popular Resistance Committees have launched thousands of rocket attacks at Israel. All the attacks have been on civilian targets, with no more than a handful of possible exceptions. The brunt of the Palestinian assault has been borne by the town of Sderot. The attacks have killed several residents and injured dozens, struck houses and public buildings like kindergartens, and so traumatized residents that three-quarters of all Sderot children between the ages of 7 and 12 suffer from post-traumatic anxiety.


[link to israelagainstterror.blogspot.com]

PALESTINIANS WANT OUT!


Thread: Palestinian Refugees Want Out !!!!

As if the Jews trust each other!

All she posted, and that is the best you have to offer?

*applause*

he has no brains

Or just refuses to use them........I am sure they are like "let me out, we want some exercise."

he didnt read my thread : BRAIN'S SPA,that's why he is so slow.

Gaza ties with Egypt is great news for Israel and for the Gazans, and it solves a lot of problems.

Maybe for once, the Palestinians won't mess another opportunity to build a future for themselves instead of blaming Israel for anythning bad that's been happening to them.


:palomita11:

...and stop the staged propaganda....



The Palestinians' dramatic breakout from a sealed-off Gaza into Egypt, in order to survive Israel's inhumane actions, has profoundly changed the character of the Middle East crisis. By Patrick Seale

The mass break-out of some 700,000 Palestinians from Israel’s open-air prison at Gaza has profoundly changed the political landscape of the Middle East. In magnitude, it can be compared to the impact on Europe of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Nothing will be the same again. There can be no return to the past.

All the main actors in the drama -- Israel, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, the European Union and the United States itself -- will have to rethink their policies in the light of new realities.


The most striking of the new realities is that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza -- who had been reduced to abject misery by Israel cruel siege -- will never again accept being locked up. Gaza must be allowed to breathe, to trade, to be supplied with the basic necessities of life, and to live normally.

If Egypt, under Israeli and American pressure, were to attempt to bottle up the Gazans once more, this could trigger riots in Cairo, which could destabilize President Husni Mubarak’s regime. Egypt must now walk a tightrope between Israeli and American pressure and the new reality of its relations with the Gazans.

The whole question of Gaza’s relations with the outside world must now be reviewed. Israel can no longer dominate and control every aspect of Gaza life -- its airspace and territorial waters, its imports and exports, its taxation system, and all movements in and out of the territory.

As Israel’s role shrinks, Egypt’s will expand. The situation in Gaza provides Egypt with a major opportunity. If it conquers its fears and acts boldly -- if it refuses to be cowed by Israel and the United States -- it has a chance to recover the leadership of the Arabs. With some vision and imagination, Egypt could demonstrate to the world what can be made of Gaza and its people, once they are allowed some freedom.

Egypt must negotiate control of the Rafah crossing directly with Hamas. It can no longer afford to be complicit in Israel’s siege of Gaza. Its own Egyptian public opinion, as well as Arab opinion as a whole, will no longer tolerate it. But it needs to go further than that.

Egypt has to be Gaza’s advocate with the international community. Gaza’s infrastructure, shattered by Israel, needs to be rebuilt. Its port and airport need to be brought back to life, and reopened for business. Egypt could benefit commercially, because Gaza is a considerable market. Egypt could also benefit politically, because helping Gaza rise from the dead could draw the poison from President Mubarak’s conflict-ridden relations with the Muslim Brothers, who are his regime’s major domestic opponents.

Saudi Arabia also has a major role to play because of its moral and political authority and its immense financial resources. Arab money will be needed to restore Gaza to health. Egypt and Saudi Arabia must work together to mediate the paralyzing feud between Hamas and Fatah, and unite Palestinian ranks.

They must persuade Europe and the United States -- and a reluctant Israel -- that if Arab-Israeli peace talks are to get anywhere Hamas must be included. Having broken out of physical isolation in Gaza, Hamas’ political isolation must now in turn be ended. There can be no forward movement in the region towards either peace or security without engagement with Hamas.

This is bad news for Mahmud Abbas, President of the hapless Palestinian Authority and his Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. They had hoped to show that their talks with Israel could yield results. But they have failed to secure the removal of a single West Bank checkpoint or the dismantling of a single illegal Israeli outpost, let alone progress with the core issues of borders, Jerusalem and refugees.

The boycott of Hamas -- imposed by Israel and the United States and accepted by the Europeans after Hamas won the democratic Palestinian elections of January 2006 -- was an act of political folly. It can no longer be sustained. That EU diplomats cannot speak directly to Hamas is an absurdity that should immediately be corrected.

On a visit to Paris last week, Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak mouthed the old bankrupt thinking, thereby doing his reputation no service. He told Le Figaro (January 26-27): "We have nothing to say to Hamas. We speak to them when we interrogate them in our prisons." The world knows what Israel’s ‘interrogations’ are like. Barak is the prime architect of the policy of attempting to starve Gaza into submission. This policy has failed.

Israel has suffered a major political and strategic defeat. Its collective punishment of a whole Arab population has backfired. The Palestinians have not surrendered, but continue to resist. Israel’s image has been badly damaged and its policies widely denounced as cruel, immoral, and a blatant violation of international law.

In strategic terms, Israel’s deterrent posture, on which it sets such store, has suffered a blow vis-à-vis Hamas, much like the blow inflicted on it by Hizbullah in the 34-day Lebanese war of 2006. These two non-state actors -- Hamas and Hizbullah -- are challenging Israel with asymmetric warfare on two fronts. Their message is simple: If you hit us, we will hit you.

Israel’s pre-eminence has been dented, but its military and security establishment, obsessed with the outdated notion of military superiority over the whole region, refuses to accept it. It still believes that the Palestinians will give up the struggle if enough of them are killed.

In the two years 2006 and 2007, Israel killed over 800 Palestinians, including 126 children, maimed and wounded thousands of others, and smashed a whole society by its repeated incursions, raids, and targeted assassinations. This month alone it has killed over 60 Palestinians. The disproportion with Palestinian action is striking: Since 2004, only eleven Israelis have been killed by Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza.

Hamas has repeatedly offered Israel a long-term truce of twenty years and more, but on condition that Israel renounces violence and that the cease-fire be extended to the West Bank as well as to Gaza. Hamas also insists that Israel open the border crossings and release Hamas parliamentarians from prison.

In other words, Hamas is seeking a mutual ceasefire and a truce based on something like a balance of power. Israel’s leaders are far from ready to accept such terms. They still harbour the illusion that Palestinian nationalism can be crushed by brute force, much as they believe that Hizbullah, too, can in due course be disarmed and destroyed.

Several prominent Israelis have joined in the outcry against their government’s policies. They include Jessica Mantell, executive director of B’Tselem, the Israeli information center for human rights in the Occupied Territories, and Jeff Halper, coordinator of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions.

Halper wrote last week: "The desperate people who surged into Egypt… deserve the respect and gratitude of every person who cherishes a better world based on human rights and dignity. As an Israeli Jew, I have been saddened and mortified that my own people, after all they have experienced, cannot see what they are doing to others."

John Dugard, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a "serious war crime," for which its political and military officers should be prosecuted and punished.

Only a sincere and serious effort to make peace with all the Palestinians -- Hamas as well as the Palestinian Authority -- on the basis of the 1967 borders and a shared Jerusalem can ensure Israel’s long-term security. Unfortunately, there is no sign that this obvious truth has dawned on either the Israeli leadership or Israel’s hawkish American friends.

-- Patrick Seale is a leading British writer on the Middle East, and the author of The Struggle for Syria; also, Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East; and Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire.

"The danger"...can we trust them?

This whole Gaza border thing is as much of an invasion of Egypt, as it an escape valve to take the pressure off of Ham-ass, and to re-arm themselves.
Now will be easier to smuggel the money and the weapons and they will not need tunnels anymore ... the siege of Gaza is the second government mistake after the last war of Lebanon ... the Palestinians will get what they need from Egypt and the quassams soon will start again and the Egyptians will make more money .


I hope that wont happen.

"if at any point in time the rockets stop, the whole situation will be transformed,” Blair said.

Suddenly politicians wake up.....about time.

If Palestine stopped the violence there would be peace.

Lotus

are you gonna spoil again everything?

:quassam1:




Shin Bet chief: Rockets, missiles were smuggled into Gaza

Shin Bet head states during security briefing that high quality weaponry, including anti-aircraft missiles, rockets, and anti-tank missiles, was smuggled into Gaza through breached border with Egypt ...


[link to www.ynetnews.com]

So the Hamas has been smuggling weapons into Gaza. What a surprise!!

"Egypt will permanently close its border with Gaza and demands that Gaza not be under siege!!!" said Egyptian spokesman.
Absurd isnt it?

The faux pals are seriously considering dropping their charade,and simply going home?
Good plan.Maybe while they are in Cairo, they can look up Yasser Arafat's childhood home,and build a shrine or something...

I am sure, the palestinians will manage to screw this up too.
I mean, after all, this may be an opportunity to miss another opportunity.
And we know from the past that palestinians have a true gift at taking a good idea and screwing it up.


TICK TACK....they are about to...tick ta............................

So good to see ya...

Everyone Deserves to Live in Peace



[link to nl.youtube.com]

this is fuckin zionist masonic propaganda, nothing more or less.

The most sophisticated weapons the palestinians ever can have will never be as sophisticated as the israeli killing machine. I cry for every baby who has to seek a refuge to feel safe.. but admit yourself gaia.. there are hondreds of thousands od palestinian babies who have to seek refuge from israeli terror. Do you really think that your lives are more important than theirs?

stop presenting yourself as a victim.. you are the terrorist not the victim