August 15, 2007
THE MAYOR MAKES THEIR POINT FOR THEM:
Giuliani opposes Palestinian state (ASSOCIATED PRESS, 8/15/07)
US Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said he opposes creation of a Palestinian state at this time and would take a tough stand with Iran, including destroying its nuclear infrastructure "should all else fail."
Hamas is ready to talk: We welcome the call for dialogue, and reject insincere demands for an undemocratic boycott (Mousa Abu Marzook, August 16, 2007, The Guardian)
While Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert is busily courting Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas as a "partner for peace", successive voices continue to speak out against efforts to sideline the democratically elected Hamas government. As the Britain's Commons foreign affairs committee concluded on Monday, this strategy is counterproductive and doomed to fail, for the simple reason that the support of the Palestinian people is unmistakably lacking. Abbas's party does not democratically represent the Palestinians, yet what is in effect now a dictatorship in the West Bank is being welcomed by Israel and its western allies. The duplicity of this situation is shameful. Israel and its allies were quick to dismiss Hamas and the national unity governments and isolate both, and are now equally as quick to welcome an illegally formed self-proclaimed government for the Palestinians. Is this democracy?Posted by Orrin Judd at August 15, 2007 8:18 PMThe Palestinian people's struggle for freedom has been continuing for almost a century. During this time, we have faced every form of challenge, from persecution, abuse and humiliation, to military assaults, engineered starvation and social anarchy. All these trials have been deliberately imposed by an occupying power that is breaching international law on a daily basis.
Yet despite this, it is the popular Palestinian people's liberation movement that is being targeted by Israel and its allies for boycott and isolation. Hamas was formed in response to the pressures of the occupation and the need for change in Palestinian society. It was on this basis that it was given a popular mandate by its people in 2006. Hamas represents a guarantee that Palestinian people's rights will not be compromised. We have continued to insist that the rights of the Palestinian people be respected by the occupying power. Quite simply, in the present situation, it is not Israel that is threatened with annihilation but the Palestinian people.
Hamas has been quite busy in the past few weeks - squeezing, stomping, and killing. From the wedding party crash to the 175+ political murders to the complete news media clampdown, they are doing their best to follow Lenin and all the other terror masters.
Fatah is a husk, but Hamas is the SAVAK, the Mukhabarat, and the brownshirts/blackshirts rolled into one. But since they take money from both the Saudis and the Iranians, they are sort of equal opportunity gangsters, eh?
Posted by: jim hamlen at August 15, 2007 10:20 PMOf course Hamas wants to talk, they just don't want to change any of their plans or behavior.
Posted by: PapayaSF at August 16, 2007 1:02 AMExcept for governing a state.
Posted by: oj at August 16, 2007 7:03 AMHamas needs to put Fatah down. The Loyalists had to leave too.
Posted by: oj at August 16, 2007 7:05 AMAl Qaeda should triple up with Islamic Jihad and Fatah. Then they could shoot it out with Hamas.
The Palestinians who want life and hope should move to the US. Let the vultures fight over who can spit at Israel.
Posted by: ratbert at August 16, 2007 8:15 AM