Israel frees nearly 200 prisoners

Nearly 200 Palestinians leave jails hours before Rice set to arrive in region

The Associated Press

updated 6:28 a.m. ET, Mon., Aug. 25, 2008

BEITUNIYA CHECKPOINT, West Bank - Nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners freed Monday by Israel walked into Palestinian-controlled territory to cheers and applause, just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to arrive on her latest peace mission.

The prisoners arrived at Beitunia, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, after a short drive from Ofer prison outside Jerusalem. The prisoners, some waving black-and-white checkered keffiyeh headdresses as they got out of Israeli buses, kissed the ground before boarding Palestinian vehicles.

Israel said the release is a gesture meant to bolster moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and give a boost to the slow-moving peace talks with the moderate Palestinian leader.

"It's not easy for Israel to release prisoners. Some of the individuals being released today are guilty of direct involvement in the murder of innocent civilians," government spokesman Mark Regev said. "But we understand the importance of the prisoner issue for Palestinian society ... We believe this action can support the negotiation process and create goodwill."

Many connections
The fate of the roughly 9,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails is highly emotional, since many Palestinians either know someone in prison or have served time themselves. Abbas, who is struggling to show his people the fruits of the peace talks, has repeatedly urged Israel to carry out a large-scale release.

The Israeli government approved the release last week. Among the 198 men freed Monday was Said al-Atba, who has served 32 years of a life sentence for carrying out a deadly market bombing three decades ago.

Al-Atba, 57, was the longest serving inmate held by Israel and he is widely seen by the Palestinian public as a symbol of all the prisoners. Balding, with a mustache, he made a victory sign toward cameras as two Palestinian officials escorted him to a car. Others rushed to greet him, kissing him on both cheeks.

His brother Hisham traveled from Saudi Arabia, where he works, to join the hundreds of Palestinians waiting to greet the prisoners at Beituniya.

"I feel great, great joy," he said. "We had lost hope that my brother would be released because he's been in prison for 32 years."

Al-Atba's sister, Raida, said she had prepared her brother's favorite food, stuffed vine leaves and zucchini.

In nearby Ramallah, where the prisoners were scheduled to receive an official welcome from Abbas, hundreds of Palestinians from all over the West Bank waited to greet them, under a giant poster with pictures of Abbas, al-Atba and another veteran prisoner being freed, Mohammed Abu Ali, a lawmaker from Abbas' Fatah party.

Abu Ali was jailed in 1980 for killing an Israeli settler in the West Bank and later convicted of killing a Palestinian in jail he accused of collaborating with Israel.

Easing the criteria for release?
Israel has released prisoners to Abbas in the past, most recently last December. But it has balked at releasing Palestinians serving time for deadly attacks. It appears to be easing its criteria following a prisoner swap last month with the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah. Under that deal, Israel exchanged a Lebanese man convicted in a notorious triple murder for the remains of two Israeli soldiers.

Eager to bolster Abbas in his rivalry with Hamas, Israel says the latest release is meant to show the Palestinians that dialogue, not violence, is the best way to win concessions.

Hamas is demanding the release of hundreds of prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid two years ago. The soldier is being held in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The prisoner release came hours before the arrival of Rice, who has been mediating the negotiations between Israel and Abbas' government. The talks had aimed for an agreement by the end of the year, but both sides have acknowledged that it is unlikely they will reach their target.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

A bit of good news.

Israel-Palestine Fatality Data

Fatalities

Click on the numbers for a list of individual names and details about the circumstances of their death.

29.9.2000-31.5.2008	Occupied Territories			Israel
	Gaza Strip	West Bank	Total
Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces	2941	1777	4718	67
Palestinians killed by Israeli civilians	4	41	45
Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians	39	197	236	485
Israeli security force personnel killed by Palestinians	97	147	244	90
Foreign citizens killed by Palestinians	10	7	17	37
Foreign citizens killed by Israeli security forces	4	6	10
Palestinians killed by Palestinians	442	135	577
Additional data (included in previous table)	Occupied Territories			Israel
	Gaza Strip	West Bank	Total
Palestinian minors killed by Israeli security forces	633	311	944	3
Israeli minors killed by Palestinians	4	35	39	84
Palestinians killed during the course of a targeted killing	279	107	386
Palestinians who were the object of a targeted killing	150	82	232
Palestinians killed by Palestinians for suspected collaboration with Israel	11	109	120
Palestinians who took part in the hostilities and were killed by Israeli security forces	1176	461	1637	58
Palestinians who did not take part in the hostilities and were killed by Israeli security forces ( not including the objects of targeted killings).	1378	837	2215	5
Palestinians who were killed by Israeli security forces and it is not known if they were taking part in the hostilities	387	479	866	4

Notes:

1. The data may change due to ongoing research, which produces new information about the events .
2. The figures do not include :

• Palestinians who died after medical treatment was delayed due to restrictions of movement .
• Palestinians killed by an explosive device that they set or was on their person .
• 12 Palestinian citizens of Israel killed within Israel by the Israeli Police in October 2000 .
• One Jewish Israeli citizen killed within Israel by a Palestinian-Israeli citizen in October 2000 .
• Two Jewish Israeli citizens and One member of the Israeli security forces, killed by a Palestinian citizen of Israel in Nahariya in September 2001 .
• Four Palestinian-citizens of Israel killed by IDF gunfire in the Territories .
• One Palestinian-citizen of Israel killed by Border Police gunfire within Israel in July 2003 .
• Five Palestinian citizens of Israel killed by an absconded IDF soldier on a bus in Shfar'am, within Israel , in August 2005 and the shooting soldier, beaten to death by Palestinian-citizens of Israel.
• Seven members of the Ghaliya family (the two parents and their five children, one an adult), who were killed in June 2006 in an explosion on the coast by Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. The cause of the explosion remains unclear.
• One Palestinian resident of a-Sheikh Sa'ed was killed on May 2007 during a fire exchange between Palestinian militants and Israeli policemen at the a-Sheikh Sa'ed checkpoint in East Jerusalem.
• One Twelve-year-old Israeli child who, in August 2007 while on a family visit in the village of Saida in Tulkarm district, was killed by undercover troops who had come to arrest his brother and his brother's friend, who were wanted by Israel.
• One Israeli citizen from Kfar Qana, who was killed in August 2007 in the Old City in East Jerusalem after he grabbed a security guard's weapon.

Source: The B'tselem , the Israeli Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

In light of some of our past discussion I thought some people might find this interesting. No real comment, the data speaks volumes.

Carter: Hamas will accept Israel

Former US President Jimmy Carter has said that Hamas is prepared to accept the right of Israel to "live as a neighbour next door in peace".

After meeting Hamas leaders last week in Syria, he said it was a problem the US and Israel would not meet the group.

His comments came as the Israeli army launched a formal investigation into the death of a Reuters cameraman killed in the Gaza Strip last week.

And two Palestinians died in Israeli air strikes in the territory.

Monday's strikes killed one Palestinian in the southern city of Rafah and a Hamas militant at Beit Hanoun, a border town from where rockets are often fired at Israel.

'Regressed'

Mr Carter, speaking in Jerusalem, said Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking had "regressed" since the US hosted Middle East talks in November at Annapolis.

The former US president was criticised by the US and Israel for visiting the Syrian capital Damascus last week to meet exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal.

But he defended his visit on Monday, telling Israel's Council on Foreign Relations: "The problem is not that I met with Hamas in Syria. The problem is that Israel and the United States refuse to meet with someone who must be involved."

Mr Carter said Hamas had reiterated its position that it would accept an Israeli state within its pre-1967 borders, living in peace with Israel, if such an agreement was approved by Palestinians.

Speaking to the BBC's Newsnight programme, Mr Carter said: "Hamas indicated to us at least - I'm not guaranteeing their commitment - that if Israel is willing to have a mutual ceasefire and a renunciation of violence in Gaza and in the West Bank, they will accept it, and as a first step they would even accept just limiting that to Gaza.

"So I think that what they have said, if they were honest and we wrote it out so there wouldn't be a mistake, it's a very significant development."

Israel, the US and the European Union regard Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, as a terrorist organisation.

Hamas is officially dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Shalit deadlock

Mr Carter also said that the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas and other militant groups during a raid into Israel two years ago, was being held up by the lack of direct communication between Israel and Hamas.

Mr Carter said the difficulty was in agreeing the identity of the Palestinian prisoners to be released in return.

He said Egyptian officials had told him that Israel had agreed to release 1,000 prisoners, in principle.

However, it had accepted only 71 names on a list of hundreds of prisoners submitted by Hamas.

Mr Carter also said Hamas had agreed to let Cpl Shalit send a letter to his parents.

Investigation

Meanwhile, Israel said it would investigate the death of Palestinian Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, who died with several other civilians in Gaza last Wednesday.

New York-based Human Rights Watch says it has evidence an Israeli tank team fired either recklessly or deliberately at Mr Shana.

The final footage taken by Mr Shana - and released by Reuters - shows the tank firing in his direction. The Israeli army denies deliberately targeting civilians.

Israeli Human rights group B'tselem has reported that Mr Shana was killed by a "flechette" shell.

The shell is an anti-personnel weapon that explodes in the air and releases thousands of small metal darts over a wide area.

The group called on the Israeli Army's judge advocate general to order the immediate cessation of the use of the shell and open a criminal investigation of the event. The group says the weapon is prohibited.

from bbc.co.uk

Alright Jimmie. Big step; long way to go. Sadly, note the 4 additional Palestinian deaths, including one journalist. And what the #%&*? Flechette rounds? The use of "anti-personnel" weapons that are by design indiscriminate is repugnant. We can have a conversation about the Geneva Convention and how all military weapons are intended to kill, sure, but weapons like this, much like land mines and cluster bombs, kill at least as many civilians as combatants, and the people that use them know that. So what makes using these weapons different than terrorism? The intention of both is to force concession from the other side, and the result is deaths of innocent people via indiscriminate damage? The only difference I see is that the "legitimate" military force is allowed the convenience of the term "collateral damage" where terrorists are just terrorists. Anyway, for anyone interested here is a Reuters report of the above-mentioned killing:

*************************************************************************************
An update: Hamas' exiled leader has said it will not accept Israel's right to exist but would offer a 10-year truce if Israel withdrew to its 1967 borders. Here is a link to the story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7359661.stm

Israel warns of Gaza 'holocaust'

Israeli leaders are warning of an imminent conflagration in Gaza after Palestinian militants aimed rockets at the southern city of Ashkelon.

The deputy defence minister said the stepped-up rocket fire would trigger what he called a "bigger holocaust" in the Hamas-controlled coastal strip.

Israeli air strikes have killed about 30 Palestinians, including six children in the past two days.

Israel has activated its early warning system in Ashkelon for the first time.

One rocket hit a block of flats in the city of 120,000 inhabitants about 10km (six miles) north of the Gaza Strip breaking through the roof and slicing through three floors below.

ISRAEL-HAMAS ATTACKS Friday: Israeli city Ashkelon activates warning system after Palestinian rocket hits Israeli air raids continue, with four wounded in Jabaliya Thursday: Four children killed near Jabaliya refugee camp Hamas militant killed near Shati refugee camp Hamas militant killed near Beit Hanoun Three Hamas militants and two from PRC group killed in Gaza City Wednesday: Six-month-old boy killed near interior ministry Five Hamas militants near Khan Younis Islamic Jihad militant near Bureij refugee camp Israeli civilian killed in Sderot

No-one was injured, but another rocket landed near a school, wounding a 17-year-old girl.

"The more [rocket] fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they (the Palestinians) will bring upon themselves a bigger holocaust because we will use all our might to defend ourselves," Matan Vilnai told Israeli army radio.

Correspondents say the "holocaust" is a term rarely used in Israel outside discussions of the Nazi genocide during World War II.

Separately, the chairman of the parliamentary defense and foreign affairs committee said Israel troops must topple the Hamas movement in Gaza and take over areas used to fire rockets.

"The state of Israel must make a strategic decision to order the army to prepare quickly," Tzachi Hanegbi told Israel Radio.

Code red

Israeli aircraft launched at least three raids on Gaza overnight. In one attack in the Jabaliya area at least four people were wounded including two children.

One Israeli civilian was killed in rocket fire on Wednesday. Of the Palestinian fatalities, about half have been civilians, including at least six children.

Hamas has called on Palestinians and Arabs to hold protests after Friday prayers against Israel's raids on Gaza.

Israeli security officials said that the rockets fired at Ashkelon have been Grad-type imports made in Iran with a range of about 22km.

It is the first time Israel has ordered Code Red sirens to be sounded in Ashkelon as well as Sderot, the town almost abutting Gaza territory where the civilian was killed.

Reports say dozens of soldiers in orange berets from the Israeli military's Home Front Command have been hanging posters around the city instructing residents on what to do when the warning sounds.

"It's a city with large facilities - a huge soccer stadium, and a basketball stadium, and a beach. No-one is ready for this," Ashkelon mayor Roni Mehatzri told Israel Radio.

Israel's leadership has been under pressure in some quarters to launch a ground invasion of Gaza to end the rocket fire. However, a recent opinion poll also indicated a majority of Israel's favour a negotiated truce with Hamas.

Hamas has been shunned by the West for refusing to recognise Israel's legitimacy, it beat the Fatah faction in a parliamentary election two years ago.

Hamas says it will cease fire if Israel stops military operations in Palestinian areas. It is also demanding an end to the Israeli-led blockade of Gaza that has cut supplies to its 1.5m inhabitants.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7270650.stm

A Holocaust? Seriously? Uhg....Disgusting. I understand the desire for Israel to defend itself, but this is ridiculous...though par for the conflict. Look at the numbers: Palestinian rocket attacks kill 1 Israeli (a child), Israeli reprisals kill 30 Palestinians (including 6 children). Many of the Palestinians killed were militants (although this term is pretty ambiguous), but every time there is an Israeli counter strike numerous times more Palestinians are killed. And now some in the Israeli government are warning of a Holocaust in Gaza? What the fuck!? Irony?

Gunfire at Egypt's Gaza crossing

Egyptian security guards have fired into the air and used water cannon to drive back Palestinian women who tried to surge across the border from Gaza.

Hundreds of Palestinians demanded the Rafah crossing to Egypt be reopened for vital supplies that are scarce because of Israel's blockade of Gaza.

A number of people were injured, mostly in scuffles, but several were seriously hurt, according to reports.

It came as Israel eased a four-day Gaza lockdown by allowing fuel deliveries.

The UN Security Council met in an emergency session on Tuesday to discuss Gaza.

Rocket attacks

As the 15-member body met in New York, Israel said its discussions were one-sided.

Its foreign ministry said in a statement: "We can't tolerate a situation where the Security Council debates only the situation of residents in the Gaza Strip and completely ignores that of Israelis living under the constant threat of Qassam rockets."

Since Hamas seized control of Gaza last June, the Rafah crossing has remained mostly closed at Israel's insistence.

But violence broke out as Palestinians tried to get past Egyptian security forces at the terminal, Gaza's only border post that bypasses Israel.

Gunfire erupted as security forces tried to stop hundreds of demonstrators breaking through to the Egyptian side.

'Fabrication'

One of the protesters, mother-of-five Umm Mohammed, 42, told AFP news agency: "Why doesn't Egypt open the crossing? Because [US President George W Bush] gives them dollars."

The trouble came as Israel said its blockade - imposed last week in response to rocket attacks from Gaza - was being eased only for Tuesday and would be reviewed after that.

HAVE YOUR SAY The blockade will exacerbate the security dilemma for Israel Gwilym, Oxford

The UN had warned that food aid to about 860,000 Gazans could be halted within days because of the restrictions.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice blamed Hamas for the lockdown but said she had urged Israel to avoid a humanitarian crisis.

Israel allowed lorries to deliver industrial diesel for Gaza's sole power plant on Tuesday.

The Israeli foreign ministry said it would allow more fuel to be delivered in the coming days along with food and medicine.

'Futile launchings'

But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas labelled the move "insufficient" and called for a total end to the blockade.

He said civilians in Gaza were not responsible for the "futile launchings" of rockets into Israel.

The blockade forced the Nusseirat power plant to shut down on Monday, plunging Gaza City into darkness.

But Israel accused Hamas of "fabricating" the power shortage, saying it was still directly providing nearly 70% of the coastal territory's power.

The Israeli government said its lockdown had stopped missile attacks - although another rocket struck the Israeli town of Sderot on Tuesday.

But Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: "The real crisis of our Palestinian people is the continuing siege on the Gaza Strip."

The European Union and international agencies have denounced Israel's border closures as illegal "collective punishment" against Gaza's 1.5m residents.

Israel imposed an economic embargo on Gaza after the Islamist militants of Hamas seized control of the territory from the rival Fatah group in June.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7202797.stm

Not really any comment here except to reiterate that collective punishment is wrong and generally ineffective against regimes where people have little voice. One thing to note is the difference in language used by the EU versus the US. The EU condemns collective punishment and denounces the embargo/border closure while the US blames Hamas and urges Israel to "avoid a humanitarian crisis". Rather lackluster response since the crisis is pretty much ongoing. Good job Condi.

Bah, humbug! No Christmas in Gaza

JVP News Roundup: No Holiday in Gaza

The news around Israel and Palestine has been relatively quiet of late. In the aftermath of Annapolis, little has changed, and, if one scans the mainstream media, one might think that little is really happening since the conference. But in the Gaza Strip, much has been changing as the suffering there is intensifying. Yet we hear very little about it.

While Israel has been openly speaking of and planning a large-scale invasion of Gaza for months now, the current thinking in the government and the military is leaning toward avoiding such a step. Unfortunately, this sounds a lot better than it is. Instead of invading Gaza, Israel is stepping up its military incursions and air strikes in the Strip. The reason given for this is the ongoing mortar and missile fire coming from Gaza at Israeli towns nearby. Indeed, the residents of Sderot, a working-class town near Gaza, have been witness to constant rocket fire. The obvious fact that Israeli incursions and attacks in Gaza have been going on all this time and the fire at Sderot continues would seem, however, to contradict the Israeli government's statements that their attacks on Gaza are aimed at preventing the rocket and mortar fire across the border.

While Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, has discussed the possibility of a truce with Israel, the fighting is not only continuing but gradually growing in intensity. Though reports conflict over whether or not Hamas is really prepared to offer a truce, Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert has already ruled out any possibility of such an arrangement despite the fact that former Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz and former head of Israeli intelligence Ami Ayalon have both said that Israel should consider the matter.

Meanwhile, the situation in Gaza goes from bad to worse. Health care services are scant due to lack of medical supplies coupled with food shortages and reduced fuel supplies from Israel on which Gaza depends. People talk about Gaza being on the "brink of economic collapse," but one has to wonder at what point an economy is considered to have collapsed if not at the point where 80% of its population depends on international food aid, which itself has been sharply reduced. Indeed, it is probably time to stop worrying about when Gaza's economy will collapse and acknowledge that it already has.

The shortage of medical supplies only increases the need for seriously ill or injured people to be able to leave Gaza in order to get treatment, whether in Israel, Egypt or the West Bank. But, as Physicians for Human Rights-Israel reports, new bureaucratic restrictions, which are layered on top of the already cumbersome and arbitrary system at crossing checkpoints out of Gaza, are making it extremely difficult even for patients in emergency need to get to the medical care they need. more reprehensibly, PHR accuses the Israeli intelligence service, SHABAK, of forcing some patients to inform on others in order to obtain passage.

The issue of medical care is only the tip of the iceberg. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) reports the following results of the siege Gaza has been under since Hamas' takeover of the Strip in June:

• More Gazans than ever need food and direct assistance
• Fuel shortages have threatened essential services and water supply
• Life-saving treatments are not available in Gaza's hospitals
• 17 per cent of patients with referrals were refused exit for treatment in Israel, East Jerusalem or overseas
• The on-going isolation of Gaza threatens the local economy
• Baby milk, medicines, and cooking oil are increasingly scarce
• Hundreds of businesses have gone bankrupt due to ban on imports/exports
• Thousands of labourers have lost their jobs due to the collapse of the building industry
• Building projects worth US$370 million are on hold indefinitely

Gaza at its best is not blessed with many resources and would have a hard time building a thriving economy even in favorable conditions. Under the current circumstances, there is absolutely nothing that can be done, by Hamas or by any other group in Gaza, to sustain its populace. Large-scale programs to generate revenue, such as an offshore natural gas project, are stymied by Israeli resistance. The UN-OCHA report shows that exports from Gaza have dropped to essentially zero since June.

Food shortages are epidemic. The World Food Program "...estimates that only approximately 41 per cent of humanitarian and commercial food import needs were met between 1 October and 4 November 2007. Basic items including wheat grain, vegetable oil, dairy products and baby milk are in extremely short supply." 80% of Gazans now receive food aid, compared to 63% in 2006. Two-thirds of Gazans live in "deep poverty," defined as living on $474 USD or less per month.

Water pumps that serve half the population lie in disrepair due to lack of parts. Of 3,900 industrial establishments in Gaza, 3,500 have shut down due to lack of raw materials, complicated now by lack of funds and reduced power supplies. Of 32,000 workers employed in this sector, only 3,000 (9%) remain employed. The construction and agricultural sectors have experienced similar devastation. The public sector, which employs some 40% of Gaza's workers, is the only sector that is still functioning and, while some payment of salaries resumed with the freeing of some public funds, payments remain sporadic and those gathering salaries have greatly increased burdens due to the enormous unemployment affecting their families.

Imports which numbered some 12,000 truckloads per month in May, 2005, are now down under 2,000 per month, consisting mostly of aid supplies. Exports are virtually eliminated. Human traffic in and out of Gaza has been severely curtailed, cutting off more sources for work for Palestinians who had worked in the West Bank, Egypt and even in some cases, Israel. UN-OCHA describes it thus: "Severe restrictions on the movement of people into and out of the Gaza Strip have also been imposed. Palestinians have not been allowed to leave Gaza since mid-June 2007 except for traders, aid workers, a restricted number of pilgrims and a limited number of medical cases. On 2 December the GoI began to permit to some of the 6,000 Palestinians with the necessary foreign residency, or papers to study or work abroad to exit Gaza through Kerem Shalom - the first time that crossing has been used for the passage of people. As of 11 December, 920 persons have crossed through Kerem Shalom, out which 198 were refused entry to Egypt and were sent back to Gaza."

This is a non-functional economy in any sense of the word. Mass starvation is only barely being staved off with the meager aid supplies being allowed in to Gaza. As the Red Cross, which usually does not make such statements, said, Gazans are being given "enough to survive, but not enough to live." The World Food Program also said that "...62 percent of household spending went on food, putting Gaza's non-refugee population on par with Somalia. That compares to 37 percent in a 2004 survey."

Relief does not seem to be forthcoming, as Gaza's 1.4 million residents are being held hostage to collective punishment in the political battles between Hamas and Fatah and between Hamas and Israel. That other countries, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, also wish to see Hamas fall means that Gazans are left with little hope for support. The recent donor conference for the Palestinian Authority saw some $7.4 billion pledged to the PA, but Gaza is not likely to see much of that money because of the antipathy toward Hamas. Empty words from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are not going to help either.

Resolving the situation in Gaza is a complicated matter. Gazan society and internal politics, with their mix of clashing ideologies between Hamas, Fatah and other parties and the maneuverings between government, international and local NGOs and, perhaps most importantly, clan and family alliances (some of which have their own private militias and which form part of the backbone of Palestinian society) is not a simple arena. But what must be made clear is that the current situation is intolerable. Israel has legitimate security concerns, but such cannot justify collective punishment and the starving of nearly a million and a half people. That situation must be brought to an end immediately while other means must be found to reconcile the Palestinian factions and to find some at least temporary accommodation between Hamas and Israel.

Israel's siege and attacks on Gaza are not providing security to Sderot and Ashkelon. Hamas' attacks on Israeli towns only harm the Palestinian cause. Residents of Israeli towns near Gaza are frightened, and the people of Gaza are slowly starving to death. The current situation is the worst of all worlds. It only strengthens the resolve of the military leaders of both Israel and Hamas as it gives neither side a graceful option. International intervention, with the immediate goal of relieving the suffering in Gaza and rebuilding the Gazan economy must take immediate precedence, even above the other aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Otherwise, this miserable Christmas in Gaza will only be followed by even more horrifying ones.

Source: Jewish Voice for Peace:

http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_934.shtml

Just a bit more detailed information about the ongoing siege in Gaza. I am posting this not because I want to instigate an argument about who is right and who is wrong, but because I still think that many people do not really grasp the severity of the conditions on the ground in Gaza. Inhumane would only scratch the surface. Make no mistake, this is a siege, which I believe is outlawed under the Geneva convention. Again, not defending Hamas at all, but security measures should take into account the civilian consequences. Collateral damage happens. It's not pretty, but it occurs. This extends beyond collateral damage and approaches gross violation of basic human rights. Now, for their parts, Hamas and Fateh are guilty of putting a grudge match ahead of the needs of their people. Moreover, Hamas's reluctance to engage in peace talks makes things all the worse (thought apparently they have shown signs of considering such a course). The issue is complex (as the article illustrates), and solutions won't be easy to find. Still, the current solution is perhaps the worst strategy that could be deployed short of carpet bombing.

As a final note, the JVP is a US-based Jewish NGO devoted to sustainable solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that respect the basic human rights and dignity of both parties.

EU plans direct Palestinian aid

The EU has said it will resume direct aid to the Palestinian Authority to support the new Fatah-led government.

The decision came after Israel and the US both publicly backed the new emergency cabinet, set up after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip.

Israel says it will release tax revenues frozen since Hamas won elections in January 2006.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has spoken to US President George W Bush, urging him to push for new peace talks.

Mr Bush called the Palestinian Authority president to offer his support for the new government, said Mr Abbas's office.

Mr Abbas reportedly told the US leader that without Hamas in government, the time was now right for a new peace effort.

Israeli leaders offered strong public support for Mr Abbas' new government.

Speaking in New York, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would consider the new Palestinian government as a "genuine partner".

------------------

The EU and US imposed an embargo on the previous government after Hamas won a surprise election victory 18 months ago.

Speaking in Luxembourg, Mr Solana said the EU would be prepared to make some direct payments to the government of the new Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, in the future.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6762777.stm


Maybe now things will begin to move in the right direction. I understand fully the hesitation to provide foreign aid to violent groups, but I think it is important to remember that with such a significant amount of the PA's operating budget coming from foreign aid, the suspension of such aid means that trash goes uncollected, schools close, hospitals run short on supplies, police officers go without pay, and everything deteriorates even further. And when the state doesn't provide those goods and services, who steps in to fill the void--groups like Hamas and Hezbolla. The worse things get the more support extremists receive.