Hamas seize aid from UN

Maybe Gazans will start to see Hamas for what it really is.
Hamas will ensure that aid goes to those who support Hamas openly.

"Hamas policemen have seized thousands of blankets and food parcels that were meant to be distributed to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, UN officials say.

A UN spokesman said policemen raided a UN warehouse on Tuesday after officials refused to hand over the aid to a Hamas-controlled ministry.

The UN said it was the first time its aid had been confiscated by Hamas.

It condemned the action and demanded the goods be immediately returned. There has been no comment by Hamas. " http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7869704.stm

 

Two sides to every story:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1061426.html

They are the elected party in control of Gaza, and their authority should be respected.

 

I have no Idea how the Aid is doled out but I think in times of extreme need the political leanings of the suffering need not be central to their right to receive humanitarian aid.

If it is a child of a Palistinian that needs the food, should he not be entitled. How is it that Hamas knows the individual receiving the aid supports some "groups that tie their activities to political activism"?

Anyone who does not support Hamas, are they considered to be tied to Political Activism?

What does that even mean?

 

Do you think the foreign aid for Katrina victims was doled out directly by the foreign agencies? If so you are naive. It was administered by Fema.

Hamas has a department of social welfare, and that aid should be distributed by the government elected and in charge. To do otherwise is to undermine that authority.

At a time when long term truce negotiations are taking place, this amounts to playing with fire.

 

Where was your outrage when foreign aid for Katrina victims was refused by our government?

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Report_details_US_refusals_of_foreign_0727.html

And if you don't like that source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/28/AR2007042801113_pf.html

 

Where was your outrage when the Israelis blocked the delivery of aid to Gaza in December?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/01/israeli-navy-gaza-humanitarian-aid-block

Or if you prefer video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_TwTSWzC7M

If this is part of the Israeli propaganda machine to stir up support for more attacks, they better rethink their media approach.

 

I am not naive, I am admittedly uninformed...

Where is your outrage when Gazans in need of aid are denied it because of political opinion? This is humanitarian relief and it is being witheld from those who need it by Hamas.

I think the blocking of humanitarian aid by Israeli's was a reprehensible action. But that and this issue are totally seperate. How can you qualify the actions of Hamas?

Do you really think the actions are easily justified by bringing up the embarassment that was the American reaction to Katrina?

Why not just admit that this is a wrongful action?

Unbelievable!...

 

Fatah and Hamas are political rivals. This appears to be a purely political move on the part of Hamas to keep aid from those who do not support it.

"Last week, John Ging, Unrwa's Gaza director, said the agency had expanded its aid programme to include employees of the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of the Fatah movement.Ging said they needed the aid because Israel was preventing the transfer of cash to the Gaza Strip to pay Palestinian Authority workers."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/02/20092416031770359.html"

Abbas has been traveling Europe talking about restoring a coalition government under the banner of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Abbas promotes Gaza plan in France
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/02/200923185248755999.html

Hamas, for it's part, has been calling for a end to the PLO :
"Khaled Meshaal, the exiled Hamas political leader, said earlier in the week that the PLO had become obsolete and called for "a new national authority". http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/02/20092233350791257.html

The PLO has acted on behalf of the Palestinians since 1964. How is it now that they have become "obsolete"? Is it because it is not run by a Iran controlled Hamas?

The best hope of peace is for Hamas to join a with Fatah in creating an functional coalition government.

 

In Cuba, the Fidelistas want to control all the aid.

Controling aid resources is power, same in Zimbabwe or Somalia.

Tyrants sieze aid and dispurse it to cronies.

Hamas is hardly "legitimate' if it provokes an Israeli strike to quiet mortar and rocket shelling from Hamas territory.

 

Not very likely.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/09/fatah-supporters-unite-wi_n_156556.html

 

Israel does it bit to provoke with it's blockades and incursions into Gazan territory. Hamas was democratically elected.

 

I cannot recognise what about this organization Hamas would see as "obsolete". Under a single banner, all groups representing PLO interests have an opportunity to voice their opinions and work towards a unified Palestinain people and nation. THE PLO brought together groups that were working at cross purposes but which had a similar goal, the creation of a Palestinian state.
I think Hamas' concern is that they are unable to wrest control of this organization from those who currently operate it. To me it appears to operate as a legitimate political body that is internationally recognised. One point to note is that in 1988 PLO did take the honorable steps of recognising Israel's right to exist and renouncing terrorism. Hamas is unable to operate under the Banner of the PLO because of it's refusal to accept these accomodations.



"(Palestinian Liberation Organization). The PLO was founded in 1964, as an umbrella organization for groups dedicated to the foundation of an independent Palestine. It is organized into three main bodies: the eighteen-strong Executive Committee serves as the decision-making body of the PLO and includes members from the major fedayeen, or commando, forces; the Central Committee, which advises the Executive Committee and is made up of 60 members; and the Palestinian National Council (PNC) which is the legislative body of the PLO and elects the Central Committee. The 483 delegates of the PNC are elected or appointed, depending upon the condition under which the members' constituents live. Its functions are assumed by the Central Committee when the PNC is not in session." http://www.answers.com/topic/plo

 

The Israelis sought to make the PLO obsolete, now it's in their interest to use them against the democratically elected Hamas government. Some of us remember!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...kets-at-arafats-police-hq-in-gaza-684367.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3984841.stm

Assasinate Rabin, blockade aid to the Palestinians while Arafat is sick, then tell us you know who should rule Palestinians...sorry I don't think the Palestinians buy that and the world is waking up to the politics.

 

Abbas is a tool:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4632

Thing is: Is Hamas more committed to the destruction of Israel, or Israel more committed to the destruction of all Arab life in their region? After all they like to think of themselves as god's Chosen.

Does that fit with a global economy...are some CHOSEN over others? Or should property rights be respected, and democratic elections?

 

PLO is not Fatah or Abbas. It is a political structure which allows for discourse among disparate groups.

PLO is not a tool of Israel. It is a tool for Palestinians.

 

The PLO was the party of Arafat. The Israelis denied it's credibility, now what... it's now the new answer with Abbas as it's leader?

 

I never said the PLO was a tool, I said Abbas was.

 

After Israel installs Abbas and Fatah, what then? Then Fatah as the bad guys, until the CHOSEN are guarranteed their property under biblical edict? And when does global aid end for the Israelis?

 

Sorry if my use of Israel and Israeli doesn't illicit your drone posts with their bots. But I am sure you will adjust the settings. Bring on the apologists.

 

Right now the PLO and Fatah are being used as Isreali tools. Israel can't stand that Hamas was democratically elected, but they actually were instumental in it's election. Now they want to overturn that by claiming Fatah and Abbas hold power...how is that when Hamas was duly elected?