"I have entered Palestine many times but the most emotional of these is after the 22-day genocidal aggression against the Palestinian people," he told reporters.
Receiving the activists, Ahmed Kurd, Hamas' minister of social affairs, thanked Galloway for the "noble goodwill gesture" and called the lawmaker a "hero."
Hamas calls him a hero? Isn't that all we need to know?The money, which needs U.S. congressional approval, will be distributed through U.N. and other bodies and not via the militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, said one official.
"This money is for Gaza and to help strengthen the Palestinian Authority. It is not going to go to Hamas," said the official, who asked not to be named as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton planned to announce the funding at a donors' conference in Egypt next week.
Sure....
"The news is breaking, but FoxNews is reporting that the American navy has intercepted a ship carrying Iranian arms going to Hamas. This ship flies under the flag of Cyprus. While the destination is unclear, Debka has been reporting that a ship carrying Iranian arms would attempt to send these weapons to Hamas. From Fox:
The search turned up ammunition that included artillery shells. But one official said that since Hamas is not known to use artillery, officials are now uncertain who the intended recipient was. They’re asking Egypt to do another search when the ship arrives in port.
The task force was unable to confiscate the arms, despite the violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution that prohibits Iran from selling arms, because there is no enforcement mechanism in place.
The officials said the shipment is believed to be on its way to Syria and there is little the international community can do to stop it.
Perhaps it’s just another link in Iran’s terrorism chain. It also shows that the U.N. is almost toothless to stop such a violation of its own resolutions."
“It’s good that the fighting has stopped, but that doesn’t mean we will forget,” said Enis Chabchoub, 29, a computer trainer who was watching the news with his parents, siblings and sister-in-law. “This war will be remembered, and not only in Gaza.”
In France, which is home to the largest Jewish and the largest Muslim communities in Western Europe, the conflict between Hamas and Israel has deeply inflamed passions over the past three weeks. The emotions, strongly expressed in demonstrations that drew tens of thousands of people to the streets, were one factor driving diplomatic efforts by French leaders, including President Nicolas Sarkozy, to achieve a lasting cease-fire.
I was shocked myself, but when was the last time an Arab leader (except Mithal al-Alusi) has not spoken pure vitriol about Israel over the Palestinian issue. For example:
It is important to note that the Jews did not forcibly expel Palestinians. They were never “un-welcomed.” and Assimilation is already a fact of life in Israel. There are more than one million Muslim Arabs in Israel; they possess Israeli nationality and take part in political life with the Jews, forming political parties.The Israel air force demolished two key Hamas war systems in the first 4 minutes of its massive offensive on Gaza Saturday morning, Dec. 27, DEBKAfile's military sources report. The bombers destroyed six mosques in Gaza City which held the terrorists' biggest weapons arsenals and scores of "beehives" containing launchers primed for the simultaneous, automatic release of hundreds of powerful rockets against Israeli cities.
These launchers were rigged for precision-targeting in Israeli town centers. They were operated by a unit of 300 special Hamas operatives trained for their mission at a Syrian military bases under the instruction of Hizballah rocket specialists.
The aerial offensive knocked out 80 percent of the rockets Hamas had prepared to launch and saved Israel's southern cities. The Palestinian Islamists were left only with inferior projectiles. Therefore, 98 percent of the hundreds of missiles they managed to fire in the 22-day war missed their targets and exploded in open ground.
We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.
Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.
After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
I believe that the former President may just be a little wrong on all of these issues. It appears that he's far too willing to forgive Hamas and not give the benefit of the doubt to Israel, a multi-party democracy.
