|
Not One Cent For
Gaza
It seems the Palestinian leader is overseeing the brutal siege
of his own people in Gaza without a care or thought for them.
By Yvonne Ridley
09/09/08 "ICH" -- - JUST when you think the Zionist
leaders have peaked in arrogance and the Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak has peaked in ignorance, a new scheme comes along
that is almost beyond belief, prompting me to wonder if they are
all taking crack cocaine.
Apparently Defence Minister Ehud Barak and the Pharonic Mubarak
opened serious discussions about the deployment of an Arab force
in the Gaza Strip consisting largely of Egyptian and some Saudi
troops.
Apparently the two said they would eventually like to expand the
deployment of Arab and international forces to the West Bank as
well, with those troops consisting largely of Jordanian forces,
according to the Israeli plan.
The reason for this nonsense? Well I believe it is because Hamas,
the democratically elected government (certainly in Gaza) is
doing such a good job of maintaining law and order and are
growing in popularity with ordinary Palestinians that their
continued rise is viewed as a huge threat ... not just to the
Zionist interlopers but to the rest of the leadership in the
Arab world.
Gaza is the world's largest open air prison and its
infrastructure, emergency services and day to day operations
have been crippled by the brutal Israeli-led siege.
Yet despite this, Hamas - since it kicked out the corrupt Fatah
fat cats last year - has managed to try and hold things together
for its 1.5m citizens on the Gaza Strip.
They are living a hand-to-mouth existence and innocent men,
women and children are dying in this collective punishment
because they are being denied vital medicines and access to the
outside world, but their support of Hamas is growing by the day.
I've seen it with my own eyes and so, unlike most of the outside
politicians including the Quartet's Peace Envoy Tony Blair, I am
coming from a point of knowledge.
I, along with more than 40 other international peace activists,
went to Gaza recently by boat to smash the seaborne part of the
siege, and we saw for ourselves the dreadful situation imposed
on the Gazans.
But I was also able to wander and move around freely and
discovered Gaza to be among one of the safest cities in the
world ... certainly much more safe than the streets of London or
New York. Crime is down more than 80 per cent since Hamas police
took over - the statistics are available.
One day myself and film-maker Aki Nawaz wandered down on to the
beach and took part in a lively, political discussion with
ordinary Palestinians ... and some of them made it clear they
did not like or support Hamas. But what we did was taken part in
a full and frank discussion and such freedoms of speech are not
allowed or encouraged in the rest of the Arab world.
The fact is, there is so much irrational hatred for Hamas from
Israel, America and Europe that the politicians just refuse to
accept the truth and the truth is the majority of Gazans love
and support Hamas.
And here's why. The Hamas leadership and members are suffering
just as much as the ordinary citizens of Gaza. They endure the
hardship of the siege, they have their power supplies cut off,
they have to put up with Israel switching off the tap water when
it chooses. They, too are suffering and the people can see this
with their own eyes.
It really does appear as if the Hamas leadership can not be
bought or corrupted.
Millions of dollars and Euros are pouring in to the Palestinian
Authority's coffers controlled by Abu Mazen and NOT ONE CENT
reaches the people of Gaza. Sadly, it seems the Palestinian
leader is overseeing the brutal siege of his own people in Gaza
without a care or thought for them.
I've previously met both Abu Mazen and Yassir Arafat and I can
tell you the former is a pale imitation of the latter. Arafat
suffered daily alongside his own people and I witnessed
firsthand when I went to his HQ in Ramallah in 2003.
The only financial interest Abu Mazen has in Gaza is his own
obscenely luxurious Hollywood villa which nestles in uneasy
splendour next to crumbling homes, ghettoes and poverty. You
would think that the ordinary Gazans would want to tear down
this luxurious home brick by brick but they can't ... it is
being guarded and protected by Hamas!
Abu Mazen should hang his head in shame. He won't even pick up
the phone to the Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh who told me, in a
private meeting earlier this month, that he has attempted
several times to open talks with Abu Mazen who sits in his
luxurious bolt hole on the West Bank (actually, I'm told he has
several homes but like US Presidential hopeful John McMain can't
be too sure of the exact number!)
The reality is if democratic elections were held in the Middle
East tomorrow, Hamas would be swept to victory wherever
candidates stood.
So now you know why Israel and its Arab subordinates want to
send an army in to Gaza - they are terrified that the charisma
and leadership of Hamas might start to spread in the region, and
that wouldn't do, would it?
Oh, and by the way, no one has officially consulted the Saudis
yet - but when Israel says jump the Riyadh response is: "How
high?" So don't expect any resistance from them.
And the other reason why Israel wants to bring in Arab forces,
is that they might just act as a buffer or protection zone for
the Zionist Army which prefers to use its weapons on women and
children but is quaking at the prospect of a real ruck with the
Hamas military.
Israel is still smarting after its defeat at the hands of
Hizb'Allah's soldiers in Lebanon and its military really
couldn't face another spanking at the hands of Hamas troops if
the current truce falters.
There is an easy solution to all of this - Israel should lift
the siege and sit down for talks with Hamas - Ismael Haniyeh
told me he is ready and waiting.
Yvonne Ridley and Indy film-maker Aki Nawaz are making a
documentary for Press TV about the boat journey of the Free Gaza
Movement and what they found when they arrived on the Gaza
Strip.
Click on
"comments" below to read or post comments
Comment
Guidelines
Be succinct, constructive and
relevant to the story.
We encourage engaging, diverse and meaningful commentary.
Do not include personal information such as names, addresses,
phone numbers and emails. Comments falling outside our
guidelines – those including personal attacks and profanity –
are not permitted.
See our complete
Comment
Policy and use this link
to notify us if you have concerns about a
comment. We’ll promptly
review and remove any inappropriate postings.
Send Page To a Friend
In
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this
material is distributed without profit to those
who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research and
educational purposes. Information Clearing House
has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator
of this article nor is Information ClearingHouse
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
|
