Gaza's Bleak Reality

Barghouthi: Israel Makes a Failure of Annapolis before it even Begins

Palestinian National Initiative
Palestine Monitor
22 November 2007

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article183

“An initiative based on entrenching Palestinian disunity, sidelining democracy, ignoring Israeli violations of human rights, and placing the onus on an occupied people to enforce their own occupation” was how PNI General Secretary, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, described Israel’s behaviour on the eve of the upcoming meeting in Annapolis at a press conference held today in Ramallah.

Dr. Barghouthi began his presentation with an examination of the controlled humanitarian crisis being maintained by Israel in Gaza. He expressed deep scepticism that Annapolis will harbour anything positive for the people of Gaza in that it is founded on excluding Gaza from the negotiations, and leads Palestinians further away from the unity they desperately need to seek a way out of the current situation.

The MP made specific reference to the deaths of 10 Gazan patients since August 2007 as a direct result of being blocked from leaving via Israeli-controlled crossings in order to receive life-saving treatment outside the Strip, deaths which he said amounted to no less than premeditated murder on the part of the Israeli military. He added that these deaths could have been avoided if the political will within Israel existed to do so. Conts above link:

Israeli army kills a Palestinian farmer in Rafah, as death toll rises to six in 24 hours

By Rami Almeghari
IMEMC
November 27, 2007

http://www.imemc.org/

Six Palestinians, including resistance fighters, have been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza over the past 24 hours.

Early on Tuesday morning, Palestinian medics pronounced the death of Ali Alsufi, a 55-year-old local farmer in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, after the Israeli soldiers opened fire at him.

Witnesses said that the Israeli army has swept into the eastern Rafah city, just close to the devastated Gaza international airport.

Witnesses added that the invading force opened heavy fire onto farm lands, leaving aL-Sufi dead. http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=23666

Gaza`s bleak reality

By Akiva Eldar
Haaretz
27 Nov. 2007

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/928363.html

Tzipi Livni says the world can be divided into two: The good guys, who came to Annapolis, the ones who want to make peace - and the bad guys, who oppose the conference and want to sabotage peace efforts. According to the foreign minister, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his friends in the Ramallah government belong to the good guys. The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, belongs to the bad guys. But Haniyeh is responsible for the fate of some 1.5 million Palestinians, and they and the place they live in are supposed to be an integral part of the agreement that is the underlying reason for holding the conference. Even with all its goodwill, in the best case scenario, Israel can only give Abu Mazen about half the kingdom. In order to transfer the other half to him, the Israel Defense Forces will have to recapture Gaza.

But there are voices calling for another option: They want the framework agreement, which is deadlocked for now, to be accompanied by a comprehensive agreement for a cease-fire and a prisoner release, starting with Gilad Shalit. For now, however, Ehud Olmert does not want to hear about any deal with the bad guys. He has enough on his plate because of the problems created by his own bad guys, back in Israel, because of his close ties with the good Arabs from the territories. More:

http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=23661

AJ SILVERA _ SAM ARMANDA

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