Chaos in Israel/Palestine

and on the otherside an equally hardline group wins the Israeli elections.

Excuse me Boss. Kadima is not a baby killing party.

No its a land grabbing, water denying party, which has now gained charge of a militia callling itself a defence force.

Canada, US Cut Contacts With Palestinian Gov't

GAZA CITY, March 30, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Hours after the new Hamas-led Palestinian government was sworn in, Canada decided to suspend aid and contacts with the Palestinian Authority and Washington ordered diplomats to cut off contacts with the cabinet.

"Canada will have no contact with the members of the Hamas cabinet and is suspending assistance to the Palestinian Authority," Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said in a statement on Wednesday, March 29, Reuters reported.

The Canadian government, becoming the first donor to suspend aid to the PA, said the decision came after Hamas failed to renounce violence and recognize Israel.

"A clear commitment by the Hamas government to the principles that we and the international community have outlined remains an essential precondition for Canada to resume any assistance to the Palestinian Authority."

Canada gives C$25 million ($21 million) a year to the PA to fund aid projects.

The announcement came just hours after the 24-member Hamas-led cabinet was sworn in by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and one day after acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party won the Israeli election.

Olmert intends to unilaterally set Israel's borders without consultations with the Palestinians.

Regret

The Palestinian government said it would have been better if Ottawa discuss the government program before taking the decision.

"We regret this decision. We consider that it has been taken in haste and contrary to the democratic norms and the principles of human rights which are the basis for relations between states," Information Minister Yussef Rizqa told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The Canadian government would have been better off meeting with the government that Hamas has formed to discuss and study its program and listen to its point of view."

Mushir Al-Masri, a Hamas legislator, said the freeze showed that Canada was biased toward Israel.

"This hasty decision represents a collective punishment on the Palestinian people who practiced their democratic choice (in electing Hamas)," he told Reuters.

The decision to cut off aid to the Palestinians also drew fire inside Canada.

"We're disappointed and perplexed that Canada would be the first to decide to make this move," Hussein Amery, president of the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations, told Reuters.

No Contacts

Similarly, the Bush administration has ordered its diplomats and contractors not to have any contacts with Palestinian ministries.

President George W. Bush said Wednesday it made "no sense" to support the new Hamas-led administration unless the group renounced violence.

He also defended his threat to cut funding to the Palestinian government if Hamas refuses to recognize Israel, even though the group was democratically elected in January.

"I think that aid should go to suffering Palestinians, but nor should it go to a government, however, which has expressed its desire to destroy its neighbor," Bush told an audience at the Freedom House, an independent pro-democracy group.

"We support the election process, we support democracy, but that doesn't mean we have to support governments that get elected as a result of democracy."

The US and the EU have threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority once a Hamas-led government is in place.

The US, which has given more than $1.5 billion in aid to the Palestinians since 1993 and had budgeted $234 million for 2006, has begun a full review of such assistance program since Hamas's election win.

Israel has frozen the monthly transfers of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA, worth around $50 million.

Hamas has played down the aid threat, expecting generous aid from Arabs and Muslims to bridge the financial gap.

IslamOnline

Israel blocks Haniya Gaza return

Israeli authorities have ordered the closure of a border point with Egypt to prevent the return of the Palestinian PM, Hamas's Ismail Haniya.

Mr Haniya is believed to be carrying with him tens of millions of dollars of donations from Iran.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz had ordered EU monitors to close the Rafah crossing, Israeli sources said.

Hamas militants, angry that Mr Haniya could not return, engaged into a gun battle with border guards.

The Palestinian presidential guard, responsible for security at the border terminal, began firing at them, according to an Associated Press news agency journalist at the terminal.

Mr Haniya was due to return to Gaza on Thursday after cutting short his first trip abroad as PM to deal with mounting tensions between Hamas and rival faction Fatah.

Inter-faction tensions have increased since the killing of three sons of a pro-Fatah security chief on Monday.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6180155.stm

He was allowed to return. The issue was whether he could return with a group of Iranian soldiers carrying $30+ million cash. An arrangement was brokered by Egypt but Hamas blew a hole in the border anyway, also taking the opportunity to lob another barrage of missiles at Sderot.

There is only so far you can push someone.

I do not like the current policy of starving the population to submission.

Violence follows Hamas accusation

Clashes have erupted between rival Palestinian factions after Hamas accused Fatah of trying to assassinate Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas.

Hamas accused a senior Fatah figure of organising an attack on Mr Haniya as he crossed into Gaza from Egypt.

Medical sources in the West Bank town of Ramallah said 32 people had been injured in clashes there. Fighting was also reported in Gaza City.

Mr Haniya called for calm and unity at a mass rally held in Gaza City.

Tens of thousands of supporters gathered in a Gaza City football stadium to mark the 19th anniversary of the founding of Hamas.

Hamas gunmen patrolled the streets of the city in a show of strength.

Mr Haniya said Hamas had the names of those responsible and that the law would be used to bring them to justice.

But he vowed that the shooting would not frighten members of Hamas.

"We did not join this movement to become ministers but rather to become martyrs."

One bodyguard was killed and Mr Haniya's son was among five injured in Thursday's gun battle at the Rafah border crossing.

The BBC's Alan Johnston, in Gaza, says Mr Haniya struck a less strident tone than some, but there is every danger that the situation could get worse.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority (PA) president and head of Fatah, is due to speak on Saturday, and may call early elections in an effort to break the political deadlock between Fatah and Hamas.

Hamas has said it will boycott Mr Abbas' speech in protest at "dangerous and bloody" recent events.

Egyptian negotiators, who have mediated between Hamas and Fatah in the past, met Hamas on Friday in an effort to ease tensions.

Russia also called for the quarrelling factions to show restraint.

'Grave threat'

The violence in Ramallah on Friday flared as Hamas supporters attempted to march towards the centre of town but found the path blocked by Mr Abbas' security forces, reports said.

Fighting broke out, with hospital officials saying that at least 32 people were injured by gunfire and stone-throwing.

Shooting also erupted in Gaza City between masked Hamas gunmen and PA police allied to Fatah.

A Hamas spokesman had earlier said the Rafah attack was "an assassination attempt carried out by traitors led by Mohammad Dahlan".

Mr Dahlan, an ally of Mr Abbas, is a former Palestinian Authority security chief and a fierce critic of Hamas.

He rejected the Hamas accusations, saying the governing party was trying to "mask its failures".

A Fatah spokesman said the attack was a "grave threat" to Palestinian unity.

Chaotic scenes

Inter-faction tensions have increased since the killing of three sons of a pro-Fatah security chief on Monday.

Mr Haniya had tried to cut short his first trip abroad as prime minister to deal with the crisis.

But Israel on Thursday closed the Gaza border, saying the reported $30m (£15.3m) Mr Haniya was carrying in donations as he returned from his foreign trip would fund "terrorist operations".

When Mr Haniya eventually crossed late in the evening, without the money, guards allied to Fatah exchanged fire with Mr Haniya's security forces.

Hamas, a militant Islamic group, won elections in January, but has faced a Western aid boycott after refusing to renounce violence and recognise Israel.

BBC News

After desperation it is only a small step to total anarchy.

We can all work with Abbas, Haniya and Hamas are street thugs - this is all they know and all we can expect from them.

Originally Fatah was the same.

Excluding the democratically elected government of the place is not gonna make things easier.

When you demand democracy, you have to put up with the possibility the locals want a different leadership than the foreigners.

Well the current infighting seems to be having benefits for the Palestinians.

The world is falling over itself to undermine the elected government.

Israel has released 100Million dollars worth of taxes it was witholding (it is still holding back over $500million, but it's a step ni the right direction), will remove some check points from the West Bank and also release prisoners for Eid.

The rest of the world is also doing it's bit to undermine democracy aswell. As long as it is heping the people I ain't gonna complain. Just make a note of it.

It is not that they are undermining democracy, it is that the Hamas charter rules out peace. In the interests of peace Olmert and Abbas met and Olmert agreed sweeping concessions including the dismantling of some roadblocks, the release of a large number of prisoners and the handing over of a portion of Palestinian funds. He also reiterated his commitment to make further troop withdrawals from the West Bank. The reason all this is not done in negotiation with Hamas is that Abbas conceivably is not at war with Israel. Your interpretation is unfortunate, Admin, and undermines what is supposed to be a goodwill agreement. Olmert, though he loses Israel's bargaining chips, increases his standing (although certainly not with many Israelis), as this is clearly a magnanimous undertaking. Abbas also increases his diplomatic standing, although ultimately perhaps not his sway with the Palestinians, which is a great shame. So while the groundwork is being laid for peace Hamas will do all it can to bolster its list of grievances alternating as it does between the roles of victim and glorious Islamic victor and war remains foreseeable. It is in Israel's interests, perhaps, to be as divorced as possible from Palestine and do as much as it can to establish an independent Palestine, regardless of whether the future holds war or peace.

If Olmert is aggressive Hamas will declare Israel the oppressor, and if he is gracious Hamas will declare themselves victorious and Israel weak. Israel is in a no-win situation with the pro-Hamas camp and I can only hope that Israel's strategy of attempting to sideline Hamas pays off. I do not know if Israel can trust Abbas, nor if Abbas can be effective, but he is a statesman with Palestinian interests at heart, rather than a warmonger. The gamble might be stupid but I applaud Olmert's single-minded bravery.

I know it is a no win situation, I was just noting it down.

I am all in favour of anything which reduces the pressure, even if it undermines the electoral mandate on this occasion.

The people have been cooked up for too long and any help is better than none.

Not blaming Israel. Afterall it needs to talk to someone. Even if it was just for its own political sake...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6213193.stm

The point here IS NOT THAT AMERICA said it is wrong. The point is that the theft of the 'Holy Land' still continues today.

UN envoy hits Israel 'apartheid'

A UN human rights envoy has compared Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories to elements of apartheid.

The UN's Special Rapporteur, John Dugard, describes the regime as being designed to dominate and systematically oppress the occupied population.

Mr Dugard is a South African professor of international law assigned to monitor Israeli human rights abuses.

He has extensively studied apartheid in South Africa and has compared it to what he saw under Israeli rule.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6390755.stm

It is the umpteenth report by Dugard on this subject. I have read his reports and find his wording obnoxious and laden with opinion. That is just my reaction. I'll leave my criticisms at that since I have little hope of persuading anyone here that this UN official lacks objectivity. You might think I lack objectivity.

ftr it is a widely shared concern that Palestinians don't have proper freedom of movement throughout the West Bank, but the roadblocks are necessary security measures. It goes without saying that settlers are not part of the threat to Israel. The policy of demolishing houses of terrorists, which leaves their families homeless, should end, and the demolition of illegal dwellings must be fairer. On those points I will campaign. That doesn't apply to demolitions of houses used for nefarious purposes such as tunnelling and weapons storage.

The term apartheid is misused. It is true that Israel extends protection to its own in the West Bank, and not to the Palestinians. This is not an apartheid. I spent time in Jerusalem last week with liberal Israelis (including some who really hate the security wall), and in particular a friend who kindly took me out to the Arab quarters, but I don't think any of them would argue as if there were no enmity among Arabs and it were an issue of oppression.

A foreign ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said that it was a product of what he called "rank politicisation" of the UN's human rights apparatus.

"This is the promoting of partisan, one-sided political attitudes which frankly don't serve the interests of anyone who is seriously interested in human rights," Mr Regev said.