After Ten Years Of Hamas Rule, Gaza Is Deemed 'Unlivable' By UN Report - by Deborah Danan -
The United Nations released a report Tuesday concluding that the Gaza Strip has become "unlivable" since the terror group Hamas seized the coastal enclave a decade ago, and that conditions are set to decline even further over the coming years.
The report, "Gaza - 1o Years On", published by the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), said living conditions in Gaza are deteriorating "further and faster" than the last investigation predicted, and that its 2 million residents are suffering from substandard healthcare, education, incomes and a dire lack of electricity and fresh water.
"Upon seizing control of Gaza, Hamas has increasingly tightened its grip on power, including by executing, maiming and jailing opponents and suppressing dissent," the report's introduction stated. "For years, Hamas was able to sustain its de facto authority and build up its military strength primarily through controlling the movement of goods smuggled through tunnels between Gaza and Egypt and taxing this trade, while the Palestinian Authority paid for essential services to Gaza residents, including some civil service salaries, electricity, water and medical care."
The report also emphasized that attempts to end the rivalry between Hamas and the Fatah party of PA President Mahmoud Abbas - from which the Hamas terror group seized control of the Strip in 2007 - had all failed. "The key issues separating the factions have remained unchanged over the years, with continuing ideological differences, including over the recognition of the right of Israel to exist and the use of violence," it stated.
An administrative committee set up by Hamas to run "governmental affairs" in Gaza earlier this year had only led to a "hardening of the divisions" between the two factions, the report said.
The report also highlighted Hamas' track record of severe human rights violations, which include torture and executions.
"Hamas has committed human rights violations, including restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly as well as a campaign of arbitrary arrests, harassment, torture that even lead to death in custody," it said. "Certain associated armed groups, such as members of the Qassam Brigades, were also responsible for extrajudicial kidnappings, beatings and murders of political opponents."
The report slammed Israel for what it called the "collective punishment" of Gaza's population through the restrictions on movement in and out of the Strip, a measure that Israel says is necessary in preserving its national security since the coastal enclave is being run by a terror group that has proved itself as having no compunctions when it comes to endangering both Israel and its own population.
However, the report also acknowledged that Hamas' longtime efforts at stockpiling weapons was a major factor in the restrictions on movement for civilians.
"A further impediment to access and movement has been the military build-up in Gaza by Hamas and other militant groups, which continued and intensified over the past decade, including the development, stockpiling and firing of rockets capable of reaching deep into Israel and the construction of sophisticated tunnels used for kidnappings and terrorist attacks in Israel," it said.
Robert Piper, the UN coordinator for humanitarian aid and development activities in what the UN defines as the "occupied Palestinian territories" and a frequent harsh critic of Israeli policies told Reuters that Gaza was "de-development" in action.
"I see this extraordinarily inhuman and unjust process of strangling gradually two million civilians in Gaza that really pose a threat to nobody," said Piper.
Piper is known for making anti-Israel statements and accusing the country of violating Palestinian human rights.
However, in his foreword to Tuesday's report, Piper did not assign the lion's share of the blame to Israel, instead singling out the ruling Hamas party and its ongoing dispute with the Palestinian Authority.
He told Reuters the escalating boycotts facing Qatar - Hamas' primary backer - were also impacting Gaza's deterioration.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon responded to the UNSCO report saying it "proves without a doubt that the rule of Hamas terrorists over the past ten years has not only led to unending attacks on innocent Israelis, but has also brought nothing but pain and destruction to the residents of Gaza."
"It is time for the UN to finally designate Hamas a terrorist organization and to demand that the Palestinian leadership abandon its support of incitement and terror," Danon added.
Israelis Want Victory - By Daniel Pipes -
What does the Jewish Israeli public think about convincing Palestinians that they lost their century-long war with Zionism, that the gig is up? In other words, what do Israelis think about winning?
To find out, the Middle East Forum commissioned the Smith Institute to survey 700 adults Israeli Jews. Carried out on June 27-28, the poll has a margin of error of 3.7 percent.
It reveals a widespread belief that a Palestinian recognition of defeat will eventually lead to an acceptance of Israel as the Jewish state, thereby ending the conflict.
Palestinian defeat: "A peace agreement with the Palestinians will only be possible once the Palestinian leadership recognizes the fact that it has been defeated in its struggle against Israel." Overall, 58 percent of respondents agree, with opinion deeply polarized by political outlook: 69 percent on the Right concur but only 16 percent on the Left do so.
Israeli victory: "The reason that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict still continues is that none of the military operations or diplomatic engagements with the Palestinian leadership have led to Israeli victory." This resembles the first statement but reverses it; doing so increases the positive responses to 65 percent of the Israeli public. More surprising, the results show that, across the entire political spectrum from Right to Left, an awareness exists that Israel needs to win. They also show that a majority of every subgroup of voter - male and female, young and old, adherents of every kind of Judaism, supporters of Jewish political party represented in parliament? - concur with this sentiment.
U.S. embassy: "Moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem will be seen by the majority of Palestinians as a defeat." The same percentage of respondents, 65, also agrees with this assertion, with the Right supporting it only slightly more than the Left (68 to 58 percent). That religious Jews heavily endorse this statement (89 percent of those who identify with the Haredi party HaTorah Yahadut) much more so than the secular (53 percent of the anti-Haredi party Kulanu) does not come as a surprise. That, again, a majority of every sub-group backs the idea does surprise, however.
Jewish state: "Israeli victory can only be achieved once the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish State." A similar 67 percent agree with this statement but the breakdown is, as with the first statement, acutely political: 76 percent of the Right agrees and 26 percent of the Left does. On the other hand, party affiliation makes almost no difference (both HaTorah Yahadut and Kulanu members come in at 71 percent) with the single, spectacular exception of Meretz (which weighs in at 33 percent).
What to make of all these numbers? That the four parallel questions all win majority support points to the profound evolution of the Israeli public since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1992. No longer does it have faith that good-will gestures will win reciprocity from the Palestinians, put credence in Palestinian leaders, or believe in appeasement. The consistent support for these propositions, ranging only from 58 to 67 percent support, confirms that most Israeli Jews want a different and tough policy.
The surprise comes in the turmoil below the stately over-all numbers. That two of them (defeat and Jewish state) divide along Right-Left lines and two of them (victory and U.S. embassy) does not point to the fact that choosing which issue to promote has critical importance to who supports what. Backing the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem and Palestinian acceptance of Israel as the Jewish state look similar but attitudes range widely. For example, twice as many supporters of the hard-Left Meretz party back the embassy issue as they do the Jewish state one (67 vs. 33 percent).
That most Israeli Jewish adults want Palestinian defeat and Israeli victory confirms the utility of the July 11 launch of the Knesset Israel Victory Caucus. Co-chaired by Oded Forer (Yisrael Beiteinu) and Ya'akov Perry (Yesh Atid), the caucus seeks to explore Israeli strategies and tactics once the U.S. government gives a green light for an Israeli victory.
"Debating the peace process to most Israelis," commented a former Israeli prime ministerial aide back in 2013, "is the equivalent of debating the color of the shirt you will wear when landing on Mars." It's time for a shift in focus away from hopeless and counterproductive negotiations to ending the conflict the time-proven way: Through victory.
Netanyahu Meets with Trump Team as Abbas Vows to Keep Paying Terrorists - Tzippe Barrow -
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the Trump administration team Wednesday in Jerusalem. Special envoy Jason Greenblatt, who arrived in Israel Monday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer took part in the meeting.
The previous evening, Greenblatt, Friedman and U.S Consul General Donald Blum met in Jerusalem with representatives of the Palestinian Authority, including chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, Mohammed Mustafa and Majid Faraj.
"They had an open, cordial and frank discussion on many topics related to peace negotiations," the Times of Israel quoted an unnamed White House official as saying. "The administration believes that in order to give everyone the best chance to reach an ultimate deal, it is critical to have negotiators that are close with the president, and that is why the team includes senior advisor Jared Kushner, Greenblatt and Friedman."
Tuesday's meeting was supposed to take place at P.A. headquarters in Ramallah, but P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas refused to host Friedman because he supports Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).
Trump has insisted that Friedman take part in the meetings, while Netanyahu denied reports by Arab media, quoted by the Israeli press, of agreeing to reduce construction in Judea and Samaria during talks with the Palestinian Authority.
Meanwhile, both the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) translated remarks by Abbas on continuing to pay monthly salaries to prisoners and their families.
The men are soldiers, not terrorists, fighting for their people, Abbas says.
"Even if I have to resign, I will not compromise on the martyrs' and prisoners' allowances. I am president of all the Palestinian people, including the prisoners, martyrs, wounded, deportees and forced migrants," Fatah Central Committee member Jama Muhaisen quoted Abbas in the Gaza-based daily Dunya al-Watan. The same statement, MEMRI reports, is featured on a banner on Fatah's Facebook page.
The latest Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) bulletin quotes a terrorist telling Israel police the payments motivated him to attack Israelis.
"If I'm not able to kill soldiers, I'll try settlers, guards - in other words any Israeli target," he said during interrogation. "The important thing is that I will die and they will kill me so my children will receive a [P.A.] allowance and live happily."
On a positive note, the P.A. signed an agreement with Israel Tuesday to supply electricity to a new power station in Jenin to increase supplies to areas that have faced power shortages recently.
P.A. Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and Yoav Mordechai, coordinator of the Israeli government in the West Bank and Gaza, signed the agreement at the new Jenin power station.
"This initiative constitutes important progress toward the US administration's goal of bolstering the Palestinian economy to enhance the prospects for a just, secure, and lasting peace," the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem said in a statement.
When Religion Gets Aggressive - Jim Fletcher - http://www.raptureready.com/category/israel-watch/
It was sublime being in Jerusalem on the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War, including walking through Lion's Gate on the morning of June 7. This route, taken by IDF troops on their way to unfurling the Star of David atop the Temple Mount, is also the shortest path to Mt. Moriah.
Most of you know what happened next: IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan returned control of the 35-acre plaza to the Palestinians. He wanted, of course, to minimize chances of an Arab uprising, should the Israelis maintain strict control of what Muslims call Haram al-Sharif.
In the decades since Israel's miraculous victory, we have seen continual weak posture from the West, regarding dealings with the Palestinians.
Among those weaknesses is a failure to respond correctly to the aggression of Islam. Whether that failure is a result of ignorance of the religion, or a wish to avoid conflict, I cannot say.
As an aside, it is part of the human condition to want to avoid conflict. Most take that to the extreme, never confronting evil. Much evil has flourished as a result.
It has always rankled me that half the time when I visit Jerusalem, I cannot visit the Temple Mount. As a Christian pilgrim, wishing to visit a place so central to my faith, I can't be there...for one reason.
This year, Ramadan was the reason given when I asked a policeman inside the Dung Gate whether the Temple Mount was open. It wasn't, because we must not offend the sensibilities of Muslims. This acquiescence only emboldens them, obviously.
Think of the irony: Israel fights and wins an existential war, surrounded by Muslim armies. Yet today, Jews and Christians can rarely visit the spiritual center of the universe, and cannot pray on the Temple Mount!
Israel does control East Jerusalem, but Palestinians have virtual free reign in the Old City. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Muslim calendar, and commemorates the alleged first revelation of the Koran to Muhammad. The month-long period of fasting compels practitioners of this works-based religion to push their religious needs on others.
And not only on the Temple Mount, but virtually everywhere else Jews and Christians allow Muslims to impede others' abilities to practice their faith.
Think of the rare person who has a single opportunity to visit the Holy Land, and wishes to step foot on the Temple Mount. You get to the guard shack that leads up the ramp to the Mount, and find that because Muslim sensibilities have been inflamed (due to Ramadan, or a leaf blowing, or Allah getting up on the wrong side of the bed), Jews and Christians are barred.
I predict that a showdown is coming between East and West over the aggression of Islam. One day, pacifists will not have the luxury anymore of being dhimmis in the face of Islam.
But that will be a human showdown. I look forward to the day the King of kings sets foot on the Temple Mount and ushers in an era of harmony.
Come quickly!
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