Money For Gaza

According to the Jerusalem Post of March 2, 2009:

Over $4.4b. raised at Sharm for Gaza

"Palestinian officials from rival factions welcomed pledges of more than $4.4 billion to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip that were made at the donors conference held in Sharm e-Sheikh on Monday. "We appreciate this very much, and we hope it can be transferred into reality in an expeditious fashion so we can see the reconstruction of Gaza begin immediately," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told The Jerusalem Post.

Earlier on Monday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told reporters in Gaza that the group welcomed "any Arab and international effort to rebuild what the occupation destroyed," calling the reconstruction process "a humane and moral" one.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who arrived in Jerusalem on Monday to consult with Israeli government officials and with Palestinian officials in the West Bank, said the United States was pledging $900 million to the international aid effort for the Gaza Strip." -more

According to Haaretz of March 3, 2009:

Donors gather in Sharm el-Sheikh, pledge $4.4 billion for Gaza Strip reconstruction

"Rockets fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip continued to fall yesterday as more than 80 states and organizations met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday to raise reconstruction aid for the territory battered during Operation Cast Lead.

At least $4.4 billion in aid was pledged yesterday by donors for both the Palestinian economy at large, and the Gaza Strip in particular. The plan is to make the money available to the Palestinian Authority over the next two years.

Originally, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had asked for a donors conference hoping that about $2.5 billion would be raised. However the figures have exceeded expectations and Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said that in addition to pledges made before yesterday's gathering, the total figure comes to $5.2 billion." -more

Your thoughts?

"Free Gaza?!"

According to Al-Jazeera:

Can Egypt secure Sinai Peninsula?
August 10, 2012
As Egypt boosts its military presence at the border with Israel we ask what this really means for regional security

"Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian president, has sacked several high-ranking officials including the country's intelligence chief and the governor of North Sinai.
The decision came after 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed in an attack in the Sinai near an Israeli border checkpoint.
Both Egypt and Israel blamed 'militants' from the Gaza Strip and the Sinai for the attack.
The claim could hurt ties between Hamas and Morsi, and has raised concerns over whether Egypt can secure the Sinai region.
Egypt closed the Gaza border crossing indefinitely after Sunday's attack, a move Hamas says amounts to a collective punishment" -more

And according to the JTA:

Deputy speaker of Norwegian parliament salutes activists sailing to Gaza
August 10, 2012
(JTA) --The deputy speaker of Norway’s parliament expressed his "respect" for pro-Palestinian activists sailing to Gaza.
Akhtar Chaudhry met the 17 activists at Oslo’s port on Tuesday, according to the website Ship to Gaza Sweden. The ship, SV Estelle, sailed from Umea on Tuesday, sailed to Oslo Wednesday and then Kristiansand. The activists plan to reach Gaza in October in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade.
“It is a fantastic way to put focus on the longstanding, illegal and brutal occupation and in later years also blockade on Gaza,” Chaudhry said, according to the ship's website.
He also told the Norwegian news agency NTB, “I truly respect those who have volunteered for this action.” -more

Blabbermouth: Gaza 2007

Although I could have written the cartoon as a satire, it is, in fact, true. The "But we're not Jews" story was reported by the British newspaper, the Telegraph. Quoting their Gaza reporter:

"'We're not Jews' the brother of Jamal Abu Jediyan, a Fatah commander, pleaded during a live telephone conversation with a Palestinian radio station.

Minutes later both men were dragged into the streets and riddled with bullets." -more

* * * Meanwhile, the Arab descent into anti-Arab violence seems to be spreading across the region. As I write these words, news is coming in of an attack on a major Shi'ite site in Iraq. * * * Returning to Gaza, Human Rights Watch has accused Hamas and Fatah of war crimes against civilians in Gaza :

"Over the past three days 'both Fatah and Hamas military forces have summarily executed captives, killed people not involved in hostilities, and engaged in gun battles ... inside and near Palestinian hospitals,'

Among other atrocities, it cited the killing of Muhammad Swairki, 28, a cook for the guard of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. Mr Swairki was thrown to his death from a 15-storey building with his arms and legs bound.

Later Fatah forces captured Muhammad al-Ra'fati, a Hamas supporter, and executed him in the same way." -more

DEBKAfile’s military sources tie the new fighting in Gaza with the ongoing fighting in Lebanon between the Syrian-backed Fatah Al Islam and the Lebanese Army:

"Iran and Syria are the winners of Hamas’ military coup against Fatah in Gaza Strip" -more

And YNetNews claims that Fatah and Hamas are now preparing for a "huge conflict":

"Both Fatah and Hamas are preparing for an even larger confrontation in the coming hours, in a fight for control of various power centers in Gaza, sources from both factions told Ynet Tuesday night. Many of these are located near the office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas" -more.

* * *

It looks like our Dry Bones cartoon from a year and a month ago (May 2006) had it right:

Hamas Tunnels

Hamas, the flotilla, and the importing of cars into Gaza? Sometimes I use the Dry Bones cartoons to lampoon the situation and sometimes I use the cartoons to report on news that's not likely to be picked up by the main stream media. Trouble is that sometimes the news is so bizarre that you'd think that it was satirical. Today's cartoon is one of those.

Here's the story as reported by the Jerusalem Post:

"Israel has been under international pressure to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip, especially after an attack by its commandos on an aid convoy to Gaza last May that left nine dead. Yet, even as Israel has begun to let cars and other once-prohibited goods into the Mediterranean enclave, Hamas itself hasn’t always welcomed the increased flow of goods.

Private vehicles joined the list of permitted goods last month. Since then, nine shipments have passed through the Kerem Shalom checkpoint, containing 180 new or slightly used cars.

The problem for Hamas is that it doesn’t profit from the official car imports because the taxes on the vehicles are paid to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, Hamas’ rival for control of the Palestinian territories, said Abu-Shahla. The only reason Hamas allows cars in at all, he said, was to ease pent up demand on the street and mounting criticism of the government, he said

Where it can and does collect taxes is on the vehicles and other goods smuggled through tunnels from Egypt, but the price to the consumer for these vehicles is much higher and the supply is limited. During the years that Israel banned car imports, a new, smuggled automobile -- brought in disassembled through the narrow tunnels -- could cost up to $40,000. The same car brought through Kerem Shalom now costs about $25,000." -more

* * * Africa News is reporting that Egypt has seized a huge shipment of arms on its way to Hamas. The stuff was to be driven through the drive-through smuggling tunnels into Gaza:

"Reports said the weapons and explosives had been transported by 16 vehicles to the huge tunnel network that spanned the Egyptian-Gaza border. The cache found on October 18 contained machine guns, grenades, mines, body armour and other equipment.

No arrests were reported. The sources said the shipment was to have been smuggled through three tunnels from Sinai to Gaza. One of the tunnels was large enough for the transport of the vehicles.

Egypt has made significant progress in the fight against weapons smuggling to the Gaza Strip. In 2010, 582 tunnels were discovered in the region, 16 of them large enough for the smuggling of cars and trucks." -more

Israeli Forces Enter Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Jun 29, 2006 (AP)
"Israeli warplanes struck the Palestinian Interior Ministry early Friday, setting it ablaze as Arab leaders tried to forge a deal that would halt the Israeli offensive and free a 19-year-old soldier held by gunmen allied with the ruling Islamic Hamas.
The bombing was one of more than a dozen across the Gaza Strip after midnight, though Israel called off a planned ground invasion of northern Gaza on Thursday in order to give diplomacy another chance."-more

Gaza/Ramallah June 29, 2006 (Bangkok post)
Israel arrests Hamas, attacks ministry
"In an unprecedented campaign against Hamas, Israel arrested much of the West Bank leadership of the governing Palestinian movement, then fired air-to-surface missiles in the predawn Friday attack that hit an empty interior ministry building in Gaza City."more

Drowning in their own Sewage

The latest news from our neighbors in Gaza is a report of a major disaster. A village has been flooded by a massive spill of sewage and mud. The village is close to one of the areas used by the Palestinians to launch rockets at Israeli towns. Here's the story:

6 killed, many missing in Gaza sewage flood
"At least six people killed, thousands evacuated after sewage, mud flood northern Strip Bedouin village of Umm Naser" -more

* * * More than a month before the disaster there was this little noticed piece of news:

Israel Says PA Using Gaza Sewage Pipes for Kassams
(IsraelNN.com) "Israeli authorities have charged that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is digging up sewage pipes in the Gaza area so that the pipes can be used for Kassam rockets.
The charges were made after the PA accused Israel of causing sewage to be spilled on Gaza's main north-south highway by not allowing needed pipes to move through border crossings." -more

... and this interesting blog posting from March 5:

"There have been numerous reports about horrible conditions in Gaza due to the raw sewage flowing openly in the streets and being dumped into the sea because of the absence of the sewage system. And of course it was blamed on... yep, Israel. But you'll never guess where the metal pipes intended for the construction of a sewage system in Gaza have been going. They have been used for manufacturing Kassam rockets." --more

the Goldstone UN Gaza Report

From the ZOA press release response to the shocking UN Report:

"The very title of the Report - ‘Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ – contains a falsehood – namely, that Gaza is “occupied” by Israel when, under Article 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, a foreign power is only considered an occupier “to the extent that such Power exercises the functions of government in such territory” – something Israel has not done since 2005."

And also:

"the Report claims that “The data provided by non-governmental sources with regard to the percentage of civilians among those killed are generally consistent and raise very serious concerns with regard to the way Israel conducted the military operations in Gaza.’ Yet, as British journalist Melanie Philips points out, Israel provided a detailed breakdown of the Palestinians killed in Gaza and stated that the vast majority of these were Hamas or other terror operatives. Even the UN eventually acknowledged that some 75% of the dead in Gaza were Hamas terrorists."

And:

"ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “The ZOA condemns this atrocious, new installment in the international effort to delegitimize Israel, using perverted and spurious norms of international law in order to invalidate Israel’s elementary, fundamental right and obligation to defend its territory and its citizens. It is nothing less than an anti-Semitic, Israel-bashing, immoral piece of trash. We are appalled that Justice Goldstone was willing to ruin his legal reputation by participating in this dishonestly-conceived and fraudulent investigation. Most serious, perhaps, is the fact that Richard Goldstone was willing to bend and pervert legal norms – such as the definition of occupation and of combatants – in order to pin non-existent legal responsibility on Israel for acts were both justified and indeed necessary in self-defense."

To read the complete Press Release from ZOA (America's oldest Zionist Organization) in response to this latest example of Jewish Defamation and UN anti-Israel bias, click on ZOA Press Release.

Reductum Ad Absurdum

A technique that I often use is called "reductum ad absurdum" ...it means showing that an idea is flawed by carrying it to its logical (and absurd) conclusion.

Today's cartoon is, however, something entirely different. Amazingly, the first three panels of the comic strip are a direct quote from a real question and answer session with the spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the UN.

Question: You read a statement about the situation in Gaza before and I know it's difficult to change terminology, but we have a new Secretary-General now, so let me try it again. A year and half after the last Israeli withdrew from Gaza, the UN system still refers to Gaza as an Occupied Palestinian Territory. The only people who are not Palestinian in Gaza currently are UN people. Do you mean that Gaza is occupied by the UN?

Spokesperson:Definitely not.

Question: So who is it occupied by?

Spokesperson: Well…

Correspondent: I think there are some Israeli soldiers on the border…

Question: Not borders, who is Gaza occupied by?

Spokesperson: Traditionally, this is the terminology we have used. Yes?

Question: But the situation on the ground changed since Israel withdrew from Gaza

Spokesperson: I will look into this.

Correspondent: Thank you.
-more.

The unbelievable briefing session was reported at a website called ZioNation and brought to my attention by a loyal reader ... but it was so improbable that I was sure it was a hoax and had to check with the Official UN text.

So how in the world am I supposed to poke fun at the UN's insane and irrational anti-Israeli bias when they're so good at doing it themselves? What happens to "reductum ad absurdum" in a world that has so totally lost its senses?!

Sheik Yassin returns to Gaza (1998)

Back in June 1998, only ten years ago, we announced that we would allowed Hamas "religious" leader Sheik Yassin back into Gaza! On June 15th today's "Golden Oldie" was published. Eleven days later on June 26, the NY Times ran the following story:

Hamas Sheik Back in Gaza After Touring Arab Capitals

By SERGE SCHMEMANN
Published: June 25, 1998

" Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas, returned to Gaza tonight after a medical trip that turned into a triumphant and reportedly lucrative four-month tour of Arab capitals.

The 62-year-old Islamic cleric, a quadriplegic with failing eyesight and hearing, was released from an Israeli jail in October in exchange for Israeli agents seized after a botched attempt on the life of a Hamas official in Jordan.

At his home in Gaza City, the sheik's motorcade was greeted with festive gunfire from Hamas bodyguards, and a placard reading, ''The Islamic nation is proud of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who returned to the nation its dignity and glory, and from his wheelchair moved the whole nation.''

In a brief statement to about 100 followers, the sheik said: ''I am returning after several months to Gaza, to my Palestinian homeland. We are determined to continue the struggle. We will never accept the occupation of our homeland, and we will use all our means until we remove the occupation and our people go back home.''

The sheik's return had been a matter of some suspense, as Israel debated whether to allow him back or not after a tour in which he issued militant statements and reportedly netted tens of millions of dollars for his Islamic movement, which adamantly opposes the Palestinian peace agreements with Israel and whose secretive military wing is responsible for most of the suicide bombings in Israel in recent years." -more

Your thoughts?

Gaza (1988)

Today's Golden Oldie is from August 10, 1988.

Ten days earlier, on July 31, King Hussein of Jordan relinquished all claims to the "occupied territories" i.e. Judea and Samaria (on the West Bank and formerly controlled by Jordan), and the Gaza Strip (on the Mediterranean and formerly controlled by Egypt).

The King had dropped a hot potato in our laps. There was no longer a "Jordanian Option" for governing the "Palestinian" areas. In September of 2005 Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, forcibly expelling all Jews. Israel would no longer occupy the territory ...and our kids would no longer be sent to patrol the mean streets of Gaza.

* * * Kids who were not born yet when I did today's cartoon are now in Gaza, not patrolling as occupiers, but fighting to defend the Jewish State against the unprovoked, and continuous cross-border Gazan missile attacks on Israel's towns, cities, and kibbutzim.

Activists in Gaza

Ehud Olmert is off telling the world that Israel can now have peace talks with the Palestinian Authority because Hamas now controls Gaza! Why on Earth does Olmert think that this disaster enhances the chances for a peace agreement? The answer is simple. Abbas and the PA do not now control Gaza, so now they wont be expected (in any agreement) to stop missiles fired from Gaza... or infiltrating kidnap gangs from Gaza... or new tunnels... or whatever.

* * *

In assessing our situation we need to remember that our main enemy at this point in history is Iran (Persia). Let's not forget that the Persians invented the game of chess. They now control Gaza on our south and they've got another piece (Hizbullah) on our north.This deadly game requires our best and our brightest.

And that is just not Ehud Olmert.

Taking the High Road

Trump takes high road as Abbas, PLO and Hamas implode

By David Singer:

President Trump’s soon-to-be released “ultimate deal” - aimed at resolving the 100 years old Arab-Jewish conflict – seems set to see Trump not offering the PLO a seat at the negotiating table with Israel.

This possibility follows two extraordinary outbursts by PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas:

·         ending any prospects of reconciliation between Hamas and the PLO and

·         disparaging US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman - whom Abbas called “son of a dog”

The wheels fell off at a leadership meeting in Ramallah on 19 March when Abbas accused Hamas of being responsible for the assassination attempt against Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and chief of intelligence Majid Faraj in Gaza the previous week.

Abbas said he had to take action against Hamas - which rules Gaza and refuses to allow the PLO to govern there.

"I have decided to take national, legal and financial measures to protect out national project. We never thought of punishing any Palestinian citizen, not in the West Bank or Gaza. But we have to say where the wrong is and where the crime is. This situation is not acceptable."

Abbas accused Hamas of sabotaging all efforts for reconciliation - saying that either the Palestinian government takes full charge of everything in Gaza or the de facto authority (Hamas) remains fully responsible for it:

"We did all we can to make the reconciliation a success, but, unfortunately, the result for empowering the government was zero. We have been working hard for six months and got nothing, not the government, not the crossings, not security, nothing. It's all hypocrisy. They don't want reconciliation … There aren't two sides to the division, rather only one side that is consolidating it and enforces an illegal de facto situation"

Abbas said he would not wait for Hamas' investigation into the assassination attempt "because we know that they, Hamas, are behind it" - adding that assassinations are not new to Hamas whose history is full of similar acts - warning that the attempt will not go without reaction.

This latest bout of in-fighting between the PLO and Hamas highlights the bitter internecine conflict they have engaged in since 2007 for control of the hearts and minds of the Gazan and West Bank Arab populations. It underscores the continuing refusal of Hamas and the PLO to give these long-suffering populations any say in their own future for the last 11 years. It haunts the utter inability of the PLO to conclude a peace agreement with Israel after negotiations spanning the last 25 years.

Free and fair elections in Gaza and the West Bank are long overdue. Yet not a word is heard from the United Nations or the European Union calling on Hamas and the PLO to replace bullets with ballots.

America recognises Hamas as a terrorist organisation and now appears to have no option but to conclude that the PLO cannot play any constructive role in resolving sovereignty in Gaza and the West Bank whilst it lacks the political power to make decisions regarding both.

Trump’s recently-assembled coalition comprising Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, and Oman offers hope that Trump’s proposals might be ultimately translated into a binding Arab-Jewish peace treaty - with Arab recognition finally of the Jewish State 70 years after its establishment.

Trump will not take kindly to Abbas’s personal denigration of Ambassador Friedman. Trump should not be surprised if he, UN Ambassador Haley and Trump’s Middle East envoys Kushner and Greenblatt are soon on the receiving end of similar epithets.

Trump is taking the high road to possible peace - Abbas the low road to political irrelevance.

Flotilla 2011

According to the Iranian Student News Agency:

Iranian clerics: Gaza-based aid flotilla, factor of Zionist regime's collapse

TEHRAN (ISNA)-"Iranian cleric Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi said Asian aid convoy's movement towards Gaza Strip is one of the factors of collapse of Zionist regime.

The flotilla carrying 130 people from India, Pakistan, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Bahrain and Azerbaijan as well as Kuwait, Lebanon and Jordan is to reach Gaza Strip.

The convoy originating from India has also reached Iran and is now in Syria to arrive in Gaza Strip." - more

and this from the IDF:

Turkish IHH Continues to Incite Hatred Against Israel

"The Turkish organization IHH, which played a central role in May's flotilla to Gaza, continues to lead its campaign to incite hatred against Israel both in Turkey and abroad, reported the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) on Thursday (Dec. 30). According to the report, IHH spokespeople have been using their heroic myth of the Mavi Marmara in the campaign and advocating for every Palestinian demand, including that of the return of Palestinians to "Jaffa, Tel Aviv and Haifa." -more

Egypt To Take Charge?

King Solomon is a character I use to represent today's Israel's government or Israeli nation. His ever-present adviser is off screen, making a prediction. I agree with the prediction and with the Wise King's question. The Egyptians are in a situation created as the result of both Sharon's pullout from the Gaza Strip and the terrorist challenge to the present Egyptian government.
Here's a posting on the situation from an Egyptian blog called EgyptianPerson.

"For those who haven’t heard yet, after Israel disengaged from Gaza few days ago, things went out of control there. Thousands of Palestinians illegally crossed the borders between Egypt and Gaza, weapon smugglers sold guns from the Egyptian side to Gaza, Egyptian authorities discovered a tunnel filled with light and heavy infantry weapons, and Hamas blew a hole in the wall on the Egypt-Gaza border.

This kind of chaos on the border can easily include terrorists who participated in recent Sinai bombings fleeing to Gaza to hide among their cousins, or wanted Palestinian terrorists by Israel or the Palestinian Authority escaping and disappearing in Sinai. Guess what an uncontrolled Hamas terrorist will do if he found himself near a Sinai resort that has some Israeli tourists?

As far as I am concerned, this behavior by the Palestinians is the first threat to Egypt's national security on the East border in the last 25 years."

Note: the words in bold are bold in the original post at EgyptianPerson.

Fox Hunt

According to The Independent (UK):

The UN has voted to send an international war crimes probe to Gaza after the body’s leading human rights official slammed Israel’s reaction to protests along the border as “wholly disproportionate”. Israeli firing into Hamas-ruled Gaza killed nearly 60 Palestinians at mass border protests on Monday. “There is little evidence of any attempt to minimise casualties on Monday,” Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein told a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.The UN has voted to send an international war crimes probe to Gaza after the body’s leading human rights official slammed Israel’s reaction to protests along the border as “wholly disproportionate”. Israeli firing into Hamas-ruled Gaza killed nearly 60 Palestinians at mass border protests on Monday. “There is little evidence of any attempt to minimise casualties on Monday,” Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein told a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Just Not News

The stories this week that you may not have seen:

Reuters: Israel seizes ship carrying Iranian weapons to Gaza

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – "Israeli naval commandos on Tuesday seized a cargo ship in the Mediterranean carrying what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said were Iranian-supplied weapons intended for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

A military spokeswoman said Israeli forces met no resistance when they intercepted the German-owned "Victoria" some 200 miles from Israel and were taking the vessel to the Israeli port of Ashdod." -more

And the weapons manuals were in Iranian (Farsi)

Navy: Anti-ship missiles, Farsi manual found on seized vessel

"IDF estimates some 50 tons of weapons found on Gaza-bound 'Victoria' vessel intercepted by commandoes; Rear Admiral Ben-Yehuda says Chinese-made C-704 anti-ship missiles would have threatened Israeli sea-based strategic installations, navy vessels had they reached Strip. Containers were loaded after Iranian ships docked in Syria two weeks ago, he adds" -more

And then a day later (yesterday, March 17 ) The Australian ran this story:

Turks order Iran transport plane to land

"An Iranian cargo plane en route to Syria was forced to land in Turkey last night amid fears it may be carrying military or nuclear material.

The plane was being searched at Diyarbakir airport in southeastern Turkey a day after Israeli commandos operating deep in international waters boarded a ship carrying arms allegedly on their way from Iran to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

The plane, which took off yesterday from Tehran bound for the Syrian city of Aleppo, landed following an order from the Turkish foreign ministry.

Two F-16 jet fighters were put on standby to intervene if the Iranian plane did not obey the orders to land, security sources said.

Anti-nuclear, biological and chemical material units of civilian defence teams took part in the inspection of the plane, Anatolia news agency reported." -more

Freedom for the Palestinian Arabs

According to David Singer in Israel National News:

The announced participation of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar in the “Prosperity for Peace Conference” in Manama on 25-26 June - jointly convened by President Trump and Bahrain (“Manama Conference”) – promises to offer unique opportunities for Gaza and Arabs of Judea and Samaria (aka 'West Bank') to emigrate to other Arab countries to seek better lives for their families.

Tens of millions of desperate people have fled their birthplaces in recent years seeking entry illegally into other countries. There is no reason to believe that Gaza and 'West Bank' Arabs would not similarly want to emigrate if offered the opportunity to do so legally.

Gaza and 'West Bank' Arabs have personally suffered under the oppressive rule of Hamas in Gaza since 2006 and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 'West Bank' since 1993. They have not been given the opportunity at any time to determine their own future in free and fair elections – except in 2006 when the PLO refused to accept the result. A bitter internecine struggle since then has ensued between Hamas and the PLO for political control of the Gaza and 'West Bank' Arab populations - that still remains unresolved. Elections are not even being contemplated to resolve this impasse. more

Meanwhile, the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) and I are counting on your help.
Please click to support us: https://drybonesproject.com/365

Enter John Bolton

Trump’s Bolton-appointment signals curtains for Abbas and PLO

 By 

 David Singer 

President Trump’s appointment of John Bolton as National Security Adviser flags the possibility that the centerpiece of Trump’s eagerly-awaited “ultimate deal” could involve the subdivision of Judea and Samaria (“the West Bank”) and Gaza between Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

Such tripartite negotiations would replace the stale-mated Israeli-Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) negotiations – begun in 1993 until suspended in 2014 following a PLO walk-out – at the stage where:
1. The PLO was demanding a new Palestinian Arab State with Jerusalem as its capital in 100% of the West Bank and Gaza (“disputed territories”) for the first time in recorded history – which was unacceptable to Israel.
 2. Offers by Israel in 2000/2001 and 2007 to cede its claims to sovereignty in about 95% of the disputed territories had been rejected by the PLO.
 3. The 1993 Oslo Accords had seen the West Bank divided into three Areas - “A”, “B’ and “C”: • “A” (18%) - under total PLO administrative and security control. • “B” (22%) - under total PLO administrative control and joint Israel-PLO security control • “C” (60%) - under total Israeli administrative and security control
 4. Israel and the PLO had been negotiating the final status of the disputed territories under President Bush’s 2003 Roadmap - endorsed by the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. President Bush had given Israel written commitments on 14 April 2004 – overwhelmingly endorsed by the US Congress - to support Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza – which Israel honored in 2005. America committed it would not expect Israel to withdraw from 100% of the disputed territories. 5. Hamas had governed Gaza since 2007 –as Egypt had between 1948 and 1967.

Abbas and the PLO have recently:
1. Rejected considering any future Trump proposals following Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
2. Declared the Oslo Accords “dead”.

Enter Trump-appointee John Bolton into this Israel-PLO standoff – as President Trump ponders how to fill this negotiating void. Bolton has an answer - provided with amazing prescience on 5 January 2009 in his Washington Post article headlined “The Three-State Solution”: “Let's start by recognizing that trying to create a Palestinian Authority from the old PLO has failed and that any two-state solution based on the PA is stillborn. Hamas has killed the idea, and even the Holy Land is good for only one resurrection. Instead, we should look to a "three-state" approach, where Gaza is returned to Egyptian control and the West Bank in some configuration reverts to Jordanian sovereignty. Among many anomalies, today's conflict lies within the boundaries of three states nominally at peace. Having the two Arab states re-extend their prior political authority is an authentic way to extend the zone of peace and, more important, build on governments that are providing peace and stability in their own countries. "International observers" or the like cannot come close to what is necessary; we need real states with real security forces.” Bolton still retains these views – telling Eric Shawn on 21 January 2018: “I hope at some point the Administration recognizes and perhaps it is already quietly – that the two-state solution isn’t going anywhere. If anything I would say to King Abdullah of Jordan – “Be prepared to reassert Jordanian sovereignty over part of the West Bank – negotiate with Israel”. I think that’s a far better outcome than the continued pursuit of a mythical – I believe – unattainable viable Palestinian state” Saudi Arabia’s backing can be anticipated. Bolton’s appointment is shaping up as yet another Trump-inspired circuit breaker. Trump’s decision to accept Bolton’s advice would spell curtains for Abbas and the PLO and give Trump the momentum he needs to get meaningful Israel-Arab negotiations started.
 [Author’s note: The cartoon - commissioned exclusively for this article – is by Yaakov Kirschen aka "Dry Bones"- one of Israel's foremost political and social commentators - whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades]

Independent Women

Samar Hajj, who is coordinating the trip was quoted as saying; “We are all independent women who believe in breaking the siege on Gaza.”

According to Iranian TV:

"One day after Israel threatened to attack a new Gaza-bound aid ship with only women activists on board, the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah highlights Israel's fear, saying its military ability is "deteriorating."

"Israeli threats against women activists and journalists who are organizing new flotillas serve as proof of the immense fear the Zionists are living in," Israeli dailyYnet news reported Hezbollah's Executive Council Chief Hashem Safieddine as saying on Saturday.

The comment comes after earlier on Friday, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev called for a halt to the Gaza-bound aid ship scheduled to set sail from Lebanon, warning that Tel Aviv would use "all necessary means" to stop the vessel.

Israel "is terrified by a boat carrying women who want to deliver aid to Gaza. How will this Israel be able to face the rockets and the resistance bloc in the next confrontation?" the Hezbollah official asked.

"This is the Zionist entity in its current state and its deteriorating ability," he went on to say.

A group of 50 female Lebanese and foreign activists have announced a plan to send an aid ship loaded with medical supplies to Gaza, which has been under siege since 2007.

The organizers are yet to announce a departure date for the ship, named "Mariam" in honor of the Virgin Mary."

87 Senators

The Story as reported by UPI:

WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI)
-- "Eighty-seven members of the U.S. Senate urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to oppose a U.N. resolution criticizing Israel's handling of an aid flotilla.

The senators -- including Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. -- signed a letter to Obama defending Israel's actions in a May 31 confrontation during which nine people aboard a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza were killed, The Hill reported.

The letter expresses support for Israel's right to defend itself and asserts Israel was acting in self defense when its troops boarded ships in the flotilla.

"In response to thousands of rocket attacks on Israel from Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Israel took steps to prevent items which could be used to support these attacks from reaching Gaza," the letter said. "Israel's naval blockade, which is legal under international law, allows Israel to keep dangerous goods from entering Gaza by sea. The intent of the measures is to protect Israel, while allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza." -more

Eighty-seven Senators out of the 100 in the Senate is really impressive.
But I was curious about the identity of the 13 American Senators who refused to sign the letter. So I checked.
The thirteen are:

1. Chris Dodd (D) - Connecticut
2. Dan Akaka (D) - Hawaii
3. Tom Harkin (D) - Iowa
4. John Kerry (D) - Massachusetts
5. Jeff Bingaman (D) - New Mexico
6. Tom Udall (D) - New Mexico
7. Jeff Merkley (D) - Oregon
8. Patrick Leahy (D) - Vermont
9. Jim Webb (D) - Virginia
10. Jim Bunning (R) - Kentucky
11. Judd Gregg (R) - New Hampshire
12. Robert Byrd (D) - West Virginia
13. Bernie Sanders (I) - Vermont

* * * Meanwhile Bibi will soon be off to a meeting with Obama. Will the message from the Senate mean anything to the President? Your thoughts?