The Obama Administration is trying to quietly kill the move for recognition of a Palestinian state, particularly after the loss of Anthony Weiner’s seat in the House due in part to an angry backlash by Jewish voters over support of Israel. Other countries have said it is time and momentum appeared to be with the Palestinians . . . at least until the Palestine Liberation Organization’s ambassador Maen Areikat to the United States decided to add his views. Areikat described his vision of a beautiful new free and independent state. The key component? No Jews.
When asked if there “there would be no Jews in the West Bank or Gaza,” Areikat explained that “it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated.” Of course, they are not separated. Israel has 1.3 million Muslims who are Israeli citizens.
Source: USA Today
RL, Yes, people have been starved.
The entire section on the land blockade is worth a read.
Effects of land blockade on Gaza
There have been several reports and studies analysing the effect of the blockade on Gaza.
In July, 2008, an UNRWA report on the situation in Gaza stated that “the number of households in Gaza below the consumption poverty line continued to grow, reaching 51.8 percent in 2007 (from 50.7 percent in 2006)”.[110] In the same year, a Palestinian Bureau of Statistics study concluded that 80% of families in Gaza were living below the poverty line.[111] The CIA World Fact book places this figure at an estimated 70% for 2009.[112]
A World Health Organisation assessment conducted in 2009 claimed that the level of anemia in babies (9–12 months) was as high as 65%, while a Socio-economic and Food Security Survey Report stated that 61% of Gazans are food insecure and reliant on humanitarian aid. Of those that are food insecure, 65% are children under 18 years. Lastly, a European Network of Implementing Development Agencies (EUNIDA) report notes that, because of the security buffer zone imposed around Gaza as part of the blockade, as of June 2009, 46% of agricultural land was either inaccessible or out of production.[113]
On 14 June 2010, the International Committee of the Red Cross noted that the increasing scarcity of items has led to rises in cost of goods while quality has fallen.[114] There is also “an acute electricity crisis”, where electricity supplies are “interrupted for seven hours a day on average”. As a consequence, they note that public services, particularly health services, have suffered, posing “a serious risk to the treatment of patients”. In addition, medical equipment is difficult to repair, and medical staff cannot leave to gain more training. Lastly, the ICRC note that sanitation is suffering, because construction projects lack the equipment needed, or the equipment is of poor quality. Only 60% of the population is connected to a sewerage collection system, with the rest polluting the Gaza aquifer. As a result, water is largely “unfit for consumption”.[115]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_the_Gaza_Strip
“…they will simply starve, and bomb them into hell.”
That is the current Israeli policy regarding the Gaza Ghetto and the illegal blockade that Israel is imposing. As for bombing, remember the savage attack on the Lebanese people and the Gaza Ghetto during the Bush Administration? In each case over a thousand people were killed by the Israelis including hundreds of Arab children.
Turkey is right, Americans are such cowards that they allow their citizens to be killed by Israelis with impunity and immunity.
“RL: Your implication, that Jews routinely “starve and bomb them into Hell,” is a vile lie. My husband is Jewish, as are about half of our friends. To my knowledge, not one of them has ever starved or bombed anyone.”
My comment was a sarcastic one, directed at Arthur Randolph Erb. I should have used an emoticon – sorry. Please direct your justified outrage to ARE. 🙂
I am Jewish as well, and have previously posted here as “Gingerbaker”. My pro-Israel biases are admitted.
Regarding, “We get closer to President Perry everyday.”:
Swarthmore mom, We cannot allow it to happen.
(From my perspective, Republicans are, in general, a rather ruthless lot, while Dems are often naive and fight their battles with squirt guns, to paraphrase someone who will remain unnamed… for obvious reasons…)
anon nurse, We get closer to President Perry everyday. The voter id laws will be a factor also.
OT:
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/gop-electoral-college-plan-beat-obama-2012
The GOP’s Genius Plan to Beat Obama in 2012
“If Pennsylvania Republicans and their buddies in other states execute a plan to change election rules, Obama has a one-way ticket to Losertown.”
—By Nick Baumann
Wed Sep. 14, 2011 2:55 AM PDT
Excerpt:
“So far, Democrats have been fighting back with the argument that switching to allocating electoral votes by congressional district would reduce Pennsylvania’s importance in the presidential race. “Presidential elections are decided by ‘basically Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Florida,’ because each is a swing state with a large block of electoral votes up for grabs,” former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. That, Rendell said, gives Pennsylvania more pull with presidents of both parties. But that argument “doesn’t hold much sway with state legislators,” says Fiddler. And if rule changes in Pennsylvania or other Rust Belt states put a Republican in the White House, the president might be more indebted to party leadership there, not less.
For now, the Democrats’—and Obama’s—only real way of fighting back is political. “The political solution if there is one is going to have to come from getting people outraged about this,” Amar says. “This is not American fair play, it’s a partisan steamroller changing the fundamental rules of the small-d democratic game for purely party advantage. Trying to structure the world so that even the person who wins the state loses the state’s electoral vote: that is new under the sun.” He adds, “This is big.”” (end excerpt)
Mike,
Even if you are correct, you are wrong….Just saying….
Mike S, You turn out at a higher rate. lol
“Ed Koch warns Obama that he can’t take the jewish vote for granted and plays a huge role in the election of Turner”.
SWM,
Ed Koch is a jerk and always has been. I lived in that district of and on for many years. To me the election might fall on dissatisfaction with Wiener’s behavior and his closeness with the Weprin Family, which is a political dynasty in the area. Indeed a main street running through the area is “Saul Weprin Boulevard (188th Street)” which was dedicated to the memory of the candidates father, who was a long time representative in the State legislature. I like both the candidate and his brother. I revered their father who was a great Democrat.
However, in these years of public discontent with the political establishment this may have played a part in the loss. Come the next election and I bet there will be a different result. As far as Obama and the Jewish vote, I don’t think there will be a problem, given the present alternatives. I think though the importance of the “Jewish Vote” for President is highly overrated since there simply aren’t that many of us to make a difference.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/gadfly/meet-new-york-citys-terror-linked-political-kingmaker
I agree with Frankly. The only viable settlement that can and should be made is to dismantle the settlements on the West Bank and return them to the Palestinians. The alternative as pointed out is untenable for Israeli’s.
“This will lead to mass slaughter on the part of israel, and that is how they will resolve the dilemma of a growing Palestinian population. They won’t bother with ovens or concentration camps, but they will simply starve, and bomb them into hell”.
Arthur,
If you and Roger believe that, there is little I can do to convince you about your pre-judgments. The Ambassador’s statement and Arthur’s detailing of the Christian expulsion, from Bethlehem for instance, shows that both sides in this do not have clean hands. However, inherent in your comments is the equation of the situation in Israel to that of the Serbs and Croats, or the decimation in certain African venues, is not only a false comparison in terms of degree, but also a poor reading of the bad faith exhibited by elements on both sides.
Duh….
Wnen dealing with other folks, whether individually or on a corporate basis, one does not deal with reality but with the other person’s perception of reality, and vice versa. [This doesn’t apply to folks who “don’t do nuance” — they just make their own reality and we know how that turns out.]
Fact is, the majority of the world communities and almost all the mid-east communities might agree that both Isreal and the Palestinian authorities are at fault, but one seems “badder” than the other:
“124 Israeli children have been killed by Palestinians and 1,463 Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000.” http://www.ifamericansknew.org/
And no one is blaming the 2 million Palestinian refugess or the majority of the poor and oppressed in Gaza and the West Bank, but they are blaming Isreal’s number one ally.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/01/koch-outraged-obamas-treatment-israel-housing-construction/ Ed Koch warns Obama that he can’t take the jewish vote for granted and plays a huge role in the election of Turner.
I think it is being inferred that Obama may have angered the Jewish Voters that did not turn out to support the Democratic Candidate…If I recall this seat has been democratic in some fashion for the last 100 years….Go figure…
The issue with the PLO and Israel is similar to the Catholic/Protestant battles in Northern Ireland. Their is no longer any ability to point to a bad guy and say the PLO or Israel are the cause of the problems. They are both equally gulity of bad acts and attacks.
RL: Your implication, that Jews routinely “starve and bomb them into Hell,” is a vile lie. My husband is Jewish, as are about half of our friends. To my knowledge, not one of them has ever starved or bombed anyone.
“They won’t bother with ovens or concentration camps, but they will simply starve, and bomb them into hell.”
Of course they will. They are Jews, after all.
The Palestinians have also had a program of getting rid of Christians too. Their part of the Palestinians has dropped dramatically by force from Israel and Muslims. So this is nothing new and it simply is a bone to throw at Hamas. The fact is though that such fanatics will not be happy until Sharia is the law of Palestine and so any move to “independence” will simply accelerate that process. That is why I would oppose any such move.
Israel is simply playing into the hands of Hamas by not allowing any form of sovereignty. Both sides have no interest in peaceful settlement right now. This will lead to mass slaughter on the part of israel, and that is how they will resolve the dilemma of a growing Palestinian population. They won’t bother with ovens or concentration camps, but they will simply starve, and bomb them into hell.
The facts on the ground are that Israel is going to dominate the entire area of any Palestine. They have carved it into tiny islands incapable of survival, thereby making Palestine a fiction that will never be realized. You can argue if this a good or a bad thing but you can’t argue it is not what has been done.
But the real problem is Jews are going to be a tiny minority in greater Israel soon. Once that is finished how will they maintain a Jewish State? I can only see a few potential outcomes, none of them good.
~ Apartheid – that worked so well for South Africa I’m sure Israel would enjoy it too
~ Expulsion/ extermination of non-Jews – yeah, that’ll go smoothly
~ Expulsion/extermination of the Jews – see above since an attempt at either will probably lead to a little of both
~ Muslim control of the government of Israel – we know that will not be allowed but how to do it when Muslims can vote / how can they prevent them from voting?
The only good outcome would be one where Jews & Arabs come to some mutual understand, respect and cooperation . . . anybody think that is even a remote chance?