Gazan suicide bombers against Hamas?

Economic woes behind new unrest in Gaza
By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer Tue Nov 13, 2:06 PM ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The backdrop to the latest explosion of violence in the Gaza Strip: skeletons of unfinished apartment towers, shuttered factories, empty store shelves and skyrocketing prices for bread and cigarettes.
Five months of rule by the Islamic militants of Hamas and isolation from the world have taken a heavy toll on the already impoverished territory, and frustration over the hardship helped drive this week's mass rally by the rival Fatah movement that ended in mayhem.
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The group showed its willingness to use considerable force to stay in power when Hamas police opened fire during Monday's rally of more than 250,000 people. By the end of the day, seven civilians were dead and 85 wounded. Hamas then rounded up 400 Fatah activists overnight and threatened "additional steps" against its bitter enemy.
Economic decline has been rapid since Hamas seized Gaza by force in June and Israel closed the territory's borders in an unprecedented lockdown. Most factories have closed, tens of thousands lost their jobs and exports and most imports are frozen.
Roughly 75 percent of the 1.5 million Gazans now live in poverty, up more than 10 points from the summer, according to Palestinian government officials in the West Bank.

Haven't we been told over and over again, ad nauseum, that the root causes of terrorism was severe poverty, hopelessness, desparation and lack of opportunity ? This story has it all. The Gazans are living an impoverished, dismal and oppressed life. So shouldn't we be seeing Gazan suicide bombers attacking Hamas? Shouldn't we be seeing Gazans firing Kassam rockets at Hamas?

Olmert's new outline

1. "We won't hold negotiations on our existence as a Jewish state, this is a launching point for all negotiations," Olmert said.

2. The first stage of the road map calls on the Palestinians to dismantle terror groups. The sides had agreed recently that talks would proceed according to the document. In recent weeks, politicians from the right, especially MK Yisrael Katz (Likud), have taken to accusing the government of holding negotiations outside of road map dictates.

Olmert essentially confirmed those accusations. "There is a new outline," he said. "The traditional position has been that there will be no road map implementation without the first phase. I came to the conclusion that we are somewhat able to change the tradition."

Another new line in the sand. And just like the last one (the PA was to remove terrorists and terrorism from their midsts) was redrawn so too can this one be redrawn.

The only good about this is that it gets down to the basic issue issue - the existential existence of a Jewish country in the middle east. It the heart, brain and soul of the Arab-Israeli conflict. All the LFP ideas (land for peace) blew the ship off course. So far the PFP policy has led to continuing death and destruction via terrorism. It's more aptly named LFT - Land For Terrorism. The issue is much deeper than a game of Monopoly.

Saeb Erekat Lies again

Erekat: Palestinians will not accept Israel as 'Jewish state'
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization, rejected on Monday the government's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. In an interview with Israel Radio, Erekat said that "no state in the world connects its national identity to a religious identity."

No state except for the Arab States like Iran and Saudi Arabia and more specifically his own. Check out the Palestinian Basic Law (that's what they call it) Chapter 1, Article 4:

1. Islam is the official religion in Palestine. Respect and sanctity of all other heavenly religions shall be maintained.
2. The principles of Islamic Shari'a shall be the main source of legislation.
3. Arabic shall be the official language.

So where is the media to challenge Erekat? One need no do a lot of digging to find this out. Heck, I found it.

Israellycool shares my sentiments check out his blog and Elder of Ziyon which he references.

Arafat hoped to dance on the collective Jewish grave

West Bank Arafat memorial to open
By Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 9, 2007
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The squat tomb sits in dignified quiet, decked in gleaming white Jerusalem stone on a slope soon to be carpeted green by 25 species of trees and shrubs.A two-story prayer hall and 98-foot minaret stand guard nearby, completing a memorial complex for the late Yasser Arafat that is tranquil, stately and well-ordered. It is, in other words, pretty much everything his tumultuous reign as Palestinian leader was not.
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"On the one hand, they salute him for his achievements[Death, destruction, poverty, misery, embezzlement and corruption. emphasis added].
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Arafat always said he wanted to be buried in Jerusalem, which he hoped would one day serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.That hope remains alive.

Because he believed in the obliteration of the Jewish people, G-d forbid. Arafat's burial in Jerusalem with Jerusalem as the capital of another Arab country would be the equivalent of dancing on the collective Jewish grave.

The tomb is built to allow the body to be retrieved easily from the concrete enclosure for reburial, Shtayyeh said. The square minaret overlooking the grave has a window on top through which a laser beam will point south toward the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's walled Old City.Even the pool surrounding the mausoleum on three sides is designed to make the structure appear to float, a sign of its transitory nature, Shtayyeh said.The place may be built in stone, but not for eternity. "The code word of all this is temporariness," Shtayyeh said.

AP Editorial article

Why don't we see headlines saying, "Arabs talk peace but Kassams, suicide bombers, preaching a death cult, etc. hurts prospects for a Palestinian state." ? The entire is one sided completely slanting to show how bad Israel is. It basically says if those mean pesky Israelis would only stop building settlements there would be peace in our time. The piece completely ignores all the murder, mayhem and brainwashing that continues minute by minute by the Arabs. After Israel withdrew from Lebanon and Gaza its ridiculous to blame Israeli settlement growth as the impediment to peace in the region. In Gaza the Israelis uprooted and displaced thousands of its own citizens for the hope that peace would ensue. They've shown that the bricks and mortor mean nothing if the Arabs would reciprocate with peace. Instead they continue their culture of death, suicide bombs, etc. unabated.

Where's the journalistic integrity? Why didn't the article quote people from the Yesha Council? Why only Atabs and Peace Now?

Israel talks peace, but expanding settlement hurts prospects for Palestinian state
The Associated Press
Published: November 7, 2007
BETAR ILLIT, West Bank: The rattle of jackhammers splits the air on a windswept West Bank hilltop as workers smear mortar and lay bricks at a new apartment building in this sprawling Jewish settlement.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he's ready to make a deal that would give the Palestinians a state in the West Bank. But realities on the ground — outlined in a new report Wednesday showing vigorous Israeli construction in the West Bank — could have momentous implications for the latest U.S. peacemaking push.
"Everything that Israel is doing on the ground is of course an obstacle to what are trying to achieve," said Rafiq Husseini, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Nonetheless, he said, the Palestinians want to negotiate "until the last minute."
The Palestinians said Monday that they have received assurances from the U.S. that Israel would meet its short-term obligations under the "road map," a U.S.-backed peace plan. In its initial stage, Israel is supposed to freeze West Bank settlement construction and dismantle dozens of settlement outposts scattered across the territory.

Sometimes a "gesture" is more than a gesture.

A Palestinian protester gestures in front of an Israeli soldier during a demonstration against Israel's policy of prohibiting Palestinian movement on a highway running past the West Bank village of Beit Ur, November 4, 2007. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK)

"gestures"? It seems like he's ready to throw punch. It reminds me of when AP and other news agencies tell us in the caption that the Palestinians were "chanting slogans". I always think of slogans as something said in strike, "We want higher wages! When do we want it? Now!". To me that's an example of people shouting a slogan. Somehow, me thinks, the Arabs are using much stronger words.

It's against international law! It's inhumane!

Where is the ISM?? How dare they establish check points! It's against international law! It's inhumane!

Palestinian women waiting to be checked by members of President Mahmoud Abbas' security force, are reflected in a security mirror as they enter Abbas' headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)