"Tensions are escalating in the Middle East's waters. Three Israeli nuclear subs are now off the Iranian coast. Soon, the Iranian navy will be positioned off Israel's coast. Turkey has cut all military ties with Israel. Just more saber rattling, or was the Gaza Flotilla Massacre the straw that broke the camel's back?
--MORE-- "
Otherwise:
"Before Israeli commandos killed nine activists in a confrontation aboard a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza last week, Israeli officials were largely content with their policy toward the territory.... Israel’s restrictions on Gaza have boosted Hamas’s popularity.... a trend that may have been accentuated by last week’s confrontation at sea."
Better check the bottom of your shoes, Israel.
Smells like you stepped in something.
Please see: Israeli Propaganda Poses as AmeriKan News
Here it is again in my morning jewspaper.
"Hamas isolated but strong, analysts say" by Janine Zacharia, Washington Post | June 8, 2010
GAZA CITY — Three years after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in a bloody battle with its secular rival, Israel’s efforts to undercut the Islamist movement’s rule through a policy of isolation have largely failed, according to analysts and residents here.
Related:
"Hamas overwhelmingly won Palestinian Parliament elections in 2006.... Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in early 2006"
Yup, the MSM KNOWS THEY WON but keeps repeating the same garbage!
Btw, Hamas foiled a COUP ATTEMPT!!!!
Therefore, they are NOT TO BE BELIEVED on any matter -- especially ALL THINGS ISRAEL!!!!
Hamas’s security forces remain strong and in full control, while more extreme Islamist challengers are gaining influence because of an Israeli embargo that has done more to frustrate the population than to weaken Hamas’s grip, analysts say.
Before Israeli commandos killed nine activists in a confrontation aboard a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza last week, Israeli officials were largely content with their policy toward the territory.
Hamas was in a box, they said, and had been deterred since early last year from firing rockets into Israeli towns after a brief, lopsided war in which about 1,400 Palestinians were killed.
Okay, where do we start?
With the "brief, lopsided" WAR CRIME with WMD obfuscation?
Or the LIE about the ROCKETS?
"Since fighting subsided in January, Hamas militants have held back from firing rockets, respecting an unwritten truce with Israel"
The removed Israeli government graph: 'Monthly distribution of rockets hits.'
On the 4th November, the day when Americans were watching the results of the Presidential election, the Israeli army broke the ceasefire by raiding the strip.
--MORE--"How many more lies can they tell in service to Israel, huh??
Israel saw no reason to relax the siege in substantive ways, preferring instead to wait and see whether Gaza’s residents would rise up and force Hamas out.
And THAT is TERRORISM!!!
"[An] act of terrorism, means any activity that (A) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life that is a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State; and (B) appears to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping."
Also related:
"The hope that Iranians will blame their own government for their hardships, and that their complaints will influence the regime"
Just SERVING ISRAEL AGAIN, Amurkns!!!!
But even if Gazans wanted to revolt — and there is little evidence they do — they probably would be unable to do so, given Hamas’s clout.
The one revolt the Israeli agenda-pushers approve!
Thousands of security personnel police the sliver of territory along the Mediterranean Sea, performing an array of functions such as intelligence gathering, directing traffic, and policing morality.
And that is a THREAT to the EXISTENCE of ISRAEL, huh?
PFFFFFFFFFTTTTTT!!!!!
Cut off from international commerce, Hamas is sometimes short on cash. But the movement garners revenue through taxes, a black market economy tied to smuggling, and donations from international sponsors such as Iran.
Yeah, yeah, whatever.
Related: Israeli Blockade is Good Business For Hamas
The "Terrorist" Tunnels of Gaza
Israel's Gazan Smuggling Operation
Along with millions of dollars, thousands of rockets have been transported through tunnels beneath the border with Egypt.
Then how come they never hit anything but open fields (if true, which I doubt; consider the source).
Related: The Gaza Rocket Squads
Yeah, WHO is firing off those rockets, cui bono?Related: Gaza Squeezed Straight
Israel’s restrictions on Gaza have boosted Hamas’s popularity throughout the Middle East, a trend that may have been accentuated by last week’s confrontation at sea.
“Part of the goal of the siege was to pressure the population so it would act against Hamas. This has not happened, and this will not happen,’’ said Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a political science professor at Gaza’s al-Azhar University.
And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is TERRORISM -- as defined by the UNITED STATES!!!
“Hamas has become militarily more powerful and has used violence against its opponents. Rising up against Hamas is not an option.’’
--more--"And they will just be getting stronger now:
"The decision to ease the restrictions erected by Israel to isolate and punish Hamas comes a week after a deadly Israeli raid on a flotilla bound for Gaza. Egypt opened its border with Gaza soon after the raid, and is now formalizing that action.... Egypt will not transfer large cargo shipments or construction material."
Then the help is limited and there will be no rebuilding.
Of course, NO WORD in the AmeriKan MSM about the RACHEL CORRIE, its CONTENTS, or the PEOPLE!
"Egypt will keep Gaza border open; Restricted access sends message to Arabs and Israel" by Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press | June 8, 2010
Palestinian girls walked with a suitcase as they returned from Egypt to Gaza yesterday. Thousands have left Gaza and 500 tons of medical supplies have been trucked in. (Eyad Baba/ Associated Press)
The most precious jewels in the world right there, readers.
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — After three years of cooperating in the Israeli blockade of Gaza, Egypt said yesterday that it will leave its border with the Palestinian territory open indefinitely for humanitarian aid and restricted travel.
With international pressure building to ease the blockade, an Egyptian security official said sealing off Hamas-ruled Gaza has only bred more militancy.
The decision to ease the restrictions erected by Israel to isolate and punish Hamas comes a week after a deadly Israeli raid on a flotilla bound for Gaza. Egypt opened its border with Gaza soon after the raid, and is now formalizing that action.
Israel has not publicly protested the Egyptian move, but officials declined to comment yesterday.
The move restores a link to the outside world for at least some of Gaza’s 1.5 million Palestinians. It also appeared calculated to defuse anger in the Arab and Muslim world over Egypt’s role in maintaining the blockade and to show that Egypt, too, is now pressing Israel to open at least its land crossings with Gaza.
Who cares why they did it as long as it stays open.
“Egypt is the one that broke the blockade,’’ said Hossam Zaki, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry spokesman.
That is going a BIT FAR seeing as THEY COULD HAVE DONE THAT ANYTIME!
“We are not going to let the occupying power escape from its responsibilities.’’
The United States, which has called the current border restrictions unsustainable, is among those pressing for changes. Vice President Joe Biden met with Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh yesterday.
He released a statement afterward saying the United States is closely consulting with Egypt and other allies to find new ways to “address the humanitarian, economic, security, and political aspects of the situation in Gaza.’’
And then they will pass them along to Israel for approval.
***********
Egypt was not exactly a reluctant participant in imposing the blockade.
Far from it: Evil Egypt
Like Israel, Egypt watched with concern as Hamas militants wrenched control of Gaza from the Palestinian Fatah movement of Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas during bloody street battles in 2007.
LYING.... LYING AGAIN!
Egypt, which had its own war against Islamic radicals in the 1990s, fears sharing a border with a territory controlled by Islamic militants who have the backing of rising regional rival Iran.
Al-CIA-Duh aligned with IRAN?
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!
Related: Israel Wants Terrorists to Take Over Gaza
MI5: Iran and Al Qaeda Planning an attack on “a par with Hiroshima and Nagasaki”
Not so funny.
Just to the south, Egypt’s Sinai peninsula has been the scene of major terrorist attacks against tourist hotels, the last one in 2006.
I noticed one didn't happen while Biden was staying there.
Egypt paid a price for its part in the blockade, including protests at home against the government of Mubarak, who has been accused of being “an agent’’ for Israel.
That is certainly the way I see them.
And in January 2008, Hamas militants blew up a section of the Gaza-Egypt border wall in an attempt to end the blockade, allowing hundreds of thousands of Gazans to pour into Egypt to stock up on supplies and visit friends and relatives they had not seen for years.
A CRY FOR HELP!
It took 12 days for Egyptian forces to restore order and close the border.
As an "agent of Israeli," of course!
In announcing the change in Egypt’s position, a security official acknowledged his country is in a “continuously critical situation,’’ and he said Israel is wrong to think the closure can pressure Hamas to meet a series of demands, including the release of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit, who has been held since 2006.
Related: Who Gives a Shalit?
Not me.
Egypt’s new measures constitute an incremental change rather than a radically different approach to the border closure, in part because Egypt does not want to end up bearing sole responsibility for large-scale Gaza aid operations.
I'll take half a loaf for now.
For the time being, Egypt is allowing only a restricted group of Gazans to leave the territory, including medical patients, students attending foreign universities, and those with residency abroad. In nearly a week, thousands of Gazans have left and 500 tons of medical supplies were trucked in. Egypt will not transfer large cargo shipments or construction material because the border crossing is designed primarily for travelers, the security official said.
