"indiscriminate killing prohibited by international law"
John Dugard, the UN's Special rapporteur on Human Rights in Palestine, comments that "standards of Human Rights in the Palestinian territories have fallen to intolerable new levels." Further, "three-quarters of Palestinians in Gaza now depended on food aid - a result, he added, of Israeli military raids, blockades and demolitions." Where do people think that food aid comes from? Certainly not any group that is sympathetic to Western ideals. Is it any wonder how militant groups such as Hamas have become the most popular organizations in the Occupied Territories. Because of the conditions described by the UN, Hamas has the leverage, what George W. Bush would refer to as political capital, to resist calls for it to recognize the state of Israel. In a poor attempt to starve them of that political capital many in the global community have cut-off aid to Hamas. Now the situation has gone from bad to worse with civil servants not receiving paychecks (the PA is the largest employer in the Gaza Strip) a lack of electricity (the American sponsored electricity plant was destroyed by Israel) and other impediments to freedom such as arbitrary checkpoint closures. Will the boycott of aid to Hamas lead to a disintegration of popular support, or will it further disenfranchise the populace into supporting even more radical organizations and inspire hatred for the United States and Israel?
From a realist perspective I do not believe that it is necessary for Hamas to recognize Israel in order to establish a Palestinian state, as long as it is willing to abide to its offer of a long term truce. If it honored this long term truce it could achieve one of its goals of a Palestinian state and hopefully all the benefits of having a National Homeland, ultimately leading through negotiations to a recognition of Israel. Hypocritically, many require this as a precondition to negotiations when the Israelis themselves have ignored many U.N. decisions, as described by Dugard, "Israel violates international law as expounded by the Security Council and the International Court of Justice and goes unpunished."
The U.S. and Israel are of course quick to decry the findings of the report. However, regardless of your opinion of the U.N., John Dugard is a well respected international observer who according to BBC earned, his reputation as a civil rights lawyer during the apartheid era in the 1980s.
It is naive to believe that as the situation in the Occupied Territories disintegrates into the worst it has ever been, that Hamas would make a concession to the very government that is responsible for it. Dugard commented: " what Israel chooses to describe as collateral damage to the civilian population is in fact indiscriminate killing prohibited by international law." Why would Hamas abandon the very tenant that gave it its mandate, resistance to the very aggression mentioned by the U.N? Since the Jewish people received a home-land, with the support of the United States, they have made remarkable strides, now its time for the Palestinian people to be given the same chance.
From a realist perspective I do not believe that it is necessary for Hamas to recognize Israel in order to establish a Palestinian state, as long as it is willing to abide to its offer of a long term truce. If it honored this long term truce it could achieve one of its goals of a Palestinian state and hopefully all the benefits of having a National Homeland, ultimately leading through negotiations to a recognition of Israel. Hypocritically, many require this as a precondition to negotiations when the Israelis themselves have ignored many U.N. decisions, as described by Dugard, "Israel violates international law as expounded by the Security Council and the International Court of Justice and goes unpunished."
The U.S. and Israel are of course quick to decry the findings of the report. However, regardless of your opinion of the U.N., John Dugard is a well respected international observer who according to BBC earned, his reputation as a civil rights lawyer during the apartheid era in the 1980s.
It is naive to believe that as the situation in the Occupied Territories disintegrates into the worst it has ever been, that Hamas would make a concession to the very government that is responsible for it. Dugard commented: " what Israel chooses to describe as collateral damage to the civilian population is in fact indiscriminate killing prohibited by international law." Why would Hamas abandon the very tenant that gave it its mandate, resistance to the very aggression mentioned by the U.N? Since the Jewish people received a home-land, with the support of the United States, they have made remarkable strides, now its time for the Palestinian people to be given the same chance.
posted by Anon. at 10:38 AM
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