Jefferson Corner

Every year at this time, the Palestinians remember the “Nakba” or catastrophe and mourn their failings, while Israel celebrates its independence and success as regional and world power. No one can doubt the power and influence Israel and the world Zionism play in shaping domestic and international policies of major world capital such as Washington, London, Paris, Moscow, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, New Delhi, even Peking.

A power and influence that put the Palestinians and behind them the 380 million Arabs at a disadvantage, however that should not be an excuses for the failings and incompetence of Palestinian leadership past Hajj Amin Hussaini, Yasser Arafat and now Mahmoud Abbas and Khalid Mishal.

One can understand and appreciate the power Israel and its Fifth Column play within the United States of America with power and influence over every aspect of life emerging as clear and present danger to the domestic and international security of the country.

While Israel leadership always had a focused mission of total and unconditional commitment to the safety, security, existence and expansion of Israel by all means including blackmailing, false flags terrorists attacks and penetrating the inner circles of the highest level of national security of Western democracies, the Palestinian leadership past and present continued to be bogged down with its own self serving and perpetuation and have lost focus on Palestine, on the Rights of Return and Jerusalem long long time ago.

Too bad for the Palestinians under the continued Jewish Occupation and in the Diaspora. The Palestinian leadership certainly of the PLO have proved over time that it is incompetent to lead, unfit to manage, too corrupt to have any credibility and simply if not an agent of the Israeli Occupation at least manager of the Jewish Occupation, a criminal mafia at best.

While the British Mandate was meeting its mission of helping and facilitating the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine and was doing all it can through arrests, executions and suppressions of civil demonstration, the Palestinian leadership of the time was simply inept and hardly knew what was going on and with no vision or focused credible policies for resisting both the British Mandate and the emerging powerful Jewish terrorists groups.

No one can deny the sacrifice of the many who took up arms, who died and who were executed and imprisoned resisting both the Mandate, and the ever increasing Jewish Occupation, the Palestinians leadership like the present one was more concerned with perpetuating its powers and influence rather than meeting the challenge coming from Europe and the US. Simply the Palestinian leadership and the population of the time were no match to the Zionist leadership and the well educated and well trained Jewish immigrants with focused mission to set a Jewish state no matter what are the costs or consequences for the Palestinians.

The late Yasser Arafat was no match for Ben Gurion, not in vision or dedication to the cause, While the latter made good use of close inner circles of smart professional people to help him build a new state, securing financial, military, political and technical support for the new emerging state, Arafat on the other hand gathered around him a bunch of misfit, unfit, incompetent, corrupt, a mafia of self serving cadre of followers committed and loyal to his leadership and securing their private privileges that Arafat was master at dispensing using blackmail to make sure every one is in line and never challenge his leadership. The Palestine National Congress was nothing but a shameful body and a disgrace failing the Palestinians as the leadership of Arafat and his cronies.

That is why after so many years of same leadership, and with hundreds of thousands of dead and martyrs and tens of billions disappeared, wasted, looted and remain unaccounted for, Yasser Arafat and the PLO having failed at every thing (liberation and establishing a state) he and his failed corrupt and incompetent entourage came back to manage the Jewish Occupation as a way to save a failed leadership.

While Israeli leaders travel the world succeeding in suppressing complaint about continued expansion of Jewish settlements, expropriations of land for the Apartheid Wall and Jewish Roads only, and an ever expansions of so called security checkpoints, and constant violations of international law, Palestinian leadership is traveling the world earning traveling miles, enjoying the finest in hotel and dinning, without ever achieving any material change for the people under the Jewish Occupation, with a very speedy rate to disfranchise and ethnically cleansing Arab Palestinians from Jerusalem. Land swap, not the return of the refugees, not Jerusalem is the agenda for continued negotiations.

While the Israeli and Jewish leadership looks after its own around the world, discovering even inventing lost tribes, seeking and enticing such lost tribes to immigrate to Israel, the Palestinian leadership of Arafat and Abbas totally abandoned, gave up any credible efforts to look after and serve Diaspora Palestinians. As we have seen in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Kuwait, in Syria among other countries.

While the Jewish Agency was looking after Jewish communities around the world, the Palestine Liberation Organization as the claimed “representatives of the Palestinian people” overlooked even disregarded the needs of all Palestinians in the Diaspora, specially those under attacks in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.

The Jewish Agency working together with international Zionist organizations like the American Jewish Congress organized and sought and succeeded in total recovery of Jewish properties in Europe, the PLO did not bother to organize an alliance of international organizations to document or build a data base and filing the necessary legal challenges and proceedings to recover All Palestinian properties confiscated by the newly arriving Jewish immigrants. In fact it stands in the way of such efforts because it seeks compensations to go its own coffer to dispense with it as it chooses with majority of recovered funds ending up in private bank accounts.

Now that the Palestinian leadership claimed a one time success of having Palestine recognized as an observer state at the UN, it promised in exchange for sitting down with the Israelis to negotiate and give away what is left of Palestine, it will not file any international legal charges against Israel for its criminal actions of the wars on Gaza, the building of the Apartheid Wall, the continued confiscations and expansions of Jewish settlements on stolen Palestinians lands, the policies of administrative arrests without trial or evidence that saw more than 700,000 Palestinians guests of Israeli jails. I guess to the Palestinian leadership there is a price for its continued existence and that price is Palestine and its people. If the past is a guide to the future I doubt if Palestinians will ever take charge of their own destiny and throw this failed leadership out once and for all, and give themselves an even chance.

The meeting that took place in Nablus on Sunday the 4th of November 2012 between Palestinian Oligarchs and officials from the office of Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli investors and businessmen, mainly those heavily invested in Jewish Settlements, was not out of the blue. It set the pace for Secretary John Kerry of “economic initiative” in lieu of ending the Jewish Occupation.

Contrary to public claims, the Palestinian leadership past (Arafat) and present (Abbas) was never interested in liberation, let alone ending the Jewish Occupation. Oslo and subsequent actions since then can only confirm this. It is all about business and the windfall the continued Jewish Occupations brings to the Palestinian leadership, leaders and cadre of “Fasa’el” and of course to the Palestinian Oligarchs.

The Palestinian leadership never put in place a popular plan (civil disobedience and popular civil uprising) that will help bring about the end of the longest occupation in modern history. Rather the Palestinian leadership is working hard to perpetuate its existence even if more and more land is taken over for Jewish settlements and security areas.

While the likes of Dr. Mohmoud Ishtayeh, Fatah leader in Nablus denounce such meeting with the likes of Rami Levy, the owner of the largest supermarkets in Jewish Settlements, his boss Mahmoud Abbas dispatch his top economic aid to attend such meeting, a meeting that also saw the attendance of Amr Mousa of Egypt and Abdesalam Almajali the former Jordanian foreign minister and Robert Serry the UN coordinator.

The meeting that took place in the home of Palestinian billionaire Munib Almasri was dubbed” breaking the freeze”, with the idea of creating a” coalition of Arab and Israeli ‘Notables’ working together to move forward the Arab Peace process.

Last April 25, 2013 Secretary of State John Kerry announced such plans after receiving the green light from Bibi Netanyahu. The “economic initiatives” is to induce big international corporations to invest in projects in the “occupied territories” in infrastructures, high technology and transportation in addition to telecommunications.

Not so sure how this plan will work when Israel have over 550 different security check points almost every few kilometers where Palestinians are horded like Texas cattle’s as they are processed through metal revolving gates and where many women died while waiting to go to a clinic on the other side and where Palestinians have to wait hours if not days to pass through.

Israel not only hinder Palestinians access to their homes and farms it does not allow a G3 applications and signs pointing this issue went up during President Barack Obama brief visit to Ramallah.

When Arafat and the PLO leadership came back to Ramallah to manage the Jewish Occupation, Arafat unlike drunken Yeltsin, a sober Arafat gave the Palestinian Oligarchs the run on all key economies and went further by giving certain security officials a monopoly on certain energy sectors resulting in the milking of hundreds of millions of dollars from poor consumers. Arafat corrupted the entire economy of the Occupied Territories.

More troubling is the lack of any credible plans by the Palestinians leadership to disengage from the Israeli economy. Dr. Nabil Sha’ath who negotiated the Paris Agreement did not do such a good job perpetuating the overwhelming control of Israel of all economic aspects in the Occupied Territories.

Over the years and since Oslo and with a lack of both a political let alone economic plans, the Palestinian leadership and authority made the rich richer and the poor much much poorer.

The biggest beneficiary of the budget goes to the Palestinian Security forces (35%) much more than the combined budget for health, education, transportation and social services. Keep in mind that such security forces could not and dare not protect Palestinian villages from the daily attacks by armed Jewish settler terrorists. Who come as they wish vandalize mosques and churches, destroy farms, uproot century old olive trees and poisoning water well, all under the closed eyes of the Palestinian security forces established to protect the Occupation and the Ramallah regime.

Prior to the Second Intifada, Israel became the largest single employer of Palestinian labors and the Palestinian leadership was only too happy for being the largest and key labor suppliers of unskilled labor to Israel and never thought of an alternative plans.

The Palestinian leadership failed at every thing it set out to do. It failed at liberation, it failed at ending the occupation, failed at building governing institutions, failed at disengaging Palestinian economy from the Israeli economy, failed at ending the continued expansion of Jewish settlements, failed at bringing down the Apartheid Wall (though it had a court ruling), failed at creating a transparent and clean government with corruption, “connections and nepotism” and fleecing of citizens at the different key agency continue to be the rule.

The only beneficiaries of such “breaking the freeze” or “economic initiatives” are the Palestinian Oligarchs who already have chocking hold on key economies while hundreds of thousands of people remain below poverty lines and with hundreds of thousand remain hostage to the monthly salary and the monthly mortgage and consumers loans.

Not so sure what would be the economic benefits to the people when Coca-Cola commits to investing a billion dollars and who but the owners of the franchise are the beneficiaries.

Already the Arab League is behind such an “economic initiatives” and recently gave Israel added incentives allowing the trade off of prime Palestinian territories in exchange for toxic waste dump. With this present leadership there is no hope forever ending the Jewish Occupation.

The leadership, its allies in the business community and in the NGO networks are the prime beneficiaries of the continued Jewish Occupation and the “economic initiative” is an added reward to a Palestinian leadership that failed at every thing.

More troubling is the commitment made with the approval of the Palestinian leadership that “Palestine” will never file legal charges against Israel for past, present and future crimes.

As President Barack Obama steps off Air Force One and into the tarmac at Lod Airport, he should remember the bloodied hands of the United States, responsible directly and indirectly for the death and murder of tens of thousands of Israeli Jews and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, Lebanese, and Egyptians. And yes, hundreds if not thousands of Americans.

President Obama should ask the question how many more have to die before the US does the right thing and view the conflict as an international conflict not a domestic issue? The prerogative of self serving Jewish leadership and Jewish lobby with interests to keep the blood flowing to keep the money flowing to perpetuate its powers and control over America.

The US is the sponsor of Israel’s war crimes, ethnic cleansings, home demolitions, detentions without charges and without trial, land theft, fraudulent acquisitions of Arab properties, the exiles of tens of thousand of Palestinians from Jerusalem, under different forms of Israeli discriminatory laws, the daily humiliations of millions of Palestinians at the more than 550 different security check points, the “Jewish” roads only, Jewish only neighborhoods and towns, the Apartheid Wall and of course the ever expanding Jewish settlements on stolen Arab lands. No need to mention here the Hill Top Jews made up mostly of American Jewish misfits and criminal gangs funded by tax-exempt contributions of American Jewish terrorists groups. Indeed the US is the sole sponosor of the longest foreign occupation of modern times.

But for the United States and its total unconditional support for Israel (Rights and Wrong) Israel and the Palestinians, in fact Israel and the entire Arab and Muslim worlds could have reached peace agreements long long time ago, saving the lives of Jews, Arabs, Muslims and Americans.

Since the founding of Israel by a decision of the United Nation, the US gave Israel the military, diplomatic and legal support it needed to wage continuous wars against its neighbors killing and murdering hundreds of thousands of Arabs in Palestine, in Jordan, in Lebanon extending its evil and criminal arms as far as Tunisia and Iraq.

Contrary to the lies we hear from the White House and State, the United States was never an honest fair “peace broker” between Israel and the Palestinians and have always supported Israel and its unilateral decisions after Oslo, and its invasions of Lebanon and the continued Occupation of South Lebanon for over 20 years in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. Supported Israel in its defiance of all UN resolutions. The only country to do so and get away with it.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese killed and murdered and entire towns destroyed and thousands imprisoned in Israeli “camps” in South Lebanon where Israel exercised the worst systematic torture unseen since WWII while the US looked the other way even blocking the implementations of UN Security Council resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from South Lebanon. And have looked the other way while Israel and its allied the Christian Phalange committed the massacres at Sabra and Shatila. But for the Israeli invasions of Lebanon with green light from Reagan and Haig, hundreds of US would not have died.

Israel with legal and diplomatic cover from the US executed hundreds of Egyptians war prisoners and committed the targeted assassinations of hundreds of Palestinians using drones and US made helicopters and fighter jets, with not even a word of protest against the use of US made weapons.

The two wars on Gaza reminds us and the world, the hypocrisy and indifference of the US as Israel waged its merciless destructions of Gaza destroying the infrastructures including hospitals and schools and tens of thousands of homes, all in the name of self defense while denying the Palestinians the same rights to self defense against the daily Israeli crimes.

Jerusalem is where Israel contrary to international laws, not only annexed East Jerusalem, but went on to rob the Palestinians of their homes denying them “legal” residency, Palestinians who can traced their residency in Jerusalem for thousands of years forced into exile to make rooms for “immigrant” of dubious Jewish origin to take their place.

The US contrary to its “principled” values of freedom, liberty equal rights and self determinations, all these simply goes out of the window when these rights are claimed by Palestinians.

The Rights of Self Determination enshrined in all UN resolutions and statues are simply denied to the Palestinians while accepted for the people across the globe and of course the answer is simple. When it comes to Israel, thanks to the US all international laws and principals become irrelevant.

As President Barack Obama heads to Jerusalem he should keep in mind that Jerusalem is not simply another city, nor a claimed capital of Israel but a Jerusalem for All belong to billions of Christians, Jews and Muslims and must not be entrusted to the likes of Bibi Netanyahu or Mahmoud Abbas, certainly must not be entrusted to guys like Joseph Lieberman and Ahmed Qurai let alone to some one like Saeb Eurekat who perhaps for a promise of a few VIP passes promised Israel the “ biggest Yerushalayim” in Jewish history”.

Contrary to what one would expect, the Palestinian leadership of the PLO and the PA is simply unfit and unqualified to represent the Arabs and billions of Muslims when it comes to Jerusalem. This leadership simply never lived up to its responsibility for the Palestinians of East Jerusalem certainly unfit to represent the interests of Christian Arabs and billions of Muslims.

Jerusalem, united, without borders and without barbed wires is a city of the world belongs to Jews, to Christians and to Muslims and it will be a crime to ever divide the city again. And it will be a bigger world crime if left to the present Israeli and Palestinian leaderships.

The world is looking for President Barack Obama to take the lead and muster the courage, stand for America’s values, stand up to the American Jewish leadership and AIPAC and either become a true honest fair just broker or step out of the way and stop providing the cover that keeps Jews and Arabs from ever achieving peace. Time for America to stop contributing to the blood spelling of Jews and Arabs and yes, Americans.

Mr. Obama, your visit came too late to save the much talked about “ Two State Solution”. The United States, Israel and the PLO leadership all contributed to varying degrees to the demise of the Two State Solution. The only way forward is a One State for all of its people. That is the only and final solution.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and its leadership never had any legitimacy deriving from Palestinians under Occupation or in the Diaspora. The PLO and its leadership past and present incompetent to liberate, unfit to lead, failed to build and organize a modern nation state, always self serving, a political, financial mafia if not a criminal racketeering organization, a perpetual fraud and lie must disband now.

Mahmud Abbas, the head of the Palestine “liberation” Organization, head of Fatah and the president of the Palestinian Authority chose the 95th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration to renounce on Israeli public television the “Right of Return” of the more than 6 millions Palestinians living in exile.

Perhaps Mahmoud Abbas is desperate to save the political, financial if not criminal mafia that runs and operate the Jewish Occupation from Ramallah. Hostage to salaries of an army of functionaries and civil servants managing the Jewish Occupation not to mention providing security to the Israeli army and armed Jewish settlers to the tune of $1.4 Billions annually in expenses for the Palestinian Security Forces.

Since Oslo, ending the Jewish Occupation was never a priority and was never the objective of the PLO/Fatah and the Palestinian leadership. Perpetuating the Palestinian Authority and the personal and financial interests of the leadership was and remains the only objective for the leadership and the PLO.

By renouncing the “Right of Return” for the Palestinians Mahmoud Abbas gave full recognitions to the Right of Return for all “Jews” kosher and non-kosher, authentic and suspect Jews. Confirming the fraud and lies perpetuated by the PLO and its leadership and the Zionist movement.

For over 45 years the PLO and Fatah leadership past (Arafat) and present (Abbas) have made the Right of Return a fundamental and basic issue in any peace settlement with Israel. Well it seems that Mahmoud Abbas decided to expose the fraud and lies of the PLO and renounce any rights to represent Palestinians of the Diaspora.

If one is to look at the history of the PLO and the leadership of Arafat, Abbas, Qurai one will see nothing but fraud, lies, and looting, with mafia like behavior of many of the leadership within the PLO and Fatah. What we see now in Ramallah from abuse of power, nepotism, lootings, civil and human rights abuses has been going on since the group first established military presence in Jordan and subsequent move to Lebanon where it ran the “Fakahani Republic”. Oslo is nothing but an ingathering and collections of thugs, incompetent and failed cadre that return with Arafat to run the Jewish Occupation and loot the treasury.

Desperate to save his narcissist leadership, that of the PLO and Fatah, the late Yasser Arafat decided to enter into secretes negotiations with Israel undermining the post Madrid public negotiations lead by the late Dr. Haider Abdul-Shafi. Arafat and key members of the PLO/Fatah were afraid that Dr. Abdul-Shafi might emerge as the Palestinian leader that can potentially challenge Arafat leadership.

Having lost much of his credibility after siding with Saddam, having presided over the looting of tens of billions of people’s money, and having caused irreparable harm to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the Gulf and around the world, Arafat turn to Israel to recover all that he lost and he was able to do that when he negotiated and signed the Oslo Accord. Arafat and the PLO turn to Israel to regain legitimacy lost among all Palestinians.

Oslo was nothing more than legitimizing the continued Jewish Occupation by giving full and unconditional recognition to Israel an Israel without defined borders. In exchange Israel gave full recognition to the PLO as representative of the Palestinian people thus Arafat was able to secure a perpetual role for the PLO and its leadership and as long as there is an Israeli Occupation. Arafat and the Oslo team left out all key issues to an Israeli veto including Right of Return, Jerusalem, compensation and ending the Jewish Occupation. Under Oslo the Palestinian leadership gave Israel the right to “veto” any and all issues put forward. The Palestinian territories occupied in 67 were referred to as “disputed” not “occupied” territories subject to international law, thus the attempt to go to the UN.

As a consequence of these fatal if not criminal failures, Israel was able to build and expand Jewish Settlements on 58% of the “territories”, was able to build and continue to build the Apartheid Wall, continued to rob and steal water from aquifers located in the “territories”, continued to maintain and expand more than 550 “security” checkpoints that subjects millions of Palestinians to daily humiliations. In exchange for all this give away, Arafat and the Oslo team were granted a Palestinian Authority to manage and pay for the Jewish Occupation through money begged from donors and few thousand VIP passes.

More troublesome is the leadership failed solutions to a Palestinian economy that is hostage to Israel and its total control over the entire economy of the “territories”, suffering from Israel’s economic downturn while not benefiting from a robust Israeli economy. The Palestinian economy under the PLO became one of begging and looting, drowning ordinary Palestinians in debts, mortgage and consumers debts. While ordinary Palestinians become more and more poor, Palestinian leadership and Oligarchs tied to the leadership are racking billions.

The PLO and its leadership failed the Palestinians at every turn and at every level and everywhere from Kuwait and the Gulf to Lebanon and Syria, to Jordan and Egypt. It looted tens of billions that remained unaccounted for. Oslo was nothing but deliberate collaborations with the Jewish Occupation. It rendered the Palestinians people powerless reducing those under Occupation beggars and thieves and undermined any chance for the Palestinians in the Diaspora to have a so say in any final settlement. Diaspora Palestinians have no choice but organize and have their own organization that derives its legitimacy from the people not from Israel as the case with Abbas and the PLO.

Disbanding the Palestinian Authority should not be an Israel demand, but a Palestinian demand. Time to disband not only the Palestinian Authority and the PLO and bring an end to this long chapter of failures, fraud and lies.

President Obama should muster the courage and shows his good will toward Israel and the Palestinians and put an end to the cycle of violence, end the siege of Gaza by allowing America and NATO to manage and operate the port making sure people in and out of Gaza, constructions materials, food suppliers and consumers goods comes through the port, with a staging area in Cyprus under a joint US/NATO and with a secure sea corridor between Gaza and Cyprus. Rafah crossing should also open for people and goods. Israel can close all of its crossing to Gaza. Mr. Obama and world leaders should know as long as the people of Gaza are held hostage, imprisoned and under siege, Israeli will not have the peace and security they want and demand.

Israel’s criminal and ongoing war on the people of Gaza is met with muted response in Western capitals with ministers and heads of states justifying the killings in Gaza while denying the right of the people of Gaza to defend themselves. It seems even the least intelligent persons in power in the West forget the cycle of violence is rooted in the illegal and criminal siege of Gaza by Israel.

It has been 4 years since Israel ended its Operation Cast Lead on Gaza, cheered on by Israelis and American Jews in major US cities and cheered on by George Bush and Condi Rice. It has been 3 years since the Gaza Donor Conference concluded in the City of Sharm El-Sheik. The conference attended by more than 70 countries, pledging more than $5 Billions exceeding any and all expectation. Of course this sum of money and the US pledge of $300 millions is dwarfed by the $30 Billions George Bush pledge to Israel in arms and weapons. Since that time, Israel made sure nothing happens and that Gaza and the more than 1.5 million Palestinians remain hostage and prisoner of Israel arrogance and defiance. Not even the US is able to do any thing about it.

Then and now, and as expected very few head of states or government officials dare to criticize Israel as it continues to wage war on the people of Gaza. Every one cares about Israeli lives bit no one gives a damn about Palestinian lives.

The Gaza Reconstruction Conference in its closing statement called on Israel to open with immediate effect all crossing for all humanitarian aids and for construction materials needed for the massive work ahead. Somehow every one forgot the geography of Gaza and that Gaza has some 50 km of shoreline and has a seaport, and no Gazans want to purchase materials from Israel.

However Israel, given the angry, unhappy nation it is, full of hate and contempt for the world and human value, (I presumed Judeo-Zionist values) is a country that will not even consider world opinion because it does not give a damn about the world public opinion to begin with. It has refused to open the border crossings and has refused to allow the opening of the seaport of Gaza for normal operation, allowing the tunnels to continue with business as usual with no proper control.

Israeli and international newspapers carried accounts of the secret list of forbidden or restricted items Israel concluded as threats to its own security including “pasta, pasta sauce, lentil and hearing aids”. Senator John Kerry, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee had to inquire with Ehud Barak, Israel’s Defense Minister why “pasta” is a restricted item?

This should tell us and the world how pity this nation is, “the only killing democracy in the Middle East” and I will not be surprised if Israel added Humus, Favabeans, falafel and kinafeh (pastry) to the list of forbidden items. One has to imagine if the Palestinians wants to import heavy construction material or cement. Perhaps Israel has new building technology made up of bagels, motzaball or corn beef as construction material. Israel needs serious mental help.

What I am most surprised about is the call by almost every one attending the conference, from Mahmoud Abbas, to Hillary Clinton, to Nicolas Sarkozy, to Hosni Mubarak, almost begging calls for Israel to open the border crossing. I say hell with Israel and its border crossing with Gaza, Let Israel builds its own 1000 meter high Apartheid Wall between it and Gaza. Who needs Israel and who needs its product and services?

Israel is giving the impression to the world it is doing the Palestinians a big favor when it allows fuels and food supplies to come into Gaza, For God sake Israel and Jewish suppliers get paid for every thing that comes through to Gaza, at much higher prices, nothing is for free, so why bother with Israel when Gaza has access to the sea and has a port much older than any Israeli ports?

Let Israel go to hell, and let Israel keep its borders crossing closed and let the people of Gaza open their port and import every thing they need and wants through the Port of Gaza. No need to reward Israeli suppliers with billions of supply contracts.

I know the world is concerned about Hamas smuggling weapons, and all I can say is that Hamas is simply too stupid to smuggle any thing of significant threat to Israel such at RPJs and other serious weapons of significant risk to Israel.

In more than 6 years under siege Hamas has managed to smuggle enough material to produce useless, and militarily insignificant Qassam rockets that are at best useless and are of no significant threat to Israel’s security. The so-called rockets have more psychological impact on Israeli citizens than any thing else. I will even go further and suggest that many of those within Hamas militias are also on the payroll of Israel’s Shin Bet. The answer lies in the deadly accuracy in which Israel is able to target and kill key Hamas military officers.

Though I believe the issue of weapon smuggling is more political and a powerful propaganda tool than strategic issue for Israel, nevertheless I concede that something has to be done to make sure that Hamas or any one else does not use the opening of the Port of Gaza for weapon smuggling. Beside, I am not convinced Hamas way of resistance is the answer to liberation. Hamas political leadership should take complete and absolute charge of all military operation and not leave the safety and security of the people of Gaza in the hands of the militias.

I am sure the Americans and the Europeans will be very pleased if Hamas political leadership, the president of Egypt and the Arab League announced to the world their willingness to entrust the management and operation including security operation of the Port of Gaza to the Americans and perhaps some European partners, with a staging point in Cyprus under total control of the US and NATO.

Let American and the Europeans break the siege of Gaza and end once and for all the Israeli Occupation of Gaza that has lasted some 42 years. Let America and Europe operate all of the security measures, not to Israel’s satisfaction but to the American and European satisfaction.

With Hosni Mubarak in military jail, and with Mahmoud Abbas chasing rainbows at the UN, let us close all of the smuggling tunnels and put the mafia that operates the tunnels out of business and let Egypt new government open the Rafah Crossing presently.

Let the US and Europe open and operate both the Sea Port and Airport of Gaza. Let the world this time end the siege of Gaza. Israel must not hold the people of Gaza hostage to criminal policies and its funding raising activities (when the blood flow, the money flows). Hamas too must not hold the people hostage to its own agenda. And yes, let the US Navy, NATO and US Coast Guard patrol the coastlines off Gaza for good measure.

By: Sami Jamil Jadallah

As Palestinians and Arabs around the world remember the Nakba and the forced exile of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian, Israeli and other Jews are simultaneously celebrating their ‘victory’ and the establishment of a Zionist-Apartheid State.

The Israelis and Jews on this day and till today choose not to admit their crimes against the Palestinian people and on this day and till now Palestinians choose to ignore their failures. The truth will set the Jews and Arabs free. Read the rest of this entry »