Thursday
Jan152009
Gaza: It's Fatah In, Hamas Out, and No Cease-fire for Now
Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 12:06
Earlier I blogged with updates (between 1:30 and 1:45 p.m.) on the press conference of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Israeli Foreign Tzipi Livni, but what has just occurred deserves a separate post.
Livni's 8-minute statement said almost nothing about the cease-fire. Instead, from the start, she demanded the "de-legitimisation" of Hamas as a terrorist organisation and a restoration of the "peace process" with "the legitimate Palestinian Government". And Ban Ki-Moon, preceding Livni, opened the door to the strategy: “Gaza is reunited with West Bank under one legitimate Palestinian Authority”.
In 15 minutes, the current diplomatic process has been reduced to this: there will only be a cease-fire if Hamas humiliates itself with an acceptance of a string of Israeli conditions. I see no way that Israel can climb down from Livni's statement, without discrediting itself before its own people, and process with any meaningful negotiation of the Egyptian proposals.
Instead, Israel and the US hope that a humiliation of Hamas will lead to its overthrow, preferably by its own outraged people. And, from what I've just seen, Ban Ki-Moon --- whose own facilities have been damaged, whose personnel have been injured, and whose organisation has been shattered this morning by Israeli military action --- is happy to go along.
Livni's 8-minute statement said almost nothing about the cease-fire. Instead, from the start, she demanded the "de-legitimisation" of Hamas as a terrorist organisation and a restoration of the "peace process" with "the legitimate Palestinian Government". And Ban Ki-Moon, preceding Livni, opened the door to the strategy: “Gaza is reunited with West Bank under one legitimate Palestinian Authority”.
In 15 minutes, the current diplomatic process has been reduced to this: there will only be a cease-fire if Hamas humiliates itself with an acceptance of a string of Israeli conditions. I see no way that Israel can climb down from Livni's statement, without discrediting itself before its own people, and process with any meaningful negotiation of the Egyptian proposals.
Instead, Israel and the US hope that a humiliation of Hamas will lead to its overthrow, preferably by its own outraged people. And, from what I've just seen, Ban Ki-Moon --- whose own facilities have been damaged, whose personnel have been injured, and whose organisation has been shattered this morning by Israeli military action --- is happy to go along.
tagged Ban Ki-Moon, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Palestine, Tzipi Livni, United Nations in Middle East & Iran
Ban Ki-Moon, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Palestine, Tzipi Livni, United Nations in Middle East & Iran
Reader Comments (3)
With its reprehensible butchery and targeting of UN facilities, hospital and Red Cross, the only thing Israel is doing is delegitimising itself in the eyes of the world.
Time for 1 big properly democratic state as with the unification of Africa after apartheid.
The killing and dispossession of the Palestinian people has continued for far too long.
Boycotts, protests, government censures - the battle must continue so that the supremacist ethos that permeates the non-democratic state of Israel is rendered null and void by true democracy.
Quoting: "Time for 1 big properly democratic state as with the unification of Africa after apartheid."
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The end of aparthied South Africa ended a major problem but created new ones. I have met several South Africans now living here in Britain and none of them want to go back.
In comparison with the current Jewish state and the land it is sitting on, I'm afraid that an alternative successor state will turn that piece of land into an impoverished one. It'll be like South Africa.
Quoting: "In comparison with the current Jewish state and the land it is sitting on, I’m afraid that an alternative successor state will turn that piece of land into an impoverished one. It’ll be like South Africa."
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Palestine is already impoverished and it's people are treated like animals by the 'chosen people'. Almost all of Africa is impoverished, largely because of European criminal behaviour over the last few centuries.