Here we go again
The United States has welcomed a Palestinian agreement to cease rocket fire from Gaza and Israel's promise to withdraw from Palestinian territory as a step toward peace.I think the key word missing from this line is "again"
"We welcome the announcement and see this as a positive step forward," White House spokesman Alex Conant said.One small step forward, a giant leap back when some rogue Palestinian doesn't abide by the agreement and kills an Israeli.
"We hope that it leads to less violence for the Israeli and Palestinian people."See above point
Palestinian militant groups have agreed to halt all rocket fire from the Gaza Strip against Israel beginning from 3pm AEDT today, drawing an Israeli promise to halt military operations and withdraw from the Palestinian territory.Call me cynical but I've seen this movie before. Hundreds of times. And each remake has the same basic plot, though with a few variations:- Not all Palestinian factions cease fire, Israel remains and back to square one. Israel takes a little longer to withdrawl than Palestine likes, someone shoots an Israel, back to square one. Cease fire happens, Israel withdraws then some rogue faction does something to fuck it up, Israel responds with military force, Palestinian responds in kind, back to square one.The deal was struck in a phone call between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
"President Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh agreed with all factions and resistance groups on calm, including the stopping of rocket fire, starting from 6am (local time) on Sunday," Mr Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, told a press conference in Gaza City
He said Mr Olmert "agreed that Israel will stop operations and begin the withdrawal from Gaza at the same time".
In Jerusalem, a spokeswoman for Mr Olmert said Mr Abbas told the Prime Minister that all the Palestinian factions were committed to the agreement.
"Abbas asked in response that Israel stop all military operations in the Gaza Strip and withdraw all the forces," the spokeswoman said.
"The Prime Minister told Abbas that Israel would respond favourably as Israel was operating in the Gaza Strip in response to the violence.
"With the end of violence, Israel would be happy to withdraw its troops," the spokeswoman added.
Palestinian militants have been firing rockets into southern Israel daily in what they term a response to Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.
Israel withdrew troops and settlers from the territory last year but resumed ground operations in June after militants from Gaza tunnelled across the border and seized an Israeli soldier, who is still being held.
Several militant groups met earlier in the day with Mr Haniyeh, a leader of the governing Hamas group, and agreed to halt attacks from Gaza if Israel ceased its military activities there.
And each each time Amercia, England and other Western governments, including our own, hail this has a great victory, the first step towards stable peace in the middle east. A great triumph of diplomacy, despite the fact it has never suceeded. Of course they don't mention the countless failures, until it fails again.
What's that? Maybe it will work this time? Give them a chance? DOn't get me wrong, I would like there to be peace in the middle east. But I know that by mid next year, tops, rockets will be raining in Gaza yet again.
posted by Renegade79 at 3:04 pm
2 Comments:
Well, there is nothing new under the sun.
However, there are exceptions to every rule.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Hope for the best and plan for the worst.
When compromise gives you lemons, make diplomacy.
What goes around, comes around.
Politics is the art of postponing decisions until they are no longer relevant.
Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has warned that Israel would react if Palestinian militants continued rocket attacks in violation of a Gaza Strip cease-fire, his spokesman said.
Mr Olmert, at a meeting with European Union ambassadors, "let it be known that Israel will continue to show restraint for the time being. But if the rocket attacks continue, Israel will react", Miri Eisin told AFP.
He said 12 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip had exploded on Israeli territory since the cease-fire took effect on Sunday morning.
"It's miracle that no civilian has been hurt. If it had been the case, the situation would be different," the Prime Minister warned, according to his spokesman.
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip earlier on Tuesday fired a rocket at the southern Israeli town of Sderot, again violating the fragile cease-fire agreement in Gaza, medical and army sources said.
"We identified a rocket being fired from the Beit Hanun area in northern Gaza and landing near Sderot," an army spokesman told AFP.
Medical sources said the rocket hit Sderot's cemetery, causing no injuries or damage.
A cell of the radical Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is linked to the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, claimed the latest attack and said it targeted the Israeli town of Ashkelon.
It said the Al-Aqsa cell was not a party to the truce and would retaliate "an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" to Israeli military operations in the West Bank.
Militants have aimed several rockets at Israel on each of the three days since the cease-fire took effect, under which Palestinians agreed to halt all rocket attacks in exchange for an Israeli halt to operations in the Gaza Strip.
Militants in the Gaza Strip have fired thousands of the makeshift rockets against the Jewish state in recent years, killing 10 civilians inside Israel since the Palestinian uprising broke out in September 2000.
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