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Originally Posted by ManM
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Originally Posted by Watser?
Hostages are taken by the Israelis too, they have arrested half the Hamas cabinet, do you seriously think they are gonna charge them with anything? They are abducting Palestinians by the dozens and holding them without charge (inside Israel, another violation of the Geneva Conventions).
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For what purpose?
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Originally Posted by Watser?
That is just my point though, isn't it? The US and EU calls whatever the Palestinians are doing terrorism and is forcing them to recognise Israel (what you describe as "behaving civilised"), in blatant contravention of the Geneva Conventions. Who is doing the demonising here? What you characterize as "trying to force them into behaving civilized" is often violent action against innocent Palestinian citizens and always collective punishment.
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Are the US and EU arbitrarily labeling the actions of certain Palestinians as terrorism? You seem to conveniently ignore certain pieces of information, such as what Hamas preaches and supports. Don't you see something wrong with them? This article points out just how bad the catch 22 situation has become. If Israel responds to Hamas with violence, people complain. If the response is non-violent, such as the stoppage of funds to the PA, people complain. Which do you think is more likely: funds were cut as part of an effort to starve people into submission, or, funds were cut because it makes zero sense to finance a group who would use the money to support attacks against you? |
Well, if you put it like that: I think funds were cut as part of an effort to starve people into submission.
I will say it again, because you still seem determined to miss it: it does not matter what certain Palestinians are doing (and you can label it terrorism if you want, it is certainly not very different from what Israel is doing to the Palestinians) punishing all Palestinians for the actions of a couple of them, even if they are their leaders, is collective punishment and is not just immoral, it is a war crime, it is illegal under international law.
Who is financing? Israel is not financing the PA, it never has. It is withholding funds that BELONG to the PA, blatant daylight robbery.
And the funds the EU is withholding are not funds used to finance a group who would use the money to support attacks, this is the money they need to make their society function.
You profess to be neutral all the time, yet you expect the Palestinians, the weaker party in the conflict, the ones under occupation, to 'recognise Israel's right to exist', that is your mantra, that makes everything ok. Because you are the one ignoring certain pieces of information here, you act as if there is no violence now. You act as if there is no occupation, no settlements, no land grab. Never mind that Israel has never determined where the borders are within which they have their 'right to exist', never mind that Israel has never recognised a Palestinian state's 'right to exist'. Israel is the party that is responding to the violence in your view. Whatever possesses those Palestinians to attack those Israelis with their beautifull democracy, I havent a clue
You know this is the worst part of the whole thing. It is one thing that the Israelis are ethnically cleansing the Palestinians, that they kill them and starve them, it happens all the time. It is the fact that they want to be considered part of the civilised world and that otherwise reasonable people keep making up excuses for them that is making me sick.
Anyway if Hamas had any sense they would throw in the towel, dismantle the PA and hand the responsibility of taking care of the Palestinian population right back to Israel. It is not as if they have any real power anyway and it would make the real relation between the Palestinians and the Israeli clear again.