UN demands flow of goods to Gaza

[azurnoir]

The UN humanitarian chief has urged Israel to fully open all crossings with Gaza to allow a free flow of goods.

At a news conference in New York on Tuesday, Mr Holmes said it was "absolutely critical" that building materials - like cement and pipes - were allowed into Gaza to rebuild the Palestinian territory.

Mr Holmes, who is expected to visit Israel on Wednesday, also stressed that he would be pushing Israel to allow international aid organisation into Gaza.

"In theory, they have permission. In practice, it's proving very difficult to get into Gaza."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7841430.stm

[defendandprotect]

1. This has to be done . . .

[kayecy]

2. This is likely to be Obama's first Israel/Palestine test........

This is likely to be Obama's first Israel/Palestine test. Look at this likely scenario:

1. In the next few days, Hamas, which claims to have fired rockets to open the border crossings will threaten Israel with more rockets if it doesn't open the crossings fully.

2. Israel continues to restrict the flow of essential construction material.

What does Obama do?

a. Follow Bush and exhonerate Israel's clearly inhumane blockade?
b. Move to a new policy and 'instruct' Israel to open the border crossings or the US will break the Israeli blockade by landing construction materials over the Gaza beaches?
c. Do nothing and watch resumption of hostilities?

We are about to see the real Obama!

[Marrah_G]

3. Clinton needs to start working on this issue yesterday

I hope President Obama (don't you just love typing that?) has a plan on how to get the sides to attempt real negotiations.

I also hope he lets Israel know clearly that we will no longer fund the massacre of innocent civilians. Yeah, maybe wishful thinking, but a girl can hope right?

[azurnoir]

4. George Mitchell will be Mideast envoy

Mitchell was instrumental in getting the peace deal between the Northern Irish and the British

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[delad]

5. but the difference there was that there were two sides willing to

engage in a peace process. And given Israel's recent slaughter of Gazans...

[kayecy]

6. Is Hamas so much worse than the IRA?

The IRA/Shin Fein have not accepted to this day that Northern Ireland has a right to stay a part of Britain. Inspite of that, Britain and Mitchell negotiated with them and allowed them to form part of a power-sharing government.

Can someone tell me why it was fine to negotiate with the IRA (which murdered several hundred civilians), but it is unacceptable for either Israel or the USA to negotiate with Hamas?

[delad]

7. Is the IDF? I don't think it matters who is worse tbh

they should talk

[azurnoir]

8. I have thought about that why was the IRA OK

and Hamas not OK and more over why in the US the IRA was quite openly supported, "Irish" pubs had collection boxes for the IRA out in the open, no one was a "terrorist supporter", no one was charged with any crime,, it comes down to bigotry and the times, there are so many Americans with Irish ancestry not so many with Arab or Palestinian and well of course that infamous American support of Israel, hopefully Obama changes some of this, the very fact he was elected President may be a good sign.

[LeftishBrit]

9. To clarify one thing...

the IRA was certainly not considered 'OK' in Britain, and we did indeed consider those Irish-Americans who collected for it to be 'terrorist supporters'. Not that most of us thought much of the IRA's Protestant 'paramilitary' (= terrorist) rivals either.

So there's more similarity than you might think, and certainly for ages Thatcher et al were claiming that We Could Never Possibly Talk to Those IRA Terrorists - but as we now know, for the latter part of that time they were secretly doing so. And this proceeded to more open negotiations, and finally into a peace process that has really succeeded to a large extent! Let's hope something similar happens with regard to the Middle East.

[azurnoir]

10. sorry if I was not clear

my comment applied solely to America most certainly not the UK.