Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ effort to cut electricity to the Gaza Strip as a means of “pressuring” Hamas to hand over control of the region to him is finally getting support from Israel’s security cabinet, which today signed off on a plan to cut exports to the Gaza Strip by 40%, meaning about 45 minutes less of electricity per day in a strip that already is in a state of blackout more than three-quarters of the time.
Abbas had originally sought a 100% cut in Gaza’s electricity, but Israel refused, citing humanitarian concerns. Even with this smaller cut, Israeli military advisers are warning a mounting humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip will likely escalate the level of violence along the Israeli border.
Most in Israel’s current far-right government are quite comfortable with that, as wars against the Gaza Strip are pretty popular among their parties, and it has been awhile since they got to spend a few weeks battering the civilian population in the name of national security.
It’s unlikely that Abbas’ hope that this will lead to an outright Hamas surrender to him will bear fruit, however, and the very public efforts by Abbas to orchestrate the cuts are likely to further fuel opposition to him among locals in Gaza, who see Hamas as the only real alternative to his Fatah Party.
Lovely. Israel concerned over humanitarian situation? Palestinians? That is the first one.
Good grief. As if Palestinians don’t have enough to worry about. Now they have to deal with Abbas’ all out treason?
Abbas is the alpha in that den of jackals called the Fatah. I don’t know what game he’s playing, but the Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza deserve a better leader, not some overblown politician. At this rate, he’s probably going to stir up Hamas and voila! Another bloody few weeks for Gaza. What does he possibly hope to gain from this, other than doing what the Israelis are simply dying to do themselves? Now they’ve got their unwitting- or is he?- patsy and he’ll take the heat for it.
He is not a leaders of the Palestinians; he is a Kapo.
So why hasn’t he signed a peace treaty?
Why didn’t he even respond to Olmert’s peace offer?
People in the USA think life without electricity is an unbelievable horror but Gaza has endured for 50 years. These folks are tough.
Abbas is the bureaucrat managing the genocide of Palestinians on behalf of the zionists.
genocide???
There should be no more two state. Equal citizenship is the only solution.
Why should Israel give citizenship to people who attacked Israel?
1/ collective punishment is wrong
2/ because it’s their home and no government has the right to drive people from their homes
1. It’s not collective punishment.
Why should Israel give electricity to Palestinians if Palestinians refuse to pay? It costs money to produce electricity.
2. What are you referring to?
The Israelis invaded, occupied and colonised Palestine. They can’t go complaining that there are Palestinians living there. The Palestinians have the right to live there and hold equal citizenship to the Israelis, as it is their home.
Israel is occupying the West Bank because Palestinians attacked Israel. Why should Israel let people who attacked them vote in Israeli elections? Should France have allowed Germans to vote in French elections when France occupied Germany after world war 2?
West Bank isn’t a country, Gaza isn’t a country. Both are Bantustans. Ghettos used to get rid of inconvenient ethnic minorities.
Palestinians did not invade Israel. Israel invaded and occupied Palestine, and wants to make itself ethnically pure by getting rid of the natives.
A one-state solution would change nothing, for the Palestine people would be given a new name, the poor, their poverty would blamed on a lack of education and they would be kept powerless by a $5 minimum wage.
I doubt that. Palestinians who already have Israeli citizenship aren’t impoverished or under educated. Palestinians globally are well educated. Britain has just elected it’s first ethnically Palestinian member of Parliament in Oxford, she’s a scientist.
Guess that makes it official. Abbas certainly never means to ever again have an election in Gaza. Certainly he knows that by siding with the Israelis, or even worse having the Israelis seem more humanitarian to the Palestinians, he won’t ever get 3 votes again in Gaza.
Probably for that matter no more elections in the West Bank either. I guess everyone knows he’s worked with the Israelis, but this is probably a bit too public.
So, Abbas is going for authoritarian rule backed by Israeli muscle. That’s the message from this.
Finally a Palestinian leader who realizes Hamas must be shut down. Hamas has brought nothing but death and retribution. Those who complain need to understand there is no future for peace with a belligerent Hamas in Palestine.
You know you’ve become a heartless f**king animal when even Israel is telling you to tone it down. The West Bank needs to rise up and overthrow that quisling c*nt. Abbas needs to go.
Abbas is a paid actor for the rich ruling class of Palestine, the 25% most wealthy who own 75% of the wealth. Surely, the rich in Palestine would rather be ruled by Israel then by Hamas.
Johnson11b
“Why should Israel give citizenship to people who attacked Israel?”
If the UN was doing it’s job, the real question would be,
“Why not ship Israel back to Europe where
they belong? All they do is steal land at gunpoint.