Egyptian Journalist Describes Absolute Prosperity in Gaza
by Maayana Miskin JULY 30,10
With Hamas telling tales of deprivation and suffering in Gaza, Egyptian journalist Ashraf Abu al-Houl has added his report to others who were surprised to discover a prosperous Gaza in which prices are low and luxury businesses are booming. Al-Houl's story of his trip to Gaza and his realization that in actual terms, Gaza is not under siege was written up in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).A sense of absolute prosperity prevails, as manifested by the grand resorts along and near Gaza's coast. Further, the site of the merchandise and luxuries filling the Gaza shops amazed me he reported.Concerned that his initial impression of prosperity may have been misleading,I toured the new resorts, most of which are quite grand, as well as the commercial markets, to verify my hypothesis. The resorts and markets have come to symbolize prosperity, and to prove that the siege is formal or political, not economic,Al-Houl said.Gaza's markets are filled with a plethora of goods,he wrote. Prices on many items, particularly food, are much lower than they are in Egypt, he said. With goods entering Gaza from both smuggling tunnels to Egypt and humanitarian aid shipments coming in via Israeli crossings,supply is much greater than demand, he stated.
The evident prosperity is not enjoyed by all, or even most, of Gaza's residents, according to Al-Houl. The problem is the vast differences in the distribution of wealth. The luxury resorts and wide range of consumer goods are enjoyed by only a few groups, he said, primarily those who own smuggling tunnels to Egypt and those who work for international organizations such as the United Nations' UNRWA and who do not include or aid the rest of the population.Most of the new resorts are owned by members, or associates, of Hamas,he reported. In addition, the Hamas municipalities charge high fees, in Gaza terms, for the use of public beaches,he added.Al-Houl quoted political activist Mustafa Ibrahim as saying that while Gaza's rich invest in the leisure industry, 80% of residents rely on UNRWA, and unemployment is approximately 45%. This creates a distorted picture,Ibrahim explained.(IsraelNationalNews.com)
Abbas: PA State To Be Judenrein
by Maayana Miskin JULY 30,10
If a Palestinian Authority state is created in Judea and Samaria, no Israeli citizen will be allowed to set foot inside, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said this week in a meeting with members of the Arab League. The PA chairman also stated that he would block any Jewish soldiers from serving with an international force stationed on PA-controlled land. I will never allow a single Israeli to live among us on Palestinian land, Abbas declared. Abbas addressed the Arab League during a discussion over the possibility of holding direct negotiations with Israel. Like Abbas, Arab League members agreed to direct talks in theory, but only if a number of measures and conditions were met. De facto, both Abbas and the League nixed the talks, but the constant discusiion of conditions is seen as an attempt to throw the ball back into Israel's court after PM Netanyahu, in Washington recently, succeeded in putting the onus for agreeing to talks on Abbas.The agreement depends on what will be discussed [in Israel-PA talks] and the manner in which negotiations are conducted, said Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin-Jassim bin-Jabor al-Thani.Abbas has demanded that Israeli completely freeze construction for Jews in areas east of the 1949 armistice line, including north, south, and east Jerusalem, and that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu commit to creating a PA state with borders based on the armistice line. Until those conditions are met, Abbas has said, the PA will not negotiate.
Arab League members claimed they had received new support from United States President Barack Obama. A recent letter from Obama to Abbas included guarantees, according to League head Amr Moussa. He did not specify the alleged promises.During his meeting with the Arab League, Abbas gave his explanation for why negotiations with the previous Israeli administration, headed by then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, failed to yield a peace deal. We almost reached an agreement, and I agreed to a land swap for 0.19% of the territory, while he suggested 6.5%. I refused, and we did not reach an agreement,he said.The land swap idea is meant to allow Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria to remain in their current locations even in the case of an Israel-PA peace deal.Abbas reiterated his support for the right of return, the demand by Arabs who fled Israel during the War of Independence when their leaders promised them a quick return after the Jews' annihilation, to come back to the country along with the hundreds of thousands of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren born since. That demand is the reason they remained in squalid refugee camps as opposed to the larger number of Jewish refugees expelled from Arab lands in 1948 who became productive citizens of the land of Israel. Abbas said he had discussed the right of return with Olmert, and had warned that the issue was very dangerous and must be resolved according to the Arab initiative.(IsraelNationalNews.com)
Italian MPs Call to Ban IHH in Europe
by Maayana Miskin JULY 29,10
Six Italian Members of Parliament have called to consider banning the IHH, the Turkish pro-terrorist group whose activists clashed with IDF soldiers aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla in late May. Germany has already banned the group, and 87 United States Senators have signed a call to classify it as a terrorist organization in their country.The Islamic fundamentalist nature of IHH has been documented by numerous declarations praising martyrdom and Israel's destruction, said MPs Fiamma Nirenstein, Enrico Pianetta, Guglielmo Picchi, Antonio Martino, Gennaro Malgieri, and Massimo Polledri in an official parliamentary question. Several such declarations were made shortly before the ship Mavi Marmara, part of a larger Gaza-bound flotilla, set sail, they continued. IHH members aboard the Marmara told reporters before departing that their purpose was religious martyrdom,they noted.
The MPs pointed out that IHH is a member of the Union of Good, a Saudi Arabia-based umbrella group for Islamic organizations that is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The Union of Good funnels money to Hamas; it has been banned by Israel and designated as supporting terrorism by the United States.The Turkish government itself was formerly concerned over IHH, they said, and investigated the group in the late 1990s over its links with Al-Qaeda. The group was investigated in the U.S. for alleged involvement in an attempted terrorist attack in Los Angeles, and in France for funding Islamic terrorist groups.The MPs concluded by asking, We would like to know the following: What is the position of the Italian government regarding the possibility of including the NGO known as the IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi) in the EU list of terrorist organizations and whether or not it intends to push an action to discuss it.(IsraelNationalNews.com)
