Carter Blasts US Policy on Palestinians

[Purveyor]

(06-19) 16:41 PDT DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) --

Former President Jimmy Carter accused the U.S., Israel and the European Union on Tuesday of seeking to divide the Palestinian people by reopening aid to President Mahmoud Abbas' new government in the West Bank while denying the same to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was addressing a human rights conference in Ireland, also said the Bush administration's refusal to accept Hamas' 2006 election victory was "criminal."

Carter said Hamas, besides winning a fair and democratic mandate that should have entitled it to lead the Palestinian government, had proven itself to be far more organized in its political and military showdowns with Abbas' moderate Fatah movement.

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During his speech to Ireland's annual Forum on Human Rights, the 83-year-old former president said monitors from his Carter Center observed the 2006 election that Hamas won. He said the vote was "orderly and fair" and Hamas triumphed, in part, because it was "shrewd in selecting candidates," whereas a divided, corrupt Fatah ran multiple candidates for single seats.

Far from encouraging Hamas' move into parliamentary politics, Carter said the U.S. and Israel, with European Union acquiescence, sought to subvert the outcome by shunning Hamas and helping Abbas to keep the reins of political and military power.

"That action was criminal," he said in a news conference after his speech.

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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/06/19/international/i164146D89.DTL

[Scurrilous]

1. IBTL

Jimmy Carter raaaaaaawks!! :thumbsup:

[Jim Sagle]

3. Bbzzzzttttt...wrong answer! He SSSSUUUUXXXXXX, doooood!!!!!!!

[BootinUp]

2. Is he gonna retract this tomorrow? n/t

[Boojatta]

4. It sounds as though they need electoral reform.

He said the vote was "orderly and fair" and Hamas triumphed, in part, because it was "shrewd in selecting candidates," whereas a divided, corrupt Fatah ran multiple candidates for single seats.

Compare a voter to a judge in the Olympics. An Olympic judge in a given event is permitted to give a rating to every competitor in that event.

An additional competitor wouldn't take away votes or ratings from the original competitors. There's no shortage of ratings. Every combination of a judge, competitor, and performance is another opportunity for a rating or score to be assigned.

[godai]

5. Looks to me the plan is to give up Gaza to Egypt

I had read earlier that 500 Fatah fighters had been trained by Israel to take on Hamas. Then, we had the mini-Civil war. Hamas won the battle but lost the war. Now, the new Palestine seems to be the West Bank, with Gaza abandoned (to Egypt?). The meeting with 50 Jewish leaders last week, then the dissolving of the Palestinian government of which Hams was an elected part, now * meeting Olmert is not a coincidence. This would be laughable if 1.5 million people weren't caught in the middle of this neocon scheme. They sure have a perverted definition of democracy.

[Shaktimaan]

6. And why in the world do you think that Egypt would want Gaza?

I think you are seeing conspiracies in the smoke. Gaza isn't abandoned, the PA has not been dissolved. There is no "new" Palestine. There is no neo-con scheme... in fact, there aren't any neo-cons in Palestine or Israel to begin with. Hamas is an extremist Islamic group, does that make them neo-con? Likud is right wing, but hardly neo-conservative. And Kadima is more or less a center oriented party. It is not as though the right wing in Israel supported the pullout from Gaza. Likud fought it tooth and nail. I always find it odd when people come up with these elaborate explanations as to how the conflict in Gaza (or anything similar) was the result of an elaborate scheme, engineered by Israeli or American operatives, when the practical reason is so obvious and so much more likely.

And I would love to see where you read that Israel has been training 500 members of a group that regularly attacks them. I suppose the US is also training Al Qaeda operatives, right? :sarcasm:

[maddezmom]

7. related articles: Israel to let Presidential Guard train near West Bank city of Jericho

Israel to let Presidential Guard train near West Bank city of Jericho

By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent

Israel agreed to extensive training of members of the Presidential Guard of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in areas near Jericho, in the Jordan Valley.

The Palestinian Presidential Guard is undergoing similar training in Egypt. The training of units can reach battalion size formations, even though during their operations in the territories - in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank - the Presidential Guard is unable to operate in such formations.

The request for Israel to permit such extensive training was made through the Americans. Prior to this, Israel agreed to the transfer of thousands of rifles and ammunition to Abbas' Presidential Guard. The serial number of each weapon was registered in order to maintain at least minimal control over the weapons. On the other hand, Israel refused to approve another Presidential Guard request for the transfer of weapons of larger calibers than rifles, including heavy machine guns.

Meanwhile, in Israel, the debate still rages whether the fight for the Gaza Strip between Fatah and Hamas has been tipped in favor of the latter. Among the Israel Defense Forces, including Military Intelligence, the view is that Hamas holds the advantage in the Gaza Strip. On the basis of this view, Hamas is the leading military force in the Strip and it has the power to win the war. This is not the case in the West Bank, where Fatah has the advantage.

The Defense Ministry's assessment is more restrained. Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh, who deals with Palestinian affairs, believes that even though Fatah is in retreat in the Gaza Strip, the battle is not yet over.


more;http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/862673.html

Israel, US, and Egypt back Fatah's fight against Hamas
The Bush administration has spent most of its $84 million in aid to Palestinians to train an elite corps of Fatah-loyal fighters.
By Dan Murphy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
and Joshua Mitnick | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
Page 1 of 4

Cairo and Tel Aviv - Senior US officials in Washington on Wednesday promised ongoing military support for secular Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas amid his power struggle with Islamist Hamas as part of an $84 million aid package largely aimed at improving the fighting ability of an elite corps of loyalists from his Fatah Party.

Israel, too, is making overtures to Mr. Abbas, reported the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Wednesday, allowing light arms to flow to members of his Presidential Guard and saying that it would allow some of the US training of his forces to take place in the West Bank.

That policy puts the US and Israel on a highly unusual course in the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: Four-square support for Fatah to contain, if not defeat, the growing power of Hamas, which won the Palestinian Authority's (PA) last election.

But whether the effort will succeed is far from certain, and some analysts say there are risks to that course, chief among them the possibility of further fueling the internal Palestinian conflict, leading to deeper despair in the occupied territories and a PA less able to make the compromises on peace with Israel than it is today.

more;http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0525/p07s02-wome.html

[Shaktimaan]

8. Related to what?

I questioned the assertion that Israel was training 500 Fatah troops. This Haaretz article you linked to says that Israel permitted Fatah to train near Jericho, NOT that THEY were the ones doing the training!

To get an idea of how absurd it is to think that Israel would train Fatah, understand that it was a big deal for Israel to even agree to allow Fatah the space and authorization to train. And this is in the West Bank, not even in Israel. Also note that Israel denied them access to heavy weapons. (Not declined to GIVE them weapons, but declined to allow them to obtain them by any means, at all!)

America may be training Fatah, I feel no real surprise one way or the other on that subject. Fatah hasn't been suicide bombing America, have they? And to be honest, while Israel may see Fatah as a temporary ally against a common enemy, which accounts for their allowing them to train, any military aid that Fatah recieves will, in all likelihood, eventually be used against Israel. And Israel is not blind to this.

Additionally, too much help from Israel will make Fatah look like a traitor, selling out Palestine for short term personal gain. Arafat's legacy in this department has already stained Fatah's image and contributed to their downfall in the voting booth. Neither side can afford to pay the price of militarily working with their enemy too much.

[maddezmom]

10. related to the situation

:shrug: Please feel free to ignore or read them, just thought I'd present some info :)

[Shaktimaan]

11. sorry

didn't mean to be obnoxious.

thanks for the info.

shak

[maddezmom]

12. no worries

:)

[Scurrilous]

9. More:

Briton leads UN mission to train Fatah militia (22/02/2007)

<snip>

"A former Royal Marine is leading a highly sensitive United Nations operation to train the Palestinian Presidential Guard on a mission that has raised concerns about the impartiality of the UN.

Known as the Karni Project, the operation involves training up to 250 members of the Fatah-controlled force to improve security at the Karni Crossing, the main exit from the Gaza Strip for cargo.

The project is jointly funded by Holland, Canada and Britain.

All three emphasise that the Palestinian Guards are not receiving military equipment but training in border management, including search techniques and perimeter security.

But with Fatah clashing regularly with Hamas gunmen in Gaza, there are concerns that the mission will be construed as favouring one side in a nascent civil war.

The situation was not helped by the fact that the project was conceived by Lt Gen Keith Dayton, regional security co-ordinator for the United States, which is at loggerheads with Hamas."

<snip>

"Starting in December, eight specially-selected lieutenants and majors from the Presidential Guard were brought to Jericho in the West Bank to be "trained as trainers" by the UNOPS team.

They were only allowed to travel from Gaza to Jericho with Israeli permission, indicating support from Tel Aviv for the project and the improvement in the Presidential Guard capability."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/21/wfatah21.xml

[godai]

13. It may not be Egypt's choice

If Gaza is walled off even more than it is now, where could the people go, into the sea or to Egypt.

It has never made sense to me to have the small Gaza area kind of part 2 of some Palestinian state and what's happened recently leads me to my hypothesis, that the * administration wants to isolate Gaza while they try to create a Palestinian state in the West Bank.

Based on the others' comments, are you more informed now about the support by Israel of the Fatah side? I didn't make that up.

The neocons I refer to are in the * administration.

What's your 'obvious and so much more likely' explanation? Don't you think the US and Israel (working with Fatah) are coordinating their efforts related to the recents events in Gaza? The US wanted Hamas out and they have it now (if you don't consider Gaza, which I think the neocons are willing to do, at least short term).