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And those bullets come back down.

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:32 pm
by MikeK
When will the Palestinian people wise up? Can these people make one smart choice in trying to help themselves? Between shooting guns in the air and forgetting that the law of gravity will soon return those projectiles back to earth, and putting terrorists in power makes one wonder if they will ever have an independent state. At least the Bolivians made a good choice. :roll:
Hamas faces EU threat to cut Palestinian aid
Sun Jan 29, 2006 3:57 PM ET

By Louis Charbonneau

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The European Union could not fund a Hamas-run Palestinian Authority if it did not renounce violence and recognize Israel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Israel on Sunday.

It was the most explicit threat to cut aid from Europe, the biggest donor to the Palestinians, since Islamic militant group Hamas won a shock victory in parliamentary elections last week. The United States has also threatened to block funding.

Hamas, expected to form the new government, has denounced Western threats to cut aid as blackmail and rejected calls to disarm and end its formal commitment to destroy Israel.

"Such a Palestinian Authority cannot be directly supported by money from the EU," said Merkel, standing beside Israel's interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem at the start of her first visit to the region.

Diplomatic sources said Merkel consulted other European leaders before the two-day trip. Last year the European Union gave the Palestinian Authority 500 million euros ($615 million), money vital for its survival.

U.S. Secretary of State Rice said she believed the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and other powers involved in the Middle East were "on the same page" -- that funding must not go to Hamas and other groups that advocated destroying Israel.

In Washington, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Congress would cut funding unless Hamas changed, echoing President George W. Bush's pledge to withhold funds.

"Stopping international donations will not undermine the work of the government," said Hamas spokesman and elected legislator Mushir al-Masri, adding that the militant group could opt to seek government funding from Arab nations.

OLMERT VOWS TO BOYCOTT HAMAS GOVERNMENT

The foreign support buttressed Olmert's stand on boycotting any Palestinian government including Hamas members unless the group stops fighting and accepts all agreements that Palestinian leaders have signed.

"These principles are acceptable to the international community. I do not intend to make any compromise on this matter," said Olmert.

He also said that Israel was considering whether to delay paying tax money collected on behalf of the Palestinians. Political sources said Israel might withhold a monthly payment that is due to be made this week.

Merkel is the first European Union leader to visit the area since the Palestinian vote swept out President Mahmoud Abbas's long-dominant Fatah movement. She is shunning Hamas, but will meet Abbas in Ramallah on Monday.

Fatah leaders have so far rejected joining any coalition with Hamas, whose anti-corruption platform, charity network and nearly 60 suicide bombings in Israel since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000, propelled it to victory.

Hamas has largely abided by a ceasefire Abbas reached with Israel, and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted in media reports as saying the Islamic group was "behaving responsibly" and would likely continue to curb attacks.

Israel and the Palestinians have not held peace talks in five years and the U.S.-backed "road map" to a settlement has been stalled by violence on both sides.

In Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, a local Hamas leader, Mahmoud Ramahi, ruled out political talks with Israel but not contacts with Israeli officials on public works and health issues affecting daily life.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah, Sue Pleming in London and Corinne Heller and Louis Charbonneau in Jerusalem)

© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:45 pm
by -Metablade-
I have a feeling that this may have been a good thing for Palestine.

If previously, they rebelled against "The Government" while pretending to advocate the will of the people, they did so without the responsibility associated with running said Government.
Now that they have been elected by the people, they will now have to perform, grow up, and deal with more pressing issues than just focused on the propagation of terror.
Besides, now they have a vested interest in what they build.

I liken it to a teenager who complains about how bad he has it, and how he would "do it better." and then when the teenager gets out into the real world, deals with real issues, real stress, office politics, finance, building relationships, etc..They find out that they realize how good they had it.
As well, how certain issues where taken for granted, like running the country.
Time for Hamas to grow up. (In a productive way)

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:56 pm
by Stryke
I agree , now they are in power they hold responsibility and if necessary blame .

theres no hiding from the solution , and if they choose to take it they will reap there own crop , no exuses , no hiding places .

as I`m sure many are realising , without a defined enemy and purpouse , solutions are difficult .

responsibility may lead to contemplation and hopefully change .

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 2:11 am
by MikeK
As long as they can keep a democracy of sorts I think Hamas will have a short shelf life. But I think a civil war is possible between the different factions.

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:34 am
by AAAhmed46
Well, from what ive heard from some lebs and palistinians at the mosque....

Hamas won because it promised food and jobs as part of it's main platform.

And would hand food out during the rallies.

That said, there were also doing what canada did when voting conservative: THey were tired of coruption.
...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

BUT WHY HAMAS!?!?!?!?

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 2:06 pm
by Bill Glasheen
I've been scratching my head about this one as well, Mike. But I'm with Meta
on this one. The Fatah party screwed up with their corruption, and deserve to
have their butts booted out on the street. Now Hamas has its turn to grow up
and do it right, or risk the same rough treatment by the voters. Democracy can
be a very ugly thing in the short run, but in the long run things like these tend
to work out so long as the meddling hands of terrorism and foreign influence
can refrain. Let the Palestinians live or die by their own actions. Let them pay
for their own damn urban development, education system, social services, job
development, etc., etc.

The only thing I worrry about is those whacko religious fanatics feeding more
hate into the minds of children in the madrasses. We don't need another steady
supply of hopeless youths with hate and stupidity on the brain.

- Bill

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:40 pm
by -Metablade-
Bill Glasheen wrote: The only thing I worrry about is those whacko religious fanatics feeding more
hate into the minds of children in the madrasses. We don't need another steady
supply of hopeless youths with hate and stupidity on the brain.
- Bill
Meta:
Yeah, because we have more than enough of those right here at home!

:wink:

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 3:50 am
by AAAhmed46
Just mentioning this but:

When most people think of madrasses, they picture a bunch of bin laden posters. But most madrasses are like mosques: Most of them exist soley to provide religious education.

My brother used to live a madrassa,now he's back home.

He doesn't have a beard, and he's going to colledge and has a wife and kid.

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 3:15 pm
by Bill Glasheen
It's religious extremism that is the concern. It's the attude that "My religion is
right and everyone else is an infidel." It's extremist thinking in general for that
matter. To Meta's defense... It's no different than the White Supremacists holding
rallies, and demanding we kick the "n****** and jews" out of this country.

Your point is well taken, Ahmed. We shouldn't generalize. But neither should
we ignore a process that produces homicidal bombers.

- Bill

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:17 pm
by -Metablade-
Bill Glasheen wrote:It's religious extremism that is the concern. It's the attude that "My religion is
right and everyone else is an infidel." It's extremist thinking in general for that
matter. To Meta's defense... It's no different than the White Supremacists holding
rallies, and demanding we kick the "*********" out of this country.
- Bill
Meta: With regard to most American extremist groups,
I can most unequivocally say that I'm on their "First-to-be-horridly-executed-should-they-ever-obtain
-governmental-control-Sh**t-list" for a VAST variety of reasons.

And I'm rather unabashedly proud of that.
:lol:

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:46 am
by Panther
Well, Meta...

I guess I'll keep you company because my reservation in the cattlecar going to the "re-education" camps is already in place I'm sure...

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:56 pm
by -Metablade-
Yagyu Munemori once wrote:
"Surrounding rulers are treacherous people who pretend to be righteous when in the presence of superiors, yet have a glare in their eyes when they look at subordinates. Unless they are bribed, they present the good as bad, so the innocent suffer and the guilty gloat. To see the potential for this happening is even more urgent than to notice a concealed scheme."