Blair and Netanyahu Do a Deal to Ease Gaza Blockade.
It would appear as if the blockade of Gaza is approaching it's final days. Certainly it cannot continue in it's present form.
This is a further indication of just how disastrous the intervention aboard the Mavi Marmara has proven to be. The people who organised the flotilla have been more successful in highlighting the injustice of the siege of Gaza than they could ever have seriously hoped to be. The price paid by some of them was shockingly high, but their intervention has brought the blockade to it's knees.Tony Blair, the Quartet’s envoy to the Middle East, hailed Tuesday the Israeli cabinet’s expected approval of a plan to ease the blockade of the Gaza Strip and allow more aid into the territory as “a very important step.”
The plan, which was formulated jointly by Blair and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will likely come before the cabinet for approval on Wednesday.
It contains three main elements: formulation of a blacklist of goods and supplies that will not be allowed into Gaza, particularly items that could be put to use in manufacturing weapons; Israel’s acquiescence to the entry of building materials for UN-sponsored construction projects; and Israel’s agreement to consider stationing European Union as well as Palestinian Authority monitors at border crossings to inspect incoming goods.
Even commentators in Israel are now acknowledging the dreadful PR disaster which the boarding of the Mavi Marmara now represents.
I agree with that last sentiment. The international community, which for so long shamefully backed this act of collective punishment, has now realised that the game is up.The blockade we have imposed on Gaza doesn't portray us in a positive light, but as an uncompassionate, blockheaded nation, one that supposedly "starves" Gaza's children. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Obama that the two-state vision is dissipating, a statement tantamount to placing a loaded pistol on the negotiating table ahead of Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks.
Anyone who doesn't want an international commission of inquiry for fear of another Goldstone Commission is now forced to accept a "public independent committee to examine the events surrounding the raid," one that will include international observers. Though its description sounds harmless enough, it's important that Netanyahu and Barak have a good look at the Agranat Commission's report of 1974, which didn't deal directly with the conduct of either Meir or Dayan, but ultimately led to the resignation of both.
The flotilla raid won us the battle but lost us the war - the blockade on Gaza is now finished.
The flotilla has highlighted a shameful episode in which Europe, the US and Israel were all complicit. Israel might wish to continue with this siege, but support in Europe and the US has all but vanished.
As Blair makes clear, this is merely "an important step". This is not the end of the international community's demands, it is merely the beginning.
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BREAKING NEWS: BRITAIN GUILTY OF KILLINGS. ISRAEL INNOCENT?
BRITAIN / NORTHERN IRELAND. APOLOGY FOR KILLINGS
13 innocent human rights marchers UNLAWFULLY SHOT DEAD in Northern Ireland BY British paratroopers in 1972. Victims Murdered on Bloody Sunday.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said, today, there is no doubt that what happened on Bloody Sunday was "unjustified and unjustifiable".
Speaking in Parliament, Mr Cameron said: "The Government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the armed forces.
"And for that, on behalf of the Government, indeed on behalf of our country, I am deeply sorry."
He said that it was "wrong". That troops went in as a result of a order that should not have been given and that none of those killed was armed.
ISRAEL / GAZA. NO APOLOGY FOR KILLINGS
NINE innocent human rights activists UNLAWFULLY SHOT DEAD in international waters by Israeli commandos in 2010. Victims Murdered on the High Seas.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said the killings were justified and were carried out in 'self-defense' although none of the passengers were armed.
colindale, london
I agree Colin and I have covered the Sunday Bloody Sunday story today as well.
However, in the interest of fairness, we should admit that it has taken Britain 38 years to issue their apology.
It took 38 years, KEL, to overturn the previous whitewash report of the British government, because the investigation was deliberately carried out in-house and not by an impartial independent committee.
AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT ISRAEL IS ENDEAVORING TO DO IN COLLUSION WITH THE US AND, REGRETTABLY, THE UK.
THEY ARE INTENDING TO PRODUCE A 'REPORT' THAT WILL SAY THAT THOSE KILLED WERE THEMSELVES RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN DEATHS!
THAT THE HEAVILY ARMED COMMANDOS WHO ILLEGALLY BOARDED THE SHIP IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS WERE MERELY PROTECTING THEMSELVES.
We need a UN backed investigation.
colindale, london
Oh yes, I agree the Israelis would like to produce a diluted report which blames the relief suppliers for their own deaths, my only point was that, as you rightly state, the British tried that same nonsense 38 years ago.
I agree we need a UN backed investigation, but I think the US and UN will cut them a deal as long as they stop the blockade and allow them to produce an Israeli report which only the most fervent pro-Israeli will believe for a second.
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