Ban urges Arabs to back Abbas in Gaza crisis

[oberliner]

KUWAIT, Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged Arab leaders to join together in backing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his efforts to reunite the war-ravaged Gaza Strip with the West Bank.

Speaking a day after Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas announced separate ceasefires, Ban also said that Arab unity was crucial if the three-week Gaza conflict was not to be repeated in the future.

"The Palestinians themselves must face the challenge of reconciliation, and work to achieve a unified government under the leadership of President Abbas," Ban told an Arab League summit expected to approve $2 billion in aid to rebuild Gaza.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19342134.htm

[varelse]

1. more from that article

"A true end to violence, and lasting security for both Palestinians and Israelis, will only come through a just and comprehensive settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict," he said. "The (Israeli) occupation that began in 1967 must end."

[oberliner]

2. Amen to that

Hopefully Obama can help get both sides on course to a solution that finally ends this conflict.

[RJ Connors]

3. But I thought the whole point that the Gaza people were making

was that they didn't want to be under the leadership of Abbas in that he is just another puppet of the west like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. This is why they elected Hamas when they were given the chance to vote.

[Vegasaurus]

4. And a lot of them regret that vote

which has brought them nothing but misery.

Would you want to live under the military boot of Hamas, with no civil or human rights, where you would be kidnapped, jailed or murdered for speaking against them, where you could be stoned to death if you went out without a male family member?

Where perpetual war against Israel is the goal, and never peace?

That is no democracy.

[oberliner]

5. Hamas won the most seats in the legislature - Abbas was/is still President

Abbas won his own election just a year before the legislative elections.

The PLC elections were not for the Presidency.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. It was not a Gaza specific election. Hamas took it over by force.