Hamas jubilant at opening of Rafah border, Israel alarmed

[oberliner]

Gaza/Cairo/Tel Aviv - Gazans Thursday welcomed Egypt's decision to permanently open its border with the Gaza Strip, saying they felt a door was open to what had often felt like a 'huge prison.'

A jubilant Hamas, the Islamist movement ruling the strip called the step 'the right decision in the right direction' and said it would make life easier for ordinary Gazans.

But Israel, which first imposed a blockade on Gaza five years ago after rocket and mortar fire from the strip at its southern communities and after the hostage-taking of an Israeli soldier, who is still held captive by Hamas, was apprehensive.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1641659.php/Hamas-jubilant-at-opening-of-Rafah-border-Israel-alarmed

[shira]

1. Well of course Hamas is happy that life will be better for Palestinian civilians....

...that is after all their main motivation for opening the border.

They care so much.

:eyes:

BTW, there are still Gazan refugees in Jerash (Jordan) who could have returned from Jordan into Gaza any time since 2005 after Israeli withdrawal.
http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=131

Of course, no outrage from the sanctimonious pro-Palestinian "human rights" crowd, from neither the Rightwingers like Hamas/PLO or their useful idiot right/left wingnut friends from the West.

[wellst0nev0ter]

3. There Was Still That Pesky Israeli Blockade

But I don't expect liberal Israeli hardliners to ever consider that in their driveby attacks against people who are (gasp!) concerned with human rights :eyes:

[shira]

4. Not before the 2007 Hamas coup.

Good thing now the border between Egypt and Gaza is open.

I fully expect these refugees from Gaza to return to their homes any moment now...

:eyes:

[kayecy]

6. Perhaps they will when Gaza living conditions become better than the Jerash refugee camp.....

It will take some time for Gaza to recover from the Netanyahu/Mubarak blockad...

[shira]

7. Nice try but they're under apartheid in Jerash, Jordan and penned up in a 750 sq meter camp...

http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=175


Approximately 20,000 people inhabit the 750-square-metre camp; the vast majority of them are refugees who were forced to leave mandate Palestine in 1948 and lived in the Gaza Strip until the 1967 War, when they fled to Jordan.

While most Palestine refugees have been granted Jordanian citizenship and enjoy the related full rights, ex-Gaza refugees do not enjoy such benefits. They are entitled to hold a temporary Jordanian passport, valid for two years. The limited validity of this passport severely hinders their travel and employment prospects abroad.

Furthermore, there are a number of restrictions on their employment opportunities within Jordan They are excluded from various employment sectors including government service, law, agriculture, engineering, journalism, certified accounting and health care. Additionally, they cannot become members of cooperative associations or set up a private business outside the camp boundaries without a permit. Ex-Gaza refugees are also barred from training and employment programmes run by the government. Thus, the unemployment rate amongst ex-Gaza refugees stands at 39 per cent, distinctly higher than the national average of 14 per cent.

[kayecy]

20. No of Gazan's killed by IDF snipers 19.1.2009-28.2.2011 = 53 .........

Unemployment Jerash = 39%
Unemployment Gaza 40%


No of Jerash refugees killed by security forces = Nil
No of Gazan's killed by IDF snipers 19.1.2009-28.2.2011 = 53
(12 minors plus 34 non-militants plus 7 unknown militants/non-militants)


Risk of IDF bombing and invasion on Jerash = Nil
Risk of IDF bombing and invasion on Gaza = High


Perhaps the Jerash refugees will return to their homes when it is safe to do so......They are fortunate to have the choice....Most Palestinian refugees have no choice.....They are prevented from returning to their homes.
.
.

[shira]

22. Continue to make excuses for extreme rightwing Arab leadership for keeping refugees penned up. n/t

[kayecy]

23. Continue making excuses for Israel preventing refugees returning to their homes........n/t

[shira]

25. There are refugee camps within Gaza and the West Bank. What is stopping the PA/Hamas...

...from absorbing these refugees into the Palestinian population?

They're Palestinian refugees displaced WITHIN the original Palestinian Mandate.

They could become regular Palestinians who would still MAINTAIN their status as refugees according to UNRWA, unlike any other refugee in world history.

:eyes:

=====

How's Israel keeping them in squalid camps?

[azurnoir]

8. and tell us just how would these refugees get to Gaza sprout feathers and fly?

they would have to cross Israeli territory

[shira]

11. Same way they got there. Did they fly? n/t

[azurnoir]

13. They fled also during the time period Israel had a 'progam'

that was 'encouraging' Palestinians from Gaza to emigrate to Jordan

[shira]

14. So why isn't it a priority that these refugees return to Gaza at once?

Are you for them staying in Jordan under apartheid conditions, and if not, what should be done about it?

Can't bring yourself to blame the PA/Hamas or Jordan, can you? What's so difficult about doing that?

[azurnoir]

15. do they wish to return ? is the border open right now?

It is up to them to decide and will Israel allow them passage should they wish to return ?

[shira]

16. Are you serious? Do Gazans prefer to remain in apartheid conditions in Jordan?

Rather than return to their homes in Gaza?

:eyes:

This conversation is over.

Continue defending Arab regimes' far rightwing ideology.

[azurnoir]

17. can't bring yourself to admit that Jordan did not co-operate with Israel's resettlement plan ?

or that almost half of Jordan's citizens are including its Queen are of Palestinian origin?

[wellst0nev0ter]

9. Uh Huh

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2021452.stm

Because we have to put up with years of your type of nonsense, we now get to enjoy a One State Solution.

[King_David]

10. 'WE' ?

[shira]

12. An article from 2002? Please. Israel left Gaza in 2005.

Amazing how so many here attempt to defend the indefensible on a liberal board.

1. Gaza refugees left to rot in a refugee camp under apartheid conditions.
2. Another poster here defends the position that Hezbollah has a right to target Israeli civilians.
3. And others here are okay with Arafat and Abbas rejecting credible offers for a Palestinian state in 2001 and 2008, that would have forever ended occupation and settlements.

All extreme rightwing positions defended on a liberal board.

:puke:

[wellst0nev0ter]

21. You Said There Were No Israeli Blockade Before 2007

You were wrong.

So.

Please.

Enough with your lumping me together with terrorist sympathizers and other laughable strawmen you and your type use to support Likudnik policies that has effectively ended the possibility of any Two State Solution.

[aquart]

2. How do the Bedouins feel about it?

The Palestinians aren't the only people in the desert.

[bemildred]

5. Israeli officials fret over opening of Gaza border

JERUSALEM — Israeli and American officials on Thursday said they were pressing Egypt to ensure that the opening of its border with Gaza does not enable the Hamas militant group to move weapons and militants into the Palestinian territory.

The diplomatic efforts were underway after Egypt announced it was permanently opening its Rafah border crossing with Gaza. The Rafah terminal, Gaza's main gateway to the outside world, has functioned only at limited capacity, with frequent closures, for the past four years.

Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade of Gaza since Hamas violently seized power four years ago. But since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February, the country's caretaker government has distanced itself from Israel and moved closer to the Palestinians.

Israeli defense officials said that in the chaos that has followed Mubarak's ouster, Egypt has all but halted its efforts to stop weapons smuggling through tunnels along the Gaza border. They fear that the expanded crossings at Rafah will make it even easier to get arms and fighters into the Hamas-controlled territory.

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/israeli-officials-fret-over-958332.html

[bemildred]

18. Egypt to open Rafah crossing despite Israeli objection

RAMALLAH, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Egypt is determined to break the Gaza Strip's isolation by opening Rafah border crossing and it rejects any Israeli interference, an Egyptian diplomat said Thursday.

Yasser Othman, Egypt's ambassador in the West Bank, said that by opening Rafah border crossing to Gazans, 70 percent of the population in the strip will be able to cross into Egypt without visa or security permission.

"The new move Egypt has approved will end Gaza's siege," Othman said.

On Wednesday, Egyptian authorities said that Rafah crossing, the only gate for Gaza's Palestinians that could bypass Israel, will be opened normally and regularly.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/27/c_13895986.htm

[bemildred]

19. Zvi Bar'el / Is Egypt looking at its second revolution?

What will Cairo's Tahrir Square look like today, at the mass Friday demonstration organized by most of Egypt's protest movements?

The preparations for what has been dubbed "the second revolution demonstration" have heightened the controversy between the revolutionists and the army, and among the revolutionists themselves.

The activists are demanding the Supreme Military Council transfer the rule to a civilian government quickly. Some of them are also demanding a detailed political program and constitutional amendments before the elections due in September. Many are frustrated by the deteriorating personal safety and the police's apparently deliberate inaction against lawbreakers, as well as by the economic situation.

However, the Muslim Brotherhood has said it would not take part in the demonstration, which it sees as an act "against the people" or an attempt to cause tension between the people and the army. The protest movements slam this position, saying the Brotherhood is staying out of the demonstration because it has already achieved its demands. The Brotherhood appears to have made a pact with the army, which does not object to the Brotherhood's political activity, the critics say.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/zvi-bar-el-is-egypt-looking-at-its-second-revolution-1.364304

[azurnoir]

24. U.S. 'confident' Egypt can provide good security at Rafah border

The United States Thursday said it was confident that Egypt would provide adequate gate-keeping at the Rafah border crossing to Gaza when it broadens access this weekend.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. had some concerns about the move to open the crossing to more people, but added the Egyptians were "well aware" of them - and of the need to screen out contraband weapons from Gaza.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-confident-egypt-can-provide-good-security-at-rafah-border-1.364359