Israeli War on Gaza 'Killing Peace Prospects'

[FarCenter]

By SANA ABDALLAH (Middle East Times) Published: January 09, 2009

AMMAN -- Despite a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, the Israeli war on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip continued for the 14th day on Friday, virtually eliminating any prospects for peace in the Middle East after seriously damaging an already weak peace process. Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, following a meeting with his security cabinet, effectively rejected Resolution 1860 by announcing that the offensive on Gaza will continue, after Israeli warplanes launched 50 air raids overnight, killing 12 more Palestinians. Earlier, Hamas brushed aside the resolution as insufficient to stop the Israeli onslaught, and thus the militant resistance, indicating that the events on the ground speak for themselves.

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The onslaught on Gaza, the worst on the territory since Israel captured it in the 1967 war from Egyptian control, came to shut down the peace process entirely, according to both analysts and Arab politicians. The scenes of bloodshed from Gaza have sparked angry, daily street protests across the Middle East, and distanced Israel from some of its own Arab and regional "friends," including Jordan, Turkey and Qatar, which had until Dec. 27 played instrumental roles in supporting the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Analysts say this war on Gaza seems to have "awoken" some of these leaders into realizing that Israel was not only indifferent to achieving peace with the Palestinians and rest of the Arabs based on the establishment of a Palestinian state, but that it seems to have belligerent political plans of its own for the Palestinians and the rest of the region.

Expressing these concerns publicly was Jordan's King Abdullah II, whose country signed an unpopular peace treaty with Israel in 1994, making it the second Arab state after Egypt to have such a pact. The monarch said he was worried that Israel was plotting a "conspiracy against the Palestinian people and the future of Palestine" in its offensive on Gaza. King Abdullah told Al-Jazeera news channel on Tuesday: "We must be aware of this conspiracy and God willing, we along with Arab and other countries, will stop Israel's agenda as soon as possible. We will work with other countries in the coming days to press Israel and its army to stop the aggression on Gaza." He added that Jordan was "concerned and upset, and fears about what could happen after Gaza, the aftermath of Gaza."

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Egyptian analysts say that Cairo was also concerned with Israeli plans to turn parts of the Gaza Strip into a buffer zone and force the rest of the territory and its people further into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

<SNIP> http://www.metimes.com/International/2009/01/09/israeli_war_on_gaza_killing_peace_prospects/9454/

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Middle East countries are finally getting a clue, looks like.

"Jordan's King Abdullah II,..............was worried that Israel was plotting a "conspiracy against the Palestinian people and the future of Palestine"

"............it ( Israel ) seems to have belligerent political plans of its own for the Palestinians and the rest of the region."

Duh.

[Andy823]

2. Big corporations

Those who run the U.S., don't want peace in the Middle East, they want "WAR"!

War is big money, and it can be made by the oil companies, corporations who build products for the war, and those who rebuild after the war is over. Bush and his gang of thieves don't want peace, and as long as they have wars going on over there they will be making a killing in huge profits. They don't give a damn about the lives lost, just the money they can make!