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Top EU official: Hamas bears full responsibility for Gaza war
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by tikun | January 26, 2009 at 04:09 am
201 views | 6 Recommendations | 5 comments
Hamas bears full responsibility for the war in Gaza, a top EU official said Monday in the Strip, calling the group "a terrorist movement."
Palestinian students stand in a damaged classroom at the Balqis school for girls in Gaza City on Monday.
Photo: AP
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"At this time we have to also recall the overwhelming responsibility of Hamas," Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, told reporters.
"I intentionally say this here - Hamas is a terrorist movement and it has to be denounced as such," Michel said as he visited the town of Jabalya in northern Gaza.
"Public opinion is fed up to see that we are paying over and over again - be it the (European) commission, the member states or the major donors - for infrastructure that will be systematically destroyed," he said.
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Michel announced that the EU would transfer 59 million euros to the Palestinians, half of which would go to Gaza organizations and to rest to the West Bank and to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
He stressed that the funds would not be transferred via Hamas.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 07:15 on January 26th, 2009
Louis Michel states: "we have to ALSO [emphasis added] recall the overwhelming responsibility of Hamas".
That statement is quite diferent from the Jerusalem Post's opening line: "Hamas bears full responsibility".
How can one be 'fully responsible' and 'also responsible' at one and the same time? simply not possible.
Michel is adding that along with Israel's responsibility for the war and death in Gaza, he adds that he believes Hamas is also responsible.
Louis Michel position is more fully reported on earthtimes.org:
"EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel, touring Gaza, sharply criticized Israel on Monday for the massive destruction he saw around him, but said also Hamas bore an "overwhelming" part of the blame. "We have to also recall the overwhelming responsibility of Hamas," Michel told local reporters as he toured Jabaliya, a crowded refugee camp north of Gaza City which was hit hard in Israel's 22-day offensive.
"Firing rockets at civilians is a terrorist action," he said in remarks translated into Arabic. "I intentionally say this here, Hamas is a terrorist movement and it has to be denounced as such," he said. He earlier strongly condemned Israel for its destruction of civilian infrastructure, as he inspected buildings in Gaza destroyed in the Israeli assault, including an icecream, a biscuit and a soft- drink factory. He said the destruction pointed at an obvious violation of international humanitarian law."
at 17:44 on January 26th, 2009
OVERWHELMING Extremely large: extremely large in amount or proportion
''Michel is adding that along with Israel's responsibility for the war and death in Gaza, he adds that he believes Hamas is also responsible''
Your statement bears no relation to reality.
Overwhelming is much closer to full than to your excuses for the anti-Semites.
at 07:27 on January 26th, 2009
No problem with it all. Everything he may have said is okay here.
at 17:37 on January 26th, 2009
Tikun,
Good story.
I would say Hamas leaders are 95% responsible.
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djermanoat 19:10 on January 26th, 2009
I think the problem is that Israel hangs onto land it took, simply as a means to afford security, has not worked. The other side such as Hamas believes they are still at war.
Who is the terrorists in this situation. A man comes into a bank and takes 100 hostages. He asks the bank to stop the foreclosure on his home, because he lost his job. If they don't he says he will kill the hostages. The Police immediately say he is a terrorists, and they take no consideration of the hostages, saying we will take out the terrorist, and he will be blamed for their death. The Police storm the Bank killing all the hostages, and wounding the man they called a terrorist.
The neighborhood goes biserk and says the Police are now the terrorists, while the police say they have a right to defend themselves. Meantime people are really upset, and the Police start calling other people in the crowd terrorists as well...since they also are people who have no homes, because of no job, and dwindling prospect of a future. A protracted political climate arouses, and now is a full blown assault on the village....as the Government called Police use their right to defend themselves....killing more people.
The point is....there are no jobs to support the housing of people. The point is taking land from another people and calling them terrorist is not the truth. The point is we need Jobs, not war....and the idea anyone is a terrorist stricken from the English language.
We create economic terrorism by not having jobs....which escalates into War Terrorism I call Terrwar.
So how do we stop the problem? !st is to stop supporting Violence as a means, and accept our responsibility in making things right. Israel needs to obtain its security by returning lands they took...and then to build a New Israel.
http://my.nowpublic.com/world/manmade-land-building-new-israel-forever#comment-284088
I encourage all people to take this view as positive and begin the work for peace. I invite people to put their money where their mouth is....and do positive building, instead of accusing, and continued fighting. There is a way forward for everyone. Believe it.
Rev. Jermano