Israel stops payments to Palestinians
Rice warns Arab States not to fund Hamas
The Middle East will erupt into a conflagration if the West and their client state Israel tries to starve Palestine into submission. Is that what they want? Is it deliberate or are they just uncomprehending? They aren’t even pretending to support democracy any more, are they? Hamas was, after all democratically elected, and if they are “violent”, well then, so is Israel.
This will end very badly indeed. For all concerned.
The United States’ disrespect for democracy has existed for more than a hundred years. Back in 1898 they invaded Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Phillipines. It took them 50 years to release the Phillipines, Puerto Rico did not have a democratically elected governor until 1948 (and it is still under USA power) and Cuba had US puppets until the Castro Revolution.
En 1973 they killed Pinochet, a democratically elected socialist president. And they have supported anti-democratic regimes all over the world. This is not new. The USA has a huge double standard and it used to be that democracy was respected at least within the borders of the USA but not any longer.
Jimmy Carter had a good op-ed Speaking out against Israeli terrorism
Perhaps a greater aggravation by the Israelis is their decision to hinder movement of elected Hamas Palestinian Legislative Council members through any of more than a hundred Israeli checkpoints around and throughout the Palestinian territories. This will present significant obstacles to a government’s functioning effectively. Abbas informed me after the election that the Palestinian Authority was $900 million in debt and that he would be unable to meet payrolls during February. Knowing that Hamas would inherit a bankrupt government, U.S. officials have announced that all funding for the new government will be withheld, including what is needed to pay salaries for schoolteachers, nurses, social workers, police and maintenance personnel. So far they have not agreed to bypass the Hamas-led government and let humanitarian funds be channeled to Palestinians through United Nations agencies responsible for refugees, health and other human services.
This common commitment to eviscerate the government of elected Hamas officials by punishing private citizens may accomplish this narrow purpose, but the likely results will be to alienate the already oppressed and innocent Palestinians, to incite violence, and to increase the domestic influence and international esteem of Hamas. It will certainly not be an inducement to Hamas or other militants to moderate their policies.