Israel Matzav

Greeting the Secretary, 'Palestinian' style

The 'Palestinians' are planning a traditional greeting for US Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice tomorrow: they plan to close their businesses and trash their own cities and towns. They call this a "Day of Rage."

Representatives of several 'Palestinian' factions also called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to refrain from meeting with Rice. Does she plan to meet with him?

The leaflets, signed by the National and Islamic Forces in Palestine, said "We reject Rice's visit to the Middle East and we will expose its real goals. This visit comes in the wake of Israel's US-backed comprehensive aggression against the Palestinians and Lebanese."

The factions accused Israel of waging a war of "genocide" against the Palestinians and Lebanese after receiving a green light from the US administration. They also condemned the US for vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israel for its 'offensive operations' in Lebanon and the 'Palestinian territories'.

The Popular Resistance Committees, an alliance of armed organizations, including Hamas and Fatah, called on Abbas to boycott Rice, saying she was planning to hold separate talks about the situations in Lebanon and in the Palestinian territories. I think the Lebanese certainly hope that Rice will hold separate talks. The non-Hezbullah Lebanese that is.

In a statement issued in the Gaza Strip, the committees claimed that Rice was "plotting" behind the scenes "to isolate Lebanon from Palestine."I think most Lebanese would prefer it that way.

The US, the statement continued, wanted to calm the situation in the PA territories to give Israel time to crush Hizbullah.

The Jerusalem Post quotes a columnist named Imad Afaneh, who apparently "gets it" but isn't happy about it:

Columnist Imad Afaneh said the US was hoping to punish Syria and Iran through the IDF offensive in Lebanon.

"The Americans want to teach Iran and Syria a lesson for using Hizbullah to undermine US influence in the Middle East," he said. "The Americans and the Israelis are also hoping to defeat the Palestinians by waging a war on Hizbullah in Lebanon.

"The Americans want a new Middle East devoid of jihad, resistance, liberation, martyrdom, retaliation and dignity. These are all terms that disturb the Americans.

"They want to see a Middle East full of Arab presidents, monarchs and princes who serve as slaves for their American masters," Afaneh said.

Sounds good already.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:33 PM