'Palestinian unity government' sworn in; US okays payments to terrorists
The 'Palestinian' unity government was
sworn in on Monday after a last minute disagreement over a 'prisoners affairs' minister was sorted out.
At the inauguration ceremony, Abbas said the new government would
abide by commitments made by previous Palestinian administrations and by
agreements ratified by the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization, a
reference to interim accords with Israel.
The unity government
had appeared to be in danger earlier Monday when Hamas informed Fatah it
would not recognize a unity government that did not have a Ministry for
Prisoners Affairs.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said his
movement would consider the Palestinian Authority president's
announcement of the new government a "unilateral" step. Hamas, he
added, "will not recognize this announcement."
But Hamas official
Salah Al-Bardaweel later said it was agreed that the ministry would be
given to Prime Minister Rami Al-Hamdallah, "and the dispute between
Hamas and Fatah has been resolved."
The reason Abu Bluff suddenly didn't want a ministry of 'prisoner affairs' was that he was afraid of how it would look to the West if his new
junta was paying monthly 'salaries' to Hamas terrorists. As if they hadn't been paying until now or as if the Fatah terrorists are any better.
Arutz Sheva adds that the United States is
okay with the practice of paying terrorists:
Despite the overwhelming evidence, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, defended the PA practice of paying salaries to terrorists in jail before Congress last week, saying "they have to provide for the families."
Unbelievable.
Labels: Abu Mazen, Hamas prisoners, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian terrorists, prisoner salaries, Rami Hamdullah
Amnesty International springs into action, protests execution of 'Palestinian criminals'
And they call themselves a 'human rights' organization.
Amnesty International is urging Hamas not to execute 'Palestinian criminals' as part of their celebration of Eid al-Fitr. The executions are planned as a '
crime deterrent.'
“This and other recent announcements by Hamas authorities that they
will carry out further executions are deeply disturbing,” said Philip
Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty
International.
“We acknowledge the right and responsibility of
governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offenses,
but the death penalty is cruel and inhuman, and there is no evidence
that it deters crime more effectively than other punishments,” Luther
added.
According to Amnesty International, several of the
'criminals' slated for execution confessed to their crimes under extreme
duress.
This suggests a possible breakdown in Hamas' judicial system.
Luther
said, “Hamas should pursue justice by prosecuting people accused of
internationally recognizable crimes in fair trials without recourse to
the death penalty and ensuring all allegations of torture are
investigated."
However, whether or not the crimes were indeed
committed by those accused, Luther slammed the concept of public
executions calling them "degrading" and adding that they "compound the
cruelty of the death penalty."
Richard Goldstone could not have said it better. The problem here is that Amnesty insists on treating Hamas as a credible, legitimate 'government,' and not as the brutal, repressive thugocracy that it really is.
Labels: Amnesty International, executions, Hamas, Hamas prisoners, human rights
Let them starve themselves to death
Depending upon whom you believe, somewhere between 160 and 500 'Palestinian' terrorists being held in Israeli jails are on a hunger strike to protest what al-Reuters has the audacity to call '
worsening prison conditions' for 'Palestinian' terrorists.
Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails have joined a hunger strike to protest against worsening prison conditions, the Palestinian Authority minister for prisoner affairs said on Monday.
Issa Qaraqea told Reuters that some 500 prisoners in Israeli jails were refusing to eat, rapidly swelling the ranks of the protest which began last week.
The strike was called after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu toughened restrictions on Palestinian prisoners as part of an effort to force Hamas to free kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.
Sivan Weizman, a spokeswoman for Israel's Prisons Service, said only 160 prisoners were on a hunger strike and that some of them stopped eating six days ago.
"They are all under medical supervision and none is in danger," she said, adding that they were all drinking water.
Some of you may recall - although Reuters doesn't say it - that the '
worsening conditions' are things like the ability to pursue academic degrees while serving their sentences, and the use of satellite television and cell phones. Some 'worsening conditions.'
Israel should let these terrorists starve themselves to death. It would be much easier to agree to an exchange of dead terrorists for (a hopefully living) Gilad Shalit instead of live terrorists.
Labels: Gilad Shalit, Hamas prisoners, Israel Prisons Authority, Palestinian terrorists, prison conditions
Claim: Hamas agreed to deport terrorists
A top Hamas official (in a letter written from an Israeli jail, according to Israel Radio) claims that Hamas agreed with the Olmert government to the 'deportation' (and that word is in scare quotes because it often just means that someone from Judea and Samaria is forced to move to Gaza) of 82 Hamas terrorists who were to be released from Israeli jails, but the
Netanyahu government refused to go along with the deal when it took power.
Hamas agreed during talks with the previous Israeli administration to deport 82 prisoners to Gaza rather than their hometowns but the new government refused, a top party official said Saturday.
The movement also offered to let Israel pick 550 of the prisoners it would release in exchange for captured soldier Gilad Shalit, the senior Hamas official wrote in a document smuggled from prison.
"Hamas was flexible; it demanded the release of 1,000 out of 7,000 prisoners," the official said. Hamas "gave Israel the freedom of choosing the other 550 prisoners out of 1,000."
He added: "Hamas was also flexible when it agreed on deporting 82 prisoners to Gaza and to other countries" as opposed to the West Bank and the talks "were finished at this point, during the Olmert era."
But when Benjamin Netanyahu became prime minister of Israel in 2009, he gave the negotiators new instructions that cancelled any prior agreements. Hamas says it refused to backtrack.
"When the German middleman visited, it was discovered that Netanyahu wanted to manage the issue rather than resolve it. He wants to resubmit an old offer with a new formula," the letter says.
Israel Radio reported that Netanyahu wanted to deport an additional 76 terrorists, and that it wanted to substitute 'lighter' terrorists for 325 of the terrorists on Hamas' list that had been agreed with Olmert's government. The other 125 had not been agreed upon. Hamas also claimed that it wanted to free 'Israeli Arab' terrorists who would lose their Israeli citizenship and be expelled but that Netanyahu refused. According to Israel Radio, the demand to deport an additional 76 terrorists caused the negotiations to break down. Netanyahu's office has had no comment.
JPost adds.
The Hamas prisoners also dismissed fears that many of those who would be released in a prisoner exchange deal would return to the path of terror. “The information we have affirms that the prisoners who were released in previous swaps did not resort to acts that harm Israel’s security,” the letter said. “Netanyahu is using the Schalit case for political interests. He’s deceiving the Schalit family and misleading Israeli public opinion.”
Yeah.
Right.
The only question about this one is for whose benefit did they right the letter? Is it an attempt to bring Israeli public pressure on Netanyahu, or is it an attempt to show their own 'people' that they're doing all they can to bring about the terrorists' release? It's probably both.
Labels: Gilad Shalit, Hamas prisoners
While Shalit rots, Hamas prisoners live in a country club
Three Knesset members from the lobby from Gilad Shalit went to visit Hamas terrorists imprisoned in Israel on Sunday and discovered - to their dismay - that the Hamas terrorists are living in a
country club atmosphere. Significantly, two of the three MK's are members of opposition parties.
The Hamas prisoners have "VIP conditions," [Miri] Regev [Likud. CiJ] told the Hebrew-language daily Maariv. “Their life in jail is really good. Their families visit every two weeks. They have a prison canteen, and Hamas gives each of them 350 shekels to spend each month.”
The three [the other two are Shaul Mofaz of Kadima and Eitan Cabel of Labor. CiJ] called to strip Hamas terrorists of their privileges, and treat them the way Hamas treats Shalit – with the exception of those basic rights outlined in international law, which, they said, Israel should continue to grant its prisoners despite Hamas' refusal to do the same.
“If we hit at their soft underbelly, their visits with their families and children, only then might Hamas improve Shalit's conditions,” Regev said.
But we've been talking about that for nearly five years, and thus far nothing has been done. Don't hold your breath waiting for anything to happen now.
Labels: Eitan Cabel, Gilad Shalit, Hamas prisoners, Miri Regev, Shaul Mofaz
