Posted on 02/19/2009 1:45:35 PM PST by presidio9
US Senator John Kerry made a rare visit to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip on Thursday, but stressed this did not reflect a change of policy towards the territory's Islamist rulers listed by Washington as a terror group.
The visit "does not indicate any shift whatsoever with respect to Hamas," said Kerry, who heads the Senate's powerful foreign relations committee.
His first stop in the impoverished Palestinian enclave was the American school left in ruins by the deadly 22-day Israeli offensive that ended on January 18.
Talking to a Palestinian lawyer amid the dust and rubble, Kerry defended Israel for responding to almost daily rocket attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups.
"Your political leadership needs to understand that any nation that has rockets coming into it over many years, threatening its citizens, is going to respond," Kerry told Shar Habeel al-Zaim.
Kerry briefly toured Izzbet Abed Rabbo, a northern Gaza community ravaged by the Israeli offensive and held talks with UN officials in Gaza City.
His visit coincided with a similar trip by Democratic US representatives Brian Baird and Keith Ellison, who expressed dismay at the plight of the overpopulated coastal strip.
"The amount of physical destruction and the depth of human suffering here is staggering," Baird said in a statement issued jointly with Ellison.
The visits were the first by US officials in more than three years.
None of the congressmen met with Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in June 2007 and which Washington blacklists as a terrorist organisation.
"There is nothing in a visit that changes anything," said Kerry, who is also scheduled to visit Syria as part of a regional tour.
"What has to change is behaviour. What has to change obviously is Hamas's consistent resort to instruments of terror,"
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
“not political”—And we are to believe this lying scum who won’t release his records even though he pressured Prez Bush to release his. Uh, no, I wouldn’t believe anything skerry said.
Yo Israel,
Bad timing.
Better luck next time.
Perhaps you can get John Freakin Kerry’s schedule and do a better job next time.
Couldn't let that little nugget slip by without a comment. Overpopulated, Mr bin Ellison? Mhhhmmm. I wonder where he wants to put the population overflow. Israel, perhaps - you betcha!
Then again, when almost 75% of the Jewish American electorate vote this crap into office, why should I care?
none of their beliefs are political, only those who disagree are being political
Maybe Keith Ellison can recommend abortions for the pregnant Hamas women to reduce overpopulation. And Obama has determined that the US can fund it overseas now. I call that a “win-win”.
Is this the UN school that Palestinians were launching attacks from?
If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
One Christmas, just over there, in Cambodia.....
Is he scoping out business sites in Gaza for another Forbes cousin like he did in Vietnam?
What are they thinking now. . .or do they still need more handwriting on the wall. . .
Hard to imagine Ellison on this trip. . .gag/gag/gag and with Kerry; just factor the nauseas level.
Hope our European neighbors are thrilled with the Obama policies unfolding. . .(though I think 'not'. . .)
He was quoted as saying this visit will be seared into his memory.
Jewish lib dimbulbs continue to wet themselves at the thought of Evangelical Pubbies.
who is running washington? Pelosi and a gang of 8 is aborad, durbin has a load with him doing greece, Duncan Hunter is in iraq, Kerry is in Gaza sure he took a group with him and the 0 is Canada I thought times were tuff, and we should all cut back... except if you are in congress..
I suppose the 100 year history voting pattern of Irish Americans would mean that you hate Ireland?
I'm not sure where you infered that I hated anything but Obama from my post.
That not withstanding, for the hundred year (your numbers, not mine) that Irish Americans voted for for Democrats, the Democrats didn't pursue a foreign policy that was dangerous to Ireland. The same cannot be said today about Obama's foreign policy direction and the peril it will place Israel.
Your analogy is weak.
This should give them a warm feeling;somewhere:
from American Thinker (americanthinkerblog.com)and Sammy Benoit who is the Editor of Yidwithlid:
Obama Reportedly Picks Israel Hater to Lead National Intelligence Council Sammy Benoit/Here is another tidbit that may surprise the 78% of American Jews who voted for Barack Obama. According to a report in Cable Foreign Policy, Chas W. Freeman Jr. former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia is about to be named as Chairman of the National Intelligence Council.
Sources tell The Cable that Chas W. Freeman, Jr., the former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, will become chairman of the National Intelligence Council, the intelligence community's primary big-think shop and the lead body in producing national intelligence estimates.
For those who are not familiar with the former Ambassador, he is a terrorist apologist and a master of bashing Israel. Freeman is a believer of the false premise that all Muslim terrorism stems from Israel's battle with the Palestinians: [. . .]
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