Posted on 12/22/2004 5:48:24 PM PST by bruinbirdman
For ordinary Palestinians Tony Blair's visit was generally seen as little more than a publicity stunt that had less to do with them than the British electorate.
Standing near Israel's concrete security barrier in Abu Dis near Jerusalem, Raed Masri, an engineer, watched as Palestinians scrambled to find a way around it to get to schools, hospitals and work.
"I wish Blair had spent just half an hour here to see how we have to jump like sheep, to see the humiliation we face every day," he said. "It's all just blah, blah, blah, it's all about him having his photo taken here. It does not mean anything to us."
Similar complaints were heard from Israeli peace activists who raised concerns that the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon's promises to withdraw Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip had thrown up a smokescreen in front of the "colonisation" of the West Bank, the other occupied territory, which has continued apace.
They argue that Israel's policies may make unviable the very Palestinian state that Mr Blair claims to be fighting for.
More than 90 houses have been demolished in east Jerusalem in the past year as Israel continues its expansion of settlements, roads and its security barrier through the West Bank.
Besides confiscation of land inside the West Bank with the building of the barrier Jeff Halper, the head of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, said Israel planned to expand some settlements and even build new ones.
He said plans were almost complete for a new town of 55,000 residents, Givat Yael, to be built on a Palestinian village's land between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Mr Halper said: "Israel has never intended that a viable, truly sovereign Palestinian state should emerge and you can see that from its continued expansion of settlements and infrastructucre which is moving us towards an apartheid situation. I don't think Blair really gets it. You cannot, unless you take a couple of hours just to see the scale of what Israel is doing with the West Bank settlements.
Aluf Benn, a diplomatic correspondent for the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, said both Mr Blair and Mr Sharon had got what they wanted out of the meeting, and that the former may have scored some important points.
"It's true that given Israeli reluctance Blair has had to back down on the conference idea but in some ways the visit was a success. It was about Blair showing he is active about the peace process.''
"I wish Blair had spent just half an hour here to see how we have to jump like sheep, to see the humiliation we face every day,"
I guess that is much worse than a parent having to scrape the remains of their child up after a bomber blows up the school bus he/she was riding on.
That's right. Jacques Chirac is their man!
They never miss a chance to miss a chance.
When Jews do something that may save lives but "inconvenience" them it is oh so humiliating.
How about the fact that none of their Muslim/Arab "brothers" want them inside their countries either. They continue to use them like so many sheep in their continuing propaganda war against Isreal. But its not too humiliating to them because its Arabs doing it to them and not Jews!
Blair obviously wasted his time visiting the PA areas. He'd have spent his time more productively elsewhere.
You know that someday one of them will catch on and tell his buddys.
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