Posted on 04/19/2006 6:50:40 PM PDT by blam
Straw softens tone as he offers Hamas financial lifeline
By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor
(Filed: 20/04/2006)
Britain wants to have "normal relations" with Hamas and is seeking means of unfreezing millions of pounds worth of aid to Palestinians, Jack Straw said yesterday, in a striking softening of tone.
Two days after a Palestinian suicide bombing killed nine people in Tel Aviv, the Foreign Secretary appeared to be moving away from America's policy of isolating the new Hamas-led Palestinian government and starving it of funds.
Mr Straw wants normal: relations with Hamas
He also appeared to adopt a more indulgent attitude towards the Islamist movement than Tony Blair.
The Prime Minister told the Commons yesterday: "I hope very much that Hamas realise that those who kill innocent people in this way, by this type of attack that happened in Tel Aviv, are wicked and irresponsible, but more than that, that they do absolutely nothing to further the process of peace in the Middle East or the two-state solution that we all want to see."
Hamas leaders have publicly justified Monday's bombing, carried out by the Islamic Jihad group, as an act of "self-defence" against Israeli occupation.
Mr Straw, speaking in Riyadh, said Hamas had to meet three international demands - renounce violence, recognise Israel and accept previous peace agreements signed by the Palestinian Authority. But he appeared to be interpreting these conditions with great leniency.
"Hamas now leads the government and we would like to have normal relations with them as we have had with previous governments," he said. "This requires movement by them as well as by us."
As Hamas struggles to fill a gaping financial hole caused by Israel's decision to cut off customs remittances, and a partial suspension of aid by the European Union and America, Mr Straw suggested he was looking for ways to ensure that all of Britain's £56 million contribution continued to reach Palestinians.
He is believed to be considering using an internationally supervised "intermediary" to ensure that aid to the Palestinian Authority does not "leach" to terrorists.
Mr Straw said "recognition" of Israel did not mean a formal declaration by Hamas, but just a practical acceptance of the "reality" of the Jewish state.
The Foreign Secretary is said to believe that re-writing the Hamas charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel, is not a precondition for dialogue.
Even on the issue of renouncing violence, Mr Straw appears to have set the bar quite low.
It is understood that Mr Straw could accept silence from Hamas on the question of violence, leaving it to the moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to denounce the suicide bombers.
Idiot. This is outrageous.
To use their own term, I think the Brits have gone wobbly on us.
What's up with all this lately?
WHAT is WRONG with these idiots? Usually, aid has to be begged for by the recipient, obligations have to be filled, standards met. But with the Palestinians, there is nothing they can do to stop the aid. Literally. NOTHING. The idiot donors come banging down their door with sacks of cash. Someone explain this to me......
Yeah, that should work. Maybe they should choose an intermediary from a nation on the UN "Human Rights" commission. .....like Sudan or Cuba.
Good Grief! Can't the Brits get rid of that menacing fool?!
Neville Chamberlin still lives.
What is going on Ivan...can you flesh out the politics going on here.. for us.
Perhaps they believe idiotically that helping Hamas will "stabilise" the Mideast, which in turn "serves Britain's national interests"? Knowing the minds of how Whitehall (the British Foreign Office) works, it is so famous for its "accommodations with the locals" and "stability in international order to death" that the US State Department looks like a bunch of principled bulwarks in comparison.
We increased our donation to the Palestinians. - tom
Washington – The United States announced April 7 that it would cut off all financial assistance to the Hamas-led Palestinian government in the absence of any indication that Hamas is prepared to renounce violence, respect Israel’s right to exist and pursue good faith negotiations toward implementation of the road map peace process. At the same time, the United States said it would increase humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, channeling funds through the U. N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
Hamas took power by bribing voters with jobs and social services. Any humanitarian aid given to Hamas will be used for the same purpose while at the same time freeing up money given from other Islamic countries for the usual terrorist actions. The Palestinians need to learn the consequences of electing terrorist gangs. That means no Western money should go to them for any purpose.
This is what I think has happened - the Foreign Office has bureaucrats who are as treasonous as the ones you have in your State Department. Politicians who stay there a long time, and Straw has been there quite a while, tend to "go native".
I suggest Blair will yank him up by his ear.
Regards, Ivan
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Normal relations with terrorist organization? That's like wanting normal relations with Charles Manson.
I think you have the reason there.
According to DEBKA (I know, I know, but they are not always wrong..) France and the UK are competing for a big arms contract in Saudi Arabia.
Do your sums...
At worst, Straw is a good ole fashioned anti-semite. At best, he is a weak kneed appeaser. Anyone catch him on the Iran special on Fox a few weeks ago? He wants to completely rule out a military action believing that diplomacy works.
The USA (and a handful of small allies) seem to be only nations not on the appeasement bandwagon. Remember how the attack on Madrid caused the Spanish to blame their government for being in Iraq? Attacks on America = a desire for justice. Attacks on Europe = a desire for appeasement.
That "Lawrence of Arabia" mentality still lives strong in some I guess. Seems Britain backed the wrong side back in 1948 and is still on the wrong side. The way the State Department bends over backwards to lie to us about the Saudis is just as sickening.
It is quite disgusting to see Whitehall officials behave on this. In fact, having witnessed what they did on first hand basis in British colonial-era Hong Kong myself, they make the US State Dept sound like principled guaranteer of liberty. And the British Foreign Office does notice this: most Whitehall officials over the past 70 years have considered State Department officials "dangerously idealistic and moralistic".
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