Nice pic of Pope Benedict between smiling Shimon Peres and Benyamin Netanyahu.
Posted on 06/05/2010 5:20:03 PM PDT by grand wazoo
With no clear guidelines for what Israel will allow in, aid groups have run into trouble with everything from 90 tons of pasta to nutritional bars mistranslated as steel bars.
Though the rockets and shells have fallen quiet in Gaza since the January war with Israel, the prices of cooking fuel and many foods have skyrocketed. Due to both the war's aftermath and the tight restrictions Israel enforces at the checkpoints on Gaza's border, many Gazans are tightening their belts – literally.
...................
The Israeli blockade of Gaza, which has served as a way to pressure Hamas since the militant group seized power in 2007, has until recently has been out of the international spotlight. But now it is moving to the forefront of pressing Israeli-Palestinian issues.
Pope Benedict XVI, during his visit to Bethlehem on Wednesday, specifically mentioned the plight of Gazans, telling them: "Please be assured of my solidarity with you in the immense work of rebuilding which now lies ahead and my prayers that the embargo will soon be lifted."
A week ago United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon also called for an end to the ban, which prevents all but the most basic supplies from entering Gaza, saying it was "unacceptable."
Under increasing international pressure on Israel to change its policy regarding shipments into the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to promise US President Barack Obama when they meet next week that Israel will remove all restrictions on foodstuffs headed for Gaza, aides said.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Has he made a statement in support of Israel?
Ever?
>> They send in aid... but the aid does not get to the people.
Imagine that.
>> This article is a year old
Good catch.
The Israeli blockade of Gaza, which has served as a way to pressure Hamas since the militant group seized power in 2007, has until recently has been out of the international spotlight... Pope Benedict XVI, during his visit to Bethlehem on Wednesday, specifically mentioned the plight of Gazans, telling them: "Please be assured of my solidarity with you in the immense work of rebuilding which now lies ahead and my prayers that the embargo will soon be lifted." A week ago United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon also called for an end to the ban, which prevents all but the most basic supplies from entering Gaza, saying it was "unacceptable."
Because the Pope and the US knew that the blockade/embargo should have been lifted a long time ago.
It also provides some information on the embargo that was not previously discussed. Including certain materials that are/were excluded without cause and the "extremely onerous bureaucratic process" that made it difficult to get goods into Gaza and made what little there was extremely expensive. Basically, the Israelis caused the amount of goods shipped into Gaza to drop 75%. An attempt at collective punishment of the entire population.
Another brain surgeon heard from. Thanks.
PS Learn to spell.
http://benedictinisrael.blogspot.com/
Scrolling about 1/5 of the way down, respected (by me) American reporter John Allen who has covered the Vatican for years and is pretty savvy, says (long quotes follow):
"... Pope Benedict "is arguably the pope most inclined to be sympathetic to Israel since the Jewish state was founded six decades ago..."
"Benedict XVI thus arrived in Israel not only as a pope committed to theological and spiritual fraternity with Judaism, but also one less instinctively hostile to concrete Israeli policies than many other Catholic leaders.
"Perhaps the point was invisible to most of the Israeli public, but local Palestinian Christians actually complained before, and during, the trip that the pope was 'caving in' to Israeli sensitivities at every turn -- not travelling to Gaza, not protesting when the Israelis refused to allow the residents at Aida to erect the stage immediately below the wall, and not protesting when the Israelis closed down a Palestinian press center in East Jerusalem. Even his schedule reflected deference to Israeli sensibilities. Benedict made sure to fly out of Tel Aviv well before sundown on Friday, so as not to disrupt the Sabbath.
"Most Israeli leaders seemed to recognize this, which is probably why they rushed to Benedict's defense when the criticism began. At the inter-faith event in Nazareth, for example, Bahij Masour, who heads the religious affairs division of Israel's Foreign Ministry, made a point of saying during his introduction that the pope "has clearly condemned anti-Semitism and denial of the Holocaust." Certainly Israel's President, Shimon Peres, went out of his way to be gracious to the pope, including hosting a lavish gala in his honor at the presidential palace in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
"As Israelis sort through the images left behind by the pope's trip, perhaps more of this will become clear."
[An interesting perspective. It seems certain Middle East Christian as well as Muslim people were trying to turn the Pope's visit into a political event critical of the Israeli government, and Benedict not only resisted the pressure, but kept the focus spiritual, as well as gracious to his Israeli hosts.]
Commenting on the Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Holy Land, the president of Israel, Shimon Peres, said on Wednesday: "The entire message of the Pope is positive and could spark important reflection" (Catholic News Agency).
In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, Peres said, in order to "have a clear idea of the message left by Benedict XVI," it is "necessary to combine his discourse at the airport" in which he deplored anti-Semitism and encouraged Christians to promote peace, with "the one at Yad Vashem," in which he reiterated the commitment to the Church to denounce all hatred.
Now I'm going to read the rest. There's a lot there.
Nice pic of Pope Benedict between smiling Shimon Peres and Benyamin Netanyahu.
Rabbi's molest the same or more than priests do, you maggot!
Ratzinger is the one who should be sorry.
But Rome never repents.
Agreed, the vatican can become the state of Gaza. Problem solved.
Excerpt:
Pope decries Gaza ship violence
Published: 06.02.10, 15:17 / Israel News
Pope Benedict XVI says he is anxiously following the news about the deadly Israeli raid on aid ships for the Gaza Strip and worries about its consequences for Middle East peace.
Benedict on Wednesday told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square that violence will generate more violence and have “dramatic consequences.” He is calling for dialogue and urging authorities to guarantee better conditions of life for the Palestinians who live in the blockaded, Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. (AP)
The world’s leaders only reflect the people that put them there.
Ping for later
Here is the main market in Gaza City, as photographed by a leftist Danish journalist in May, who was amazed that his own eyes refuted what the propaganda insisted....does it look "depleted"? Do they seem to be "denied basic necessities"?
This article is a year old.
Either that, or pathetic Dhimmitude.
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