Hillary! Gaza and Hamas are not the same thing!

Hillary obviously hasn't been reading these reports on the banking up of aid not allowed through the borders, fairly recent reports. Nor this report from the Israeli Physicians for Human Rights on the number of Gazans who have died or suffer due to not being allowed to leave the strip to seek medical treatment, and not being able to receive it in the strip due to the blockade. Of course the number seeking medical assistance has increased since the war on Gaza late last year, early this year. The following are D.C. dispatches between Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, from April 22nd.

CLINTON: Congressman, the crossings are no longer completely closed there are many items that are being transported through the crossings there are, as you know, some items that the Israeli government does not permit to cross. We have urged the Israeli government on several occasions to open the crossings as much as they are able commensurate with their legitimate security needs, which you recognized. The best way for us to help the people of Gaza is for Hamas to cease its rocket firing on Israel, to abide by the quartet principles, and the same principles that were adopted by the Arab peace initiative, which I have reiterated several times here today.

ELLISON: Yes you have Madame Secretary and I appreciate you reiterating that but you know 750,000 of the people who live in Gaza are under 18 years old. Gaza and Hamas are not the same thing. There are a lot of people who have nothing to do with Hamas in Gaza and wish Hamas would go away. But, they are living under this, under the same, under these closed crossings and just to point out to you Madam Secretary you know there’s a very tight definition of what constitutes humanitarian aid. I mean, I’ve been there and I’ve seen it’s essentially sugar, flour, cooking oil. Even things like macaroni, lentils and tomato paste and fruit juice were barred. So I’d ask for you to respond to that. ( Read more).

and kudos to Ellison. Also, Hamas kept its ceasefire for almost the full allocated six months before Israel broke it last year, and Hamas also sought to renew it. The ceasefire was contingent on Israel easing the entry and exit of goods into and out of Gaza. Israel never kept their side of the bargain, which is nothing new, and the continued siege prompted human rights groups to warn about an impending humanitarian crisis, which really, is actual, not impending. So, Hils. . . even if Hamas do all you say . . .Israel does not abide by those same principles, as Carter and many Israeli writers have noted, Hamas have offered to negotiate many times, but as Carter has said, the "problem" [is] not his [any] decision to meet with the Islamist group, but rather the refusal of Israel and the U.S. to do the same.

Hillary is happy to let a people live and die under these conditions for the sake of her political career. Because if Hamas were not in power, someone else would be, and you can bet your bottom dollar that she would be trotting out the same rhetoric as above no matter the conduct of the Palestinian people. Whether they violently or peacefully resist, they are shot and live under miserable conditions all the same, and a large reason for that is the support western powers have for imposing and sustaining such conditions, as evidenced above.

"To be honest, most of this aid will never make it to Gaza," a local government official [concerned with the Rafah border] told IPS on condition of anonymity. "A lot of the food here will have to be thrown away."

Human rights organisations have recently said that not only Israel but Egypt, the EU and the U.S. could be in violation of international law for failing to adhere to the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, and consequently violating the basic human rights of Gaza's 1.5 million people - particularly in the post-war period.

Update: 25th April: Just read this article from the Nation.