Before Wikileaks Released: 'Israel Deliberately Choked Gaza Economy' We Got the 'Joke'

On June 2, 2010, Vice President Joe Biden told Charlie Rose:

"We have to remember how we got here...The international community, the so-called Quartet; the United States, Europe, Russia, and the U.N., said, 'Look, in order for you [Hamas] to be part of that government, you have to agree to four conditions. One, you'll abide by previous agreements that have been made by the government of -- by the Palestinians. Two, you are going to renounce terror. Three, you're going to recognize Israel, and basically that you have to accept” -- and here's what happened. They then got in a fight among themselves. They physically took over by force of arms, killed members of the existing government..."On June 2, 2010, Vice President Joe Biden told Charlie Rose:

"We have to remember how we got here...The international community, the so-called Quartet; the United States, Europe, Russia, and the U.N., said, 'Look, in order for you [Hamas] to be part of that government, you have to agree to four conditions. One, you'll abide by previous agreements that have been made by the government of -- by the Palestinians. Two, you are going to renounce terror. Three, you're going to recognize Israel, and basically that you have to accept” -- and here's what happened. They then got in a fight among themselves. They physically took over by force of arms, killed members of the existing government..."

READ THE REST and Congress's Statements complied by AIPAC here: http://www.aipac.org/Publications/Congressional_Statements_on_Flotilla.pdf

On January 25, 2006, Hamas had already honored a 1-½ yearlong ceasefire and they won an open, transparent democratic election.

But, the world's leading democracies failed the test of democracy!

Rather than recognize the legitimacy of Hamas as the freely elected representative of the Palestinian people and seize the opportunity to support the development of good governance in Gaza Palestine and seek an end to the bloodshed; Israel, the US and EU collectively punished the Palestinian people for exercising their right to choose their own parliamentary representatives.

On 12 January 2006, Hamas had already dropped its call for the destruction of Israel from its manifesto.

The Islamist faction, responsible for a long campaign of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis, still called for the maintenance of the armed struggle against The Occupation, but stepped back from Hamas's 1988 charter demanding Israel's eradication.

In 2006, Gazi Hamad, a Hamas candidate in the Gaza Strip, said:

“We cannot give up the right of the armed struggle because our territory is occupied in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. That is the territory we are fighting to liberate.

“The policy is to maintain the armed struggle but it is not our first priority. We know that first of all we have to put more effort into resolving the internal problems, dealing with corruption, blackmail, and chaos. This is our priority because if we change the situation for the Palestinians it will make our cause stronger.

"Hamas is looking to establish a new political strategy in which all Palestinian groups will participate, not just dominated by Fatah. We will discuss the negotiation strategy, how can we run the conflict with Israel but by different means." [2]

Both Israel and Hamas should have been investigated for war crimes perpetuated during the 22 days of assault on Gaza which began two days after Christmas Day 2008, when the Israeli military launched Operation Cast Lead, that killed 1,400 Palestinian and 13 Israelis.

Over 5,000 Palestinians were injured, 400,000 were left without running water, 4,000 homes were destroyed, rendering tens of thousands who are still homeless because of Israel's targeted attacks upon them, their schools, hospitals, streets, water wells, sewage system, farms, police stations and UN buildings.

During the 22 days of Israeli assault on Gaza, "Washington provided F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters, tactical missiles, and a wide array of munitions, including white phosphorus and DIME. The weapons required for the Israeli assault was decided upon in June 2008, and the transfer of 1,000 bunker-buster GPS-guided Small Diameter Guided Bomb Units 39 (GBU-39) were approved by Congress in September. The GBU 39 bombs were delivered to Israel in November (prior to any claims of Hamas cease fire violation!) for use in the initial air raids on Gaza." [3]

In a 71-page report released March 25, 2009, by Human Rights Watch, Israel’s repeated firing of US-made white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas of Gaza was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes.

"Rain of Fire: Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza," provides eye witness accounts of the devastating effects that white phosphorus munitions had on civilians and civilian property in Gaza.

"Human Rights Watch researchers found spent shells, canister liners, and dozens of burnt felt wedges containing white phosphorus on city streets, apartment roofs, residential courtyards, and at a United Nations school in Gaza immediately after hostilities ended in January.

"Militaries officially use white phosphorus to obscure their operations on the ground by creating thick smoke. It has also been used as an incendiary weapon, though such use constitutes a war crime.

"In Gaza, the Israeli military didn’t just use white phosphorus in open areas as a screen for its troops," said Fred Abrahams, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. "It fired white phosphorus repeatedly over densely populated areas, even when its troops weren't in the area and safer smoke shells were available. As a result, civilians needlessly suffered and died." [Ibid]

During the 22 days of attack on Gaza, the UN Security Council, Amnesty International, International Red Cross, and global voices of protest rose up and demanded a ceasefire, but both houses of Congress overwhelmingly endorsed resolutions to support a continuation of Israel’s so called "self defense."

"We have seen the enemy and he is US."-Pogo

The Palestinian vote for Hamas was a protest against the ‘peace process’ that has failed to cancel the British Emergency Laws, which have ruled the indigenous Palestinian people of the Holy Land ever since 1945.

Security and Peace in the so called Holy Land can only happen when the lives of the people change to a world where every child has a hope for a future and that can only begin when the occupation, double standards and hypocrisy in high places ends.