January 23, 2008
Reminder: Why Gaza Was Closed
Yes the Palestinians are "desperate for cigarettes and gasoline but apparently they have no shortage of explosives.
Via Yahoo News: RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into Egypt from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday through a border wall destroyed by militants, and stocked up on food and fuel in short supply because of an Israeli blockade.The AP article goes on to say..."Those people are hungry for freedom, for food and for everything," said an Egyptian shopkeeper who gave her name only as Hamida, surveying shelves emptied swiftly by Gazans paying with Egyptian pounds and Israeli shekels.
The fall of the Rafah wall punched a new hole in efforts by Israel, under frequent rocket attack from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, to keep pressure on the territory in the face of an international outcry over shortages and Palestinian hardship.
"The Palestinians living in Gaza are living under chaos because of Hamas, and the blame has to be placed fully at their feet," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.And that is very correct. Hamas has done nothing to stop daily mortar and rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza. Not that I expected them to stop the attacks. But the people of Palestine are suffering because of the actions of terrorists. Why should Israel cooperate and aid the Hamas regime in Gaza when they are being attacked daily?"It is obviously a situation that is very troubling for Israel and for good reason, it is Hamas's actions of lobbing upwards of 150 rockets a day into their territory that ... caused Israel to implement the blockade," she said.
Below is a recently released video from Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades showing them firing homade rockets at Israel. They are the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees.
Via Wikipedia: The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) are various Palestinian militant organizations which operate in the Gaza Strip and are regarded as terrorist organizations by Israel and the United States. Set up late 2000 by former Fatah and Tanzim member Jamal Abu Samhadana, the PRC are composed of ex-Fatah militants combined with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades members. Allegedly, the PRC are inspired and financed by Hezbollah. The PRC specializes in planting roadside bombs and vehicle explosive charges - directed against military and civilian convoys in the Gaza Strip.The rockets have no guidance and fall randomly in Israel so the claims that they are being fired against Israeli targets are not very credible.
Hamas and The Popular Resistance Committees have no trouble smuggling in parts for rockets and explosives. Let them also smuggle in food, fuel and cigarettes!
