ASSISTING THE SIEGE

NOVANEWS    

1 January 2010

By Amira Hass

The two Palestinian governments continue to infringe on the rights of Gazans to medical treatment. They are still quarreling over the details of a compromise in principle brokered by public figures and independent Palestinian organizations. According to the proposed compromise, Bassem Naim, the health minister in Gaza, is to reinstate the officials who answer to Ramallah, whom he dismissed from the department for referrals abroad. His counterpart from Ramallah, Palestinian Authority Health Minister Fathi Abu Maghli, is to establish a committee of independent doctors to assure transparency in the referral of patients.
The crisis started in March when Egypt – acting on a demand from Ramallah – denied entry to patients whose referrals for treatment abroad had been signed by Gaza government officials. Then, armed with old (and not unfounded) arguments regarding the cumbersome nature of the process and favoritism, the Gaza government decided on March 22 to dismiss the Ramallah officials and pledged to cover the cost of treatment itself, even in Israel.
It was a daring move, but it came at the expense of the patients, because it was expected that Israel would not honor a Hamas official’s signature. The pressure the Gaza government brought to bear on Egypt was too little, too late. Only at the beginning of last week did Egypt allow patients “from” both Gaza and Ramallah to leave Rafah. Others people were also allowed to leave, provided they had suitable connections with Hamas, the Egyptian security services and international organizations.  

 
As for the other patients, some managed to obtain the required signed permits from Ramallah to cross into Israel via the Erez crossing. But many did not; their relatives ran around among the various offices in Gaza seeking a solution while the condition of their loved ones worsened. At least 10 people are believed to have died because they did not receive treatment in time.  This cruel episode in the internal Palestinian power struggle reflects two tactics as far as the Israeli siege is concerned: The Gaza government sometimes tightens the siege itself as a means of pressuring Egypt into opening the Rafah crossing, while Ramallah sometimes makes its own use of the restrictions.
The fight over the Gaza officials did not make Gazans forget Ramallah’s decision, from January this year, to stop referring Palestinian patients to Israel because of the cost of treatment. Prior to the decision, an order was issued not to send Palestinians injured in the Israeli onslaught for treatment in Israel “so as not to give the aggressor an opportunity to pride itself on its humanity.” Palestinian human rights organizations thought this was a short-sighted, symbolic move; Israeli medical reports would have assisted them in their legal battle against the Israeli army over the issue of civilians who were injured in the military operation.
Meanwhile, Abu Maghli denied the existence of a sweeping order mandating “zero treatments in Israel,” although in many cases treatments in Israel were ordered stopped in the middle; patients who did manage to leave for treatment in Israel are those with connections – a problem as old as the PA.
Ramallah does not take into account the fact that for Gazans – despite the obstacles the Shin Bet security service places in their way – it is cheaper and more convenient to go to Israel for treatment than to Jordan or Egypt. Either way, the reasonable argument that the money saved could be channeled into improvements in Palestinian medical care will not affect Gaza, since Israel does not allow replacement parts for broken medical equipment or materials necessary for advanced treatments into the Strip and does not allow Gazan doctors out for continuing education.
Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations argue that Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation to continue to treat Palestinian patients. The PA, instead of adopting this position and making freedom of movement a basic issue in negotiations, is assisting the siege on Gaza in its fruitless attempts to weaken the Hamas government.
And so Gazans in need of medical care have become human sacrifices on the altar of the internal Palestinian fight for control.

“We, the Jewish people control America, and the Americans know it.” (Statement of Zio-Nazi Ariel Sharon, former prime minister of the Zionist racist state of ‘Israel’, Oct. 3, 2001.)Jewish American citizens Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman were both “Big Shots” in the American ‘Israel’ Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) hierarchy. They had one other major common bond. Rosen and Weissman were spies. They spied for the Zionist regime of ‘Israel’. They spied on their own country.First we had Jonathan Pollard, who plea-bargained his “treason” charge down to a life sentence. If you recall, the Zionist regime defiantly denied any association with Pollard. Eventually, however, Zionist finally admitted that Pollard was a spy.
Now come Rosen and Weissman. In August of 2004, the U.S. Justice Department announced an investigation of a “high Pentagon official, suspected of spying for Zionism.” The FBI further said they were “investigating this spy apparatus” for several years. The investigation centered around two AIPAC leaders, Rosen and Weissman. Rosen and Weissman were ultimately indicted.
On that same day, the “top Pentagon official” was publicly named: Larry Franklin. Franklin was named “a spy suspect..”  Franklin’s job was to work closely with Michael Ledeen (a leading neocon) and Douglas Feith. These two guys were not pencil pushers at the Pentagon. Douglas Feith was then the undersecretary of Defense in the Pentagon. Ledeen was an “expert” on “terrorism.”
According to the FBI, Franklin was working with Ledeen and Feith to “fabricate” the case for war with Iraq. Bingo! Start using your own mind in distilling this fabrication. It was invented to help Zionist regime and force Uncle Sam to disarm “dangerous” Iraq.
You might also engage your brain and deductive powers a little further with the following information of fact; Larry Franklin, was the senior

analyst on Iran. Yes, Iran. Now, think back to the words of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. When asked about the war in Iraq he said: “Iraq is not our problem any more, our problem is Iran.”

Think about it. Was this for Zionist’s benefit? Certainly it was not for America’s. The FBI stated: “This investigation involves wiretaps, undercover surveillance and photography that documents the passing of classified information from Franklin to Rosen and Weissman of AIPAC, and on to the Israeli Government.”Hear me. Listen carefully. Top Pentagon officials, all American citizens, pushing the U.S.A. into another needless and illegal war. All predicated on spies and falsehoods. Shame. Shame. Shame!
What makes matters even worse is that this case had the additional goal of pushing America into a “military confrontation with Iran.”
IRAN. Iran, folks!
We’re not talking about a military like that of Iraq’s— one that surrendered to a TV crew. We are talking about Iran, and all the “killing fields” that go with it.
On Aug. 29, 2004, Franklin confessed to “passing highly classified, confidential documents to a member of the Israeli government.” Franklin agreed to “expose his contacts within the Israeli government,” said the FBI.
Suddenly, in stepped the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a leading Jewish pro-Zionist’s lobby. The ADL spokesman, Abe Foxman, called for a special prosecutor to investigate the “leaks in the FBI.” (Foxman is still a big shot at the ADL and in the halls of Washington D.C.) Foxman said:
 “The FBI is tarnishing the image of Israel!” Think about it, after all this, the ADL and Foxman wanted the FBI busted for “leaks”! Not the spies for betraying America, but the FBI for their “leaks.”
Guess what? Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, (useless as teats on a boar hog) tried to “stop” the investigation. Absolutely unbelievable.
The investigation was spreading. New names started to pop up. Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and Michael Rubin were “interviewed” by the FBI. Rubin, a former pentagon specialist on Iran and a resident “scholar” of the American Enterprise Institute, lashed out stating: “This is a anti-Semitic witch hunt.” You probably figured it out. The words “anti-Semite” scared the hell out of many wimp politicians in Washington D.C.
AIPAC immediately launched a political campaign against the U.S. spy probe and openly endorsed and supported the spy’s activities and their leaders. As a result, members of Congress in both the House and Senate got the message loud and clear. They rushed like TV evangelists to the defense of AIPAC, and “pledged their support and confidence” for AIPAC.
In December 2004, even after search warrants were served on AIPAC’s Washington, D.C., offices, Zionist regime continued to defiantly deny any wrong doing. AIPAC said;
“AIPAC nor any member of our staff, has spied or broken any law.” (Haven’t we heard this before with Pollard?) A grand jury was convened in early 2005. Franklin’s superiors Wolfowitz and Feith suddenly resigned. (Wolfowitz became president of the World Bank. Evidently this spy business did no harm for Wolfowitz’s political future.
That is until Wolfowitz was “removed for cause” as president of the World Bank. (Are Jewish Americans given special treatment?) On June 13, 2005, AIPAC was officially “named” in an expanded indictment.
Think back to that ever-important statement: “We, the Jewish people control America, and the Americans know it” (statement of Zio-Nazi Ariel Sharon, former prime minister of the Zionist racist state of ‘Israel’54, Oct. 3, 2001). . . .
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