Carter Urges 'Supine' Europe to End Gaza Embargo, Reminding that Israel has 150 Nuclear Weapons

Former U.S president urges 'supine' Europe to end Gaza embargo

Tuesday May 27, 2008 00:03 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

Former U.S President Jimmy Carter, described the EU's position towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict ' supine', urging the EU to break up with the U.S and lift the embargo on Gaza.


	Former US President Jimmy Carter speaking at the 2008 Hay Festival. Photograph: Barry Batchelor/PA

The European Union (countries) are not our vassals, they occupy an equal position like us ", Carter commented in a special literary festival held by the UK's Guardian newspaper in the Welsh border town of Hay.

The chairman of the election-monitoring Carter Center, believed that the EU's hesitance to criticize the Israeli blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza as 'embarrassing'

" the embargo is meant at 1.6 million residents, 1 million of whom are refugees, as most of the households in Gaza eat one meal a day. The Israeli siege of Gaza is one of the greatest human rights crimes now existing on Earth, There is no reason to treat these people this way" , Carter explained.

Commenting on the Quartet-led embargo on Gaza, since the Hamas organization won the 2006 elections, the Nobel peace prize winner, wondered of the EU's position in a time Israel has been holding contacts with Hamas through a third party, the Egyptians.

' let the Europeans lift the embargo, and protect the rights of the Palestinians in Gaza and even reinstall their observers into the Rafah crossing terminal (Gaza's sole outlet to the outside world) to ensure the Palestinians wont violate it', Carter hoped.

The international Quartet committee for Middle East peace, involving the EU, US, UN and Russia, enforced a boycott to the winner Hamas party, unless the organization commits to 'recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and accepting past signed peace agreements'.

Carter hinted before a packed crowd in the literary festival that the quartet's conditions were drafted by the official in the U.S national security council, Elliot Abrahams. Carter considered Abrahams as 'very militant supporter of Israel'.

He confirmed that no line of the first draft was changed.

Several weeks ago, Carter , who left office 27 years ago, held talks with Hamas's officials in Damascus, urging the organization to stop homemade shells fire onto nearby Israeli towns, provided that Israel stops ground and air strikes against the coastal territory.

" I contacted Mr. Omar Sulieman, chief Egyptian mediator, who had submitted the Hamas offer to Israel, but I have been informed no progress has been achieved. I hope the Israelis will accept".

The broker of Israel-Egypt peace treaty of 1979 also appeared scathing over the Fatah-dominated government in the West Bank, branding it a ' subterfuge', intended at getting round the Hamas' election victory in 2006.

He said he learned that Hamas's public support in the West Bank is now on the rise, after the Palestinians in the West Bank have increasingly realized that the Fatah people have sold out to the Americans and Europeans.

In April 2006, Carter spoke to the European Union for 12 minutes, urging the EU not to sideline Hamas , which offered to form a joint government with Fatah party, the loser.

Carter's election-monitoring center took part in observing the January 2006's elections, which according to other international observers proved fair and democratic.

In 2007, Israel imposed a crippling closure on Gaza's travel and commercial crossings, in the wake of Hamas's takeover of the region amidst a factional infighting with the secular Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

President Carter: Israel has 150 nuclear weapons

Monday May 26, 2008 18:12 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Former US president Jimmy Carter has broken the silence about Israel's nuclear power and told reporters at a literary festival in UK on Sunday that Israeli has an arsenal of 150 nuclear war heads.

Nobel Peace Prize winner also criticized Israel for its 11 months siege on the Gaza Strip by describing it as "one of the greatest human rights crimes now existing on Earth, There is no reason to treat these people this way" Caters told Reporters.

The Israeli has placed Gaza under total Siege on June 2007 shortly after Hamas movement who won the Palestinian Legislative elections took total control there.

Since then to date, 163 Palestinian patients have died in Gaza due to the Israeli siege, those patients have been prevented from leaving the Palestinian costal region to get the life saving medical care they needed.

The Siege also left Gaza in short of fuel, food, and water according to the United Nations reports.

Hamas calls on Palestinian masses to participate in Friday march towards Sufa

[ 27/05/2008 - 04:48 PM ]
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC)-

In the context of its anti-siege activities, the Hamas Movement called on the Palestinian masses in Gaza to participate in the march of "challenge to break the siege" heading at noon Friday towards the Israeli-controlled Sufa border crossing, east of Rafah.

The Hamas information office invited all media outlets to cover the massive march, adding that the march comes within the activities organized to break the unjust Israeli siege imposed on Gaza in light of the Arab and international silence and with the aim of confirming the Palestinian people's rejection to be submissive and subservient to the will of the Israeli occupation government.

The IOF troops killed a Palestinian young man and wounded a dozen others in the Mintar crossing, east of the Gaza city, last Thursday during their participation in a peaceful march organized by Hamas in protest at the Israeli siege of Gaza Strip.

Masri: Other European officials to reveal contacts with Hamas

[ 27/05/2008 - 10:24 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Hamas Movement has asserted that other European ministers would declare within the few coming days that they had "advanced consultations" with Hamas.

He underlined in a statement to Quds Press on Monday that the contacts between Hamas and European officials never stopped and that countries other than France had made contacts with the Movement.

The French contact was revealed by the French external affairs minister Bernard Kouchner and not by Hamas, Masri pointed out and did not rule out other European ministers to reveal similar contacts.

"We understand from Europe's contact with us that Hamas could not be sidestepped," the Hamas MP stressed, adding that peace would not be achieved as long as certain parties were trying to bypass Hamas.

Shifting to another issue, Masri categorically denied any direct contacts between Hamas and Israel, expressing surprise at the publication of such reports.

He said that Hamas is not in a hurry and contacts are going on through Egyptian mediators, and underscored, "We will not advance an inch forward neither in the calm issue nor in the prisoners' exchange issue unless Israel declares commitment to the conditions attached to both".

Meanwhile, the Hebrew radio quoted the Italian foreign undersecretary as saying that her country's intelligence apparatus might have had contacts with Hamas.

She said that Rome does not consider Hamas a "political partner, but there are facts on the ground that should be dealt with".

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