July 23, 2014
JERUSALEM (AP) — Offering the first glimmer of hope for a Gaza cease-fire, the United States on Wednesday said negotiations to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas militants are making some progress even if an end to more than two weeks of bloodshed is nowhere near.
‘‘We certainly have made steps forward,’’ U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in Jerusalem, where he was meeting for the second time this week with United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon. ‘‘There’s still work to be done.’’...
...Kerry also offered ‘‘profound gratitude’’ to what he described as 30,000 Israelis who spontaneously lined Jerusalem streets on Wednesday for the funeral procession of Israeli soldier Max Steinberg, a 24-year-old American citizen who grew up in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley and was killed in the fighting. ‘‘That’s a remarkable statement — we’re very grateful,’’ Kerry said.
Kerry also planned to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during what appeared to be a crucial day in the talks. U.S. officials have downplayed expectations for an immediate, lasting truce between Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza....
While these talks are occurring with conflict at the center of the dialogue, there is no room for backsliding. There have been too many concessions to Israel in the past. Palestine's homeland has to be defined clearly.
I would not expect the talks to effect the continuing conflict. I sincerely believe Israel and it's focus on Hamas will never end. The densely militarized land has proven never to have influence on the outcome of peace initiatives. The more Israel has been militarized, the more resolve the Palestinians have to jihadist postures. Even today the Palestinians are lining up to confront the IDF as they march on to Palestinian land.
The approach by Israel is to justify it's actions by hair raising tails of rockets buried near schools. There is no excuse for bombing any schools or hospitals. The rockets were buried and not aimed from the roof of any school. It was an atrocity to bury rockets near any school, but, to compound the horror by providing permission to cause deaths of innocent people and children especially by bombing the cites is a human rights violation.
Israel doesn't recognize the lives of Palestinian children. Israel recognizes reasons to war with Palestine. The problem of buried rockets near schools is best brought to the UN Security Council to find a resolve rather than simply bombing sites Israel decides is a danger at any price.
Israel just doesn't get it. The USA has backed Israel to a posture of near immunity of any deaths of it's citizens by any country including Iran. To that end I, as an American, would expect Israel to find it's security a priority and not the death of Palestinians. The deaths of these innocent people and children is an atrocity the USA never bargained for. It is not a priority to kill Palestinians in the USA. The priority I hold as an American is to find a way forward to bring about the end of hostilities and provide a homeland to both nations of people.
Israel and it's actions is becoming an atrocity to the world. The Palestinian people need help in providing safe bomb shelters to prevent their deaths. The Palestinians need humanitarian aid. Palestine needs a permanent definition of it's borders and the methods to defend them. This current bombing of Gaza is more than any country should tolerate. The so called terror group of Hamas has become a strategy by Israel to the advancement of settlements and expansion of Israel's borders. That can't be acceptable to anyone. Palestine should exist and exist permanently.
Israel's aggressive stance is a faux dynamic used within it's politics to justify the end of any Palestinian nation.
While these talks are occurring with conflict at the center of the dialogue, there is no room for backsliding. There have been too many concessions to Israel in the past. Palestine's homeland has to be defined clearly.
I would not expect the talks to effect the continuing conflict. I sincerely believe Israel and it's focus on Hamas will never end. The densely militarized land has proven never to have influence on the outcome of peace initiatives. The more Israel has been militarized, the more resolve the Palestinians have to jihadist postures. Even today the Palestinians are lining up to confront the IDF as they march on to Palestinian land.
The approach by Israel is to justify it's actions by hair raising tails of rockets buried near schools. There is no excuse for bombing any schools or hospitals. The rockets were buried and not aimed from the roof of any school. It was an atrocity to bury rockets near any school, but, to compound the horror by providing permission to cause deaths of innocent people and children especially by bombing the cites is a human rights violation.
Israel doesn't recognize the lives of Palestinian children. Israel recognizes reasons to war with Palestine. The problem of buried rockets near schools is best brought to the UN Security Council to find a resolve rather than simply bombing sites Israel decides is a danger at any price.
Israel just doesn't get it. The USA has backed Israel to a posture of near immunity of any deaths of it's citizens by any country including Iran. To that end I, as an American, would expect Israel to find it's security a priority and not the death of Palestinians. The deaths of these innocent people and children is an atrocity the USA never bargained for. It is not a priority to kill Palestinians in the USA. The priority I hold as an American is to find a way forward to bring about the end of hostilities and provide a homeland to both nations of people.
Israel and it's actions is becoming an atrocity to the world. The Palestinian people need help in providing safe bomb shelters to prevent their deaths. The Palestinians need humanitarian aid. Palestine needs a permanent definition of it's borders and the methods to defend them. This current bombing of Gaza is more than any country should tolerate. The so called terror group of Hamas has become a strategy by Israel to the advancement of settlements and expansion of Israel's borders. That can't be acceptable to anyone. Palestine should exist and exist permanently.
Israel's aggressive stance is a faux dynamic used within it's politics to justify the end of any Palestinian nation.
