Abbas’s Example
- 12.28.2008 - 3:36 PMPresident-elect Barack Obama has been silent on the Israelis’ action against Hamas. He is being briefed, we are told, but has resorted to the “one President at a time” mantra to avoid taking a public position. It is unclear whether he is inclined to resort to his “everyone take a breather” rhetoric which characterized his reaction to the Russian invasion of Georgia or, alternatively, to echo the language of his campaign in which he declared, “If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.” Instead of choosing, he’s decided to do what has worked so well in the campaign: remain mute while events take form. Perhaps we’ll hear from him in a day or so.
Ironically, this has him lagging behind Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. We have this report:
Hamas could have prevented the “massacre” in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday in Cairo. ”We spoke to them and told them ‘Please, we ask you not to end the cease-fire. Let it continue,’” Abbas said during a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. “We want to protect the Gaza Strip. We don’t want it to be destroyed.” Abbas called on Hamas to renew the cease-fire with Israel to avoid further bloodshed in Gaza. Aboul Gheit also attacked Hamas, saying the group had prevented people wounded in the Israeli offensive from passing into Egypt to receive medical attention. “We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to reach Egypt. They aren’t being allowed to go through,” he said. Asked who was to blame for the dire situation in Gaza, the foreign minister replied: “Ask the party that controls Gaza.”
The clarity and candor is refreshing. Let’s hope we hear more of it.
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