La vittoria di Pirro Pyrrhus was an ancient Greek king, excellent general and statesman, who was an early opponent of the Romans. He won many a victory in his wars with the Romans, but always at such great cost to his army and such great loss to his soldiers, that he once said, If I go on winning this way, I will return to Greece alone!! From him we get the saying A Pyrrhic Victory when the toll far exceeds the victory. Reviewing the current political developments in Gaza, things are falling in place. After failing to draw Egypt into the conflict by giving Israel a Casus Belli [the murder of the three teenagers], Hamas is now the only party refusing an Egyptian cease fire plan, setting their own conditions, hatched by Qatar and Turkey. Their conditions, which include air and sea access, release of prisoners, a fishing zone, permission to pray in Al Aqsa mosque, tank removal from the borders, resuming commerce,...............and INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE RAFAH CROSSING AND PLACING IT UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE UN AND SOME ARAB NATIONS!!! No talk of a Palestinian state, no talk of the historic right to Jerusalem, no talk of a homeland, no mention of a peace agreement, no demand for the implementation of United Nations resolutions against occupation and settlements, none of all that, ................in brief, the only condition Israel would agree to, is the Rafah question. All the other conditions are preposterous to Israel and all past attempts to obtain them have failed. IS THE PICTURE NOW CLEAR??? However, our leaders can handle the situation, this is not a grave matter. It just occurred to me that, should Hamas achieve any of these cheap conditions, even if they appear to emerge victorious in this one insignificant battle, at what cost? AT THE COST OF THE HUNDREDS OF CHILDRENS LIVES THAT WERE PREMATURELY ENDED.!! A PYRRHIC VICTORY INDEED. Incidentally, I have searched long and hard to find a word that describes the voluntary offering of children to the slaughter to achieve commercial gain and I have failed. It seems it is a crime that has been newly invented and the Lexicon has yet to find a proper term for it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Qatar-Turkey conditions set forth by Azmy Bishara, after fleeing Gaza and settling in Qatar: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Withdrawal of Israeli tanks from the Gaza border. Freeing all the prisoners that were arrested after the killing of the three youths. Lifting the siege and opening the border crossings to commerce and people. Establishing an international seaport and airport which would be under U.N. supervision. Increasing the permitted fishing zone to 10 kilometers. Internationalizing the Rafah Crossing and placing it under the supervision of the U.N. and some Arab nations. International forces on the borders. Easing conditions for permits to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque. Prohibition on Israeli interference in the reconciliation agreement. Reestablishing an industrial zone and improvements in further economic development in the Gaza Strip.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 16:21:03 +0000