Hamas Assails US Over Regime Change Report

[Behind the Aegis]

By AMY TEIBEL
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Hamas derided the United States and Israel on Tuesday following reports they were exploring ways to topple the militants' incoming government.

Israeli security officials said they were looking at ways to force Hamas from power, and were focusing on an economic squeeze that would prompt Palestinians to clamor for the return of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' ousted Fatah Party. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

But Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said, "There is no such plan."

The New York Times, citing anonymous U.S. and Israeli officials, reported Tuesday that the United States and Israel were considering a campaign to starve the Palestinian Authority of cash so Palestinians would grow disillusioned with Hamas and bring down a Hamas government.

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[Tom Joad]

1. Killing Palestinian children.

The plan by the U.S./Israeli govts to destabilize Hamas by striking at the economy of the Occupied Territories reminds me of Nixon/Kissinger plan to destroy the economy under democratically elected President Allende of Chile to destabilize the government. They wanted to make the economy “scream”. Eventually they promoted a coup that gave the Chilean people Pinochet, a brutal fascist dictator. (Pinochet did have good relations with Israel.)

These economic sanctions themselves have consequences. The economy of Palestine is already screaming in pain.

A humanitarian crisis is growing in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza. A full 22% of Palestinian children under the age of 5 have been found to be suffering from malnutrition. Nearly 16% are suffering from anemia, many of whom will suffer from permanent negative effects on their physical and mental development as a result. This is the findings of a study sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and John Hopkins University, cited in a report put out by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. See here.

“There is a humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza. It is not the result of a natural disaster. Instead, it is a crisis imposed by a powerful State on its neighbor” the UN commission states.

The future of the Palestinian people is threatened by Hurricane Bush/Olmert. This will bring nothing but more pain, suffering and violence. It is tragically that the US and Israeli governments pursue such short-sighted strategies.

[LynnTheDem]

2. Same shit they did to Iraq.

Same shit they've failed to do to Cuba.

Don't like the ELECTED government, then overthrow by kidnapping, or force the population to overthrow via starvation. It's long been The Great American Way.

And that is why they hate us.