Palestinian men bear trauma of war

[Turborama]

The war on Gaza has taken a heavy emotional and mental toll on the people of the Gaza Strip. Doctors say that at least half of the population need professional help to come to terms with the war.

Palestinian men have been hit especially hard. Many of them have spent the last two years struggling to find work under Israel's blockade of the territory and the horrors of the war have made things harder and more traumatic.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/2009127174123702455.html">Zeina Awad reports from a mental health clinic in Gaza City

[midnight]

1. This is why these war criminals must be held accountable.

It would be a beautiful gesture if these families were given wonderful green jobs, and great medical treatment to ease them back to a better life.

[duhneece]

3. I love your heart, midnight

ny

[peacetalksforall]

2. Stop aid to Israel and get the Palestinians back on their feet - in peace.

The United States of American has pressured dozens of countries to change their ways. We pay a fortune to pretend to stop the drug commerce. We have hit men 'influencing' leaders and giving them tons of money.

We DO NOT have to pay Israel to ruin a nation of refugee people.

This is an inhumane use of money. It must stop. It is lunacy.

[ohio2007]

4. Hamas shoot Fatah in Gaza - English translation video( Palestinian men bear trauma )

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=461_1233527873

[Turborama]

5. And your point being?

[Vegasaurus]

6. There is absolutely no unity among the Palestinians

Zilch.

One side says it will make peace with Israel, and one side refuses.

The side that refuses is busy murdering or maiming as many members of the side that says it agrees to peace as possible.

The point being, the Palestinians have to get their house in order, and that absolutely nothing the US does can do a thing about their own internal strife.

[Turborama]

7. But I think there is something the US can do...

The world hopes that this election will be as “clean and democratic” (Jimmy Carter and most international observers said so) as the last Palestinian election which took place in 2006 and saw Hamas win by a large majority.

We know what happened next. To make a long story short, Israel and most of the international community refused to recognize Hamas as a legitimate party and then refused to recognize the newly-formed Palestinian unity government (formed in March 2007).

Abbas, whose goal has always been to be recognized by the US and Israel, kicked Hamas out of the government and formed a new one with Salam Fayyad as PM. A violent pre-emptive war was launched by Hamas against Fatah and Israel/US-backed militias (led by Mohammed Dahlan) and Hamas “took over” the Gaza Strip.

=snip=

But why did all this happen? What was the official reason given by the Israel and the International community for not recognizing Hamas?

The reason they gave was that Hamas refused to recognize Israel and had a Charter calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Everyone (politicians and corporate media leaders) accepted this without asking a few important questions. Which Israel should Hamas recognize? Israel has not yet stated what its international borders are. Should Hamas recognize the Israel of 1948? The Israel of 1967? The Israel of 2009 with its apartheid wall, settlements (settlements building raised by 60 percent in 2008, the year of the Annapolis “Peace Process”, according to a Peace Now report), second class Arab citizens and with East Jerusalem annexed?

Any astute observer could also have objected by reminding people that Hamas (through Haniyeh and Meshal) had said many times over that it was willing to accept Israel as a political entity on the 1967 borders. You do not have to look hard for this, it was stated in the Guardian, Washington Post, amongst others, meaning that Hamas was now in line with most of the international community, accepting a two-state solution.

http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14772">Full article

The last paragraph explains what is stopping Hamas from accepting "Israel as a political entity". So, Obama has to do what needs to be done to make sure that Israel defines its international borders as being those set out on the 1967 map asap, Hamas recognizes Israel, Hamas in turn gets recognized by Israel & the international community and dialogue is much more likely to begin between Hamas and Fatah, is it not?


(source: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org)

November 16, 2008

Barack Obama links Israel peace plan to 1967 borders deal

Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv and Sarah Baxter

Barack Obama is to pursue an ambitious peace plan in the Middle East involving the recognition of Israel by the Arab world in exchange for its withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, according to sources close to America’s president-elect.

Obama intends to throw his support behind a 2002 Saudi peace initiative endorsed by the Arab League and backed by Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister and leader of the ruling Kadima party.

The proposal gives Israel an effective veto on the return of Arab refugees expelled in 1948 while requiring it to restore the Golan Heights to Syria and allow the Palestinians to establish a state capital in east Jerusalem.

=snip=

According to a Washington source Obama told Abbas: “The Israelis would be crazy not to accept this initiative. It would give them peace with the Muslim world from Indonesia to Morocco.”

Kurtzer submitted a paper to Obama on the question before this month’s presidential elections. He argued that trying to reach bilateral peace agreements between Israel and individual countries in the Middle East, was a recipe for failure as the record of Bill Clinton and George W Bush showed. In contrast, the broader Arab plan “had a lot of appeal”. A leading Democratic expert on the Middle East said: “There’s not a lot of meat on the bones yet, but it offers recognition of Israel across the Arab world.”

Full article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5162537.ece

Please feel free to point out where you think there may be holes in this argument (I'm not 100% sure about the definition of the 1967 borders, for example) as, like most posters here, I am trying to work out what the best solution for Israelis and Palestinians to have a peaceful coexistence is, and am open to constructive criticism.

[Turborama]

8. I'd like to add that this thread was about the mental health problems Palestinian men are having

But the tangent appears as if it could end up being a healthy debate about surrounding issues...

[Jefferson23]

9. Well good luck getting help, the US just said recently we are giving a

whole whopping 20 million dollars to help the Palestinians in Gaza. The US government has displayed nothing but contempt for these people with a few exceptions.