Secretary Rice on CNN: US will respect elections if Hamas wins

IMRA ^ | 6-21-05

[SJackson]

Secretary Rice on CNN: US will respect elections if Hamas wins

Interview on CNN With John King Secretary Condoleezza Rice Brussels, Belgium June 22, 2005 www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2005/48452.htm

SECRETARY RICE: ...And, yes, we will stand with the Israelis for the principle that Israel should do nothing to try and prejudge final status. Because one way or another, at the time of final status, the boundaries of the new Palestinian state are going to have to be negotiated between the parties. So nothing that Israel does is going to prejudge that outcome.

The President has made clear that he believes that there have been certain realities that have changed since 1949 or since 1967, but that any changes in those boundaries are going to have to be mutually agreed and that will be the position of the United States at final status.

QUESTION: Is it still necessary, though, and is there anything the United States, I guess, can do to change Israel's mind about some of the checkpoints? There are checkpoints when you cross from Israeli territory into the Palestinian territories. But there are -- if you imagine this room as being within the Palestinian territories, there are sometimes checkpoints within this room, even though you are not stepping anywhere near Israel.

SECRETARY RICE: I do believe that there is more that Israel can do to allow freedom of movement for the Palestinians, and we've made that case. I also recognize that there are real security concerns here. You've seen incidents even very recently in the Gaza, and it's particularly problematic when you have groups like Palestinian Islamic Jihad, by the way, operating with offices in Damascus, who say that they're not going to respect the calm that President Abbas has tried to bring about.

But the way that we can move forward on this is that the Israelis are preparing to turn over whole cities to the Palestinians, and they should then really release the pressure around those cities so that Palestinians can move freely. They've released two and they've talked now about Bethlehem and Qalqilya. That should go forward. That will improve freedom of movement. When Israel leaves Gaza, starting in August, again if there is freedom of movement for Palestinians in a Gaza that is free of Israeli settlers and free of Israeli military forces, that is going to improve freedom of movement.

So we work at the micro level, kind of checkpoint by checkpoint. But we also look for these larger changes that will really improve freedom of movement for the Palestinians.

QUESTION: One of the groups that at least so far has honored the truce or cease fire, whatever you would call it, is Hamas. And we sat down with a Hamas leader who said that he could even see coexistence with Israel. Hamas politicians, as you know, are winning some of these local elections and the U.S. officials on the ground say they're waiting for the State Department essentially to make a decision as to whether, if the mayor of a Palestinian town is affiliated and aligned openly with Hamas, can he get U.S. money? Can U.S. money to go to that mayor to build roads and build schools, or is he a terrorist?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, Hamas is a terrorist organization. We've listed it as such. As far as I know, Hamas has not yet changed a very important part of its doctrine, which is the destruction of the state of Israel or the use of terror. It continues to be armed. And to our mind, this is a difficulty for an emergent democratic state that is, after all, going to have to have a monopoly on violence, so to speak, of the state.

We'll deal with the Palestinian Authority. I think that's our best approach. They have an elected government through President Abbas. He is someone who won with 62 percent of the vote. And he won, John, not on a platform that said, let's go for the destruction of Israel or I'll turn your children into suicide bombers but, rather, on a platform that said that it is time for the armed intifada to end, it's time to make peace with Israel. And I have to believe that that's going to be also a popular approach, a popular platform throughout the territories.

QUESTION: The President said that, you have just said it, the President said it once in the Rose Garden. But since the President said it, Hamas has been gaining strength on the ground. And their leaders say that it's hypocritical for the President of the United States to say, have a democracy, and then not respect the will of the Palestinian people if Hamas affiliated candidates are elected.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, there is an election to take place. And we have a policy that comes from a reality of what Hamas is and Hamas has done. The election will take place. It is going to be a Palestinian election with the Palestinians setting the rules for how that election takes place. And we'll respect that.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

Well, Hamas is a terrorist organization.

Well, Condi, you're right. But they're our terrorist organization, so the with us or with the terrorists doesn't apply.

[Michael Goldsberry]

"We will not negotiate with terrorists!"

[Michael Goldsberry]

So much for "Condi '08", eh?

[Michael Goldsberry]

... and why the hell aren't you listed here?

[SJackson]

So much for "Condi '08", eh?

This isn't an electoral issue. And it's not her policy anyway.

[Bombardier]

As God is my witness, we have elected the MOST STUPID BUNCH OF CLOWNS SINCE CARTER!!!!! When can we send these nimrods back to Midland and get some people with brains in there???

[Sabramerican]

It's genius I tell you, genius.

George W Bush has come up with a plan to defeat terrorism.

You need terrorists. You need a voting booth. You need a magic wand. You need to say "Abra Kadabra".

The only downside is that you need to explain to a grieving American mother why her child died fighting "terrorists".

[SJackson]

Simple solution, take Hamas off the list

Stop the now illegal prosecution of Sami al Arian for funding Hamas.

Let the Holy Land Foundation reopen. Sending money to Hamas, nothing the US government won't doing.

Put the Baathists back on the ballot in Iraq and al Qaida in Afghanistan.

Lot's of inconsistancies, but I don't think anyone will care.

[Michael Goldsberry]

"Israel should know if you push people too hard they will explode in your faces, Abed. palestinian"

Death to islam, Mr. Jackson. I'll vote Israel any day.

(BTW, Alouette can kick your butt.)

[Random Nonsense]

1. A lot of people think that Abbas can be trusted. Well, I don't.

2. Hamas, even if they were elected, is still a terrorist group.

This is just part of their step-by-step plans. Tomorrow they will get Bethlehem and Qalqilya. Next month they want Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Soon enough, bye, bye Israel.

The PA + Hamas can't be trusted.

You can see the disengagement plan's vid here: "A Stab in the Heart"

[Sabramerican]

You have any idea how much I pay for health insurance?

I hear Hamas runs free clinics.

Maybe we can start a FreeRepublic Hamas Chapter.

[Iscool]

Simple solution, take Hamas off the list

That's right...Terrorists ain't terrorists if they're on our side...They'll be our NEW mid-east allies...Course we'll also have to give them guns and tanks...And Patriot missles...

[Sabramerican]

I'm really glad about one thing. That Bush won the election and Washington DC is safe.

You see. If a Kerry's SOS had said this, Republicans would be marching to burn down Washington.

[Thinkin' Gal]

War on Poverty: poverty :: War on Drugs: drugs :: War on Terror: terror

Come on folks, they're on a roll. Feel the love; feel the compassion.

[Sabramerican]

Punishment for bombing an American convoy and killing Americans.

Americans won't visit you for 18 months

But after 18 months.........presents.

_{Last update - 01:04 23/06/2005}

U.S. breaks diplomatic boycott with visit to Gaza Strip

_{By Amos Harel}

The United States broke an 18-month boycott this week with visits by American diplomats to the Gaza Strip. The boycott was imposed in the wake of a terror attack perpetrated against a U.S. diplomatic convoy in October 2003 when three American security guards were killed as a roadside bomb exploded south of the Erez crossing.

To date, the Palestinian Authority has yet to arrest the individuals involved in the attack, despite repeated American demands for it to do so.

Over the past week, however, a number of American diplomats, as well as security personnel, have visited the Gaza Strip. The diplomats and security personnel traveled to the Strip to prepare the ground for the visit of James Wolfensohn, the Quartet's envoy charged with overseeing the Israeli pullout who is expected in Gaza soon.

Meanwhile, both Israeli and Palestinian security sources confirmed yesterday that the PA had not taken any new steps whatsoever with regard to the perpetrators of the October 2003 attack, despite the fact that the identity of those responsible is believed to be known. The perpetrators of the attack are thought to be members of the Popular Resistance Committees, a faction that broke away from Fatah and is led by Jamal Abu-Samhadne.

The suspension of the boycott regarding visits to the Strip came hand-in-hand with another step yesterday on the part of the United States. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an independent federal government agency, yesterday handed over four oxygen generators to hospitals in the Strip.

The generators, valued in total at some $500,000, produce a mixture of air with a high concentration of oxygen for medical purposes. Hospitals in the Gaza Strip suffer from a chronic shortage of oxygen canisters.

The donation was handed over to the PA at the initiative of the government's coordinator in the territories, Major General Yosef Mishlav.

Since the October 2003 terror attack, the United States has kept a tight rein on the scope of its direct aid to the Strip, including assistance in the medical field.

The generators will be set up at the hospital in Beit Hanun, in the north of the Strip, at Dura Hospital in Gaza City, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis and at Tel Sultan Hospital in Rafah. They were transported yesterday to Gaza through the Karni crossing.

Mishlav, meanwhile, paid a visit to the Karni crossing yesterday to oversee the Civil Administration's preparations ahead of the disengagement. Israel plans to speed up the delivery of goods to the Strip over the coming period in light of concerns that during the disengagement, such operations could be impeded.

The Karni crossing's opening hours have been extended recently.

[onedoug]

I've been waiting a long time to go to Israel. However, I am suspending all such plans however the Israelis finally thow out that bum Sharon and get a collective pair.

[dervish]

"We'll deal with the Palestinian Authority. I think that's our best approach. They have an elected government through President Abbas. He is someone who won with 62 percent of the vote. And he won..."

Here is the beginning of the problem -- assuming there was a real and fair election with all of the armed intimidation among the Palestinians. The election which Abbas won had one candidate. Its result was pre-determined.

Per Mr Sharansky:

"Telling the Jerusalem Post last January 10 that this election was not "truly free," he explained: "Free elections can only take place in societies in which people are free to express their opinions without fear. This is not the case in the Palestinian Authority....there was no other candidate [than Abbas]..."

He went on to say it was a "shame" that, as Post reporter Herb Keinon paraphrased him, "the world uses the same words for completely different types of processes in different governmental systems, thereby making moral equivalencies that don't exist." Sharansky added in his own words: "This election can be the beginning of the democratic process only if we don't have illusions that democracy is already there, and that all we have to do now is give them independence. If that is what we do, then we will find that we have given independence not to a democratic state, but to a terrorist state."

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17286

[Lijahsbubbe]

http://www.middleeastfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=47

Appearing before cheering crowds last night, Abu Mazen said that the period of the “little Jihad [holy war] had ended, and now the big Jihad is beginning.”

Abu Mazen did little to allay Israeli fears that he is no different than Arafat. He said he dedicates his victory to “brother shahid [martyr] Yasser Arafat,” to the “shahids and prisoners,” and to the “Palestinian people from Rafiach to Jenin.” The crowd responded, “A Million Shahids Marching to Jerusalem!”

[expatguy]

The beginning of the end...