Gaza Under Siege

by Stephen Lendman

Global Research, August 4, 2008

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Gaza Under Siege: "an atrocity, a crime, an abomination" - Jimmy Carter

That was Carter's assessment in an April 17 speech at the American University in Cairo. Palestinians are being "starved to death," and US efforts to undermine Hamas are counterproductive. In late May, he went further on a visit to the Welsh town of Hay by calling on EU nations to break with Washington over the siege - "one of the greatest human rights crimes on earth (and) to see Europeans going along with this is embarrassing." He called on EU leaders to reassess their position if Hamas agrees to a ceasefire - and that's what's likely behind his trip and comments, although Carter knows Hamas unilaterally observed months of ceasefire in the past and again declared one on June 19. What then is Carter up to?

Last April, he met with Khaled Meshaal (Hamas' exiled leader) in Damascus at the behest of Israel and the Bush administration - not on his own or as the media said was despite fierce opposition to his trip. High-level envoys never diverge from state policy or act independently. Where they go, who they see, and what they say have a purpose, but it's not always apparent. Carter in part explained it in a comment to the London Guardian that "The top opinion pollster in Ramallah (said) that opinion on the West Bank is shifting to Hamas, because people believe Fatah sold out to Israel and the US."......"