Soccer Dad

The terror under the carpet

Some fine reporting from Scott Wilson of the Washington Post today:

The election of Hamas to govern the Palestinian Authority a year and a half ago has contributed to the growing instability in the Middle East. Rather than abide by the terms of the Oslo Accords, Hamas has overseen the growth of the anti-Israel terror infrastructure in Gaza leading to frequent rocket attacks into the Israeli city of Sderot. According to retired General Yaacov Amidror Hamas has also developed operational ties to Al Qaeda affiliated terror groups, including one that kidnapped British journalist Alan Johnston.
And despite an increase in funding for the Hamas led PA in violation of international sanctions against the terror group, the standard of living in PA controlled areas has continued to decline.
The UN has contributed to the growing instability by allowing armed Hamas affiliated militias to operate within camps that it controls.

I guess you realize that's not what Wilson reported, here's part of his report.

Former generals say Israel now has a wider range of military options to contain rocket fire from the strip. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, and the government it is running in Gaza has not been recognized internationally.

In domestic court filings, the Israeli government argued that its military occupation of Gaza had ended, freeing it of responsibility for the welfare of the people who live there. The United Nations still classifies Gaza and the West Bank as Israeli-occupied territory.
...
But Kevin Kennedy, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, said last week that 65 percent of Palestinians now live on less than $2.41 a day. He said the number of Israeli military checkpoints, barriers and obstacles in the West Bank has increased by 43 percent since Israel pledged to reduce them under a 2005 agreement brokered by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Kennedy said that with Hamas in charge of security on the Gaza side, the Gaza passages are now effectively sealed. The Israeli military has been allowing daily aid convoys to supply Gaza with food staples, medicines and fuel, but a humanitarian crisis looms unless trade can be normalized.

"Israel, as the occupying power, is responsible for the health and welfare of the occupied population in Gaza," Kennedy said. "Whether they do it on their own or have someone else do it for them, that's another matter."

So instead of placing blame on the Palestinians for electing Hamas, Hamas for remaining committed to terror and the UN for allowing it too, it is to those sources or a number of experts sympathetic to them that Wilson goes for his story.

I'd say that Bloodthirsty Liberal has it about right

Sometimes it is useful to read the Washington Post’s coverage of Israel and the Palestinians—not for any edification, mind you, but to see how the liberal establishment still tries to sweep the crimes of the Palestinians under the rug:

That's about the size of it.

Joining Outside the Beltway's Traffic Jam 07/02/2007