Our Secretary of State really missed a great opportunity today. Here are her comments on the completion of the Israeli pullout from Gaza:
We welcome the completion of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza. This is an historic moment for both sides, and the commitment of both sides to a successful disengagement process has been impressive. Israeli Prime Minister Sharon’s courageous decision both will enhance Israel’s security and allow the Palestinians to make progress toward building the necessary institutions for a future state.
We congratulate the Israelis and Palestinians on their effective coordination in recent months and particularly during the actual implementation of disengagement over the last four weeks. We hope to see this cooperation continue as we move forward, working with Israelis, Palestinians, our Quartet partners, and the broader international community to revitalize the Palestinian economy, assist the Palestinian security forces to restore law and order and to fight terrorism and strive to advance the President’s vision of two states living side by side in peace and security.
And while she was delivering that statement, this was happening:
In some of the former settlements, Palestinians scuffled occasionally amid the rubble, prompting police to intervene with batons and warning shots. But the day was largely free of violence, although the former synagogue buildings that the Israeli government decided to leave intact were vandalized with hands and hammers. At least four of the roughly two dozen were set ablaze early in the day.
Palestinian authorities later bulldozed some of the former synagogues, symbols to many Palestinians of the Israeli occupation. Israeli officials criticized the Palestinian Authority for failing to better protect the buildings, including the one in the largest former settlement of Neve Dekalim where the interior walls bore sooty scorch marks from fires set early in the day.
The settlement’s gatehouse was torched, the gas station stripped of pumps and lights.
Perhaps Secretary Rice can add this man as one of her partners for peace:
In the early afternoon, a noisy convoy carrying Mahmoud Zahar, a senior official of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, rolled through the gates. Zahar’s pickup truck bristled with Hamas gunmen, followed by a sound truck blaring martial anthems and announcing Zahar’s arrival to thousands of Palestinians engrossed in a communal scavenger hunt.
Few Palestinians paused from prying out electrical cord from the walls or smashing free an air-conditioning unit as Zahar passed. Then, the Hamas official was handed a hammer, which he swung vigorously against a wall of the former synagogue.
“Our resistance has succeeded in ending the nuclear resistance in Gaza,” Zahar said, referring to Israel. “This means that this first step will be followed by a second step.” He added that the next step would entail rebuilding Gaza and waging “an effective armed resistance in the West Bank,” the heartland of what has been designated as a future Palestinian state.
So this is what Mahmoud Abbas has decided will mark Gaza’s first day as a strictly Palestinian possession. Unfortunately, Rice didn’t comment on the looting, the desecration of churches, and the promise from Hamas of more and more violence against Israel.
No, today was all happy talk and pink puffy clouds of cooperation. Now, if Secretary Rice can tell the world exactly how she expects there to be reasonable cooperation between Israel and this band of rabble, I’ll be truly impressed.
CORRECTION: I’ve used the words “synagogues” and “churches” interchangeably and Soccer Dad pointed out via e-mail that doing so is not exactly correct. He is, of course right in that. Synagogues are more than mere houses of worship to those of the Jewish faith, and I do understand that. I used the term interchangably for the sake of brevity. That and I have a hell of a hard time spelling “synagogue” correctly on the fly. I do appreciate the gentle correction, Soccer Dad.
