Only in his second day in office, newly-elected American President Barak Obama called on Israel to open the Gaza crossings as part of the necessary steps towards implementing a long-lasting and stable ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza Hamas-regime.
“As part of a lasting ceasefire, Gaza’s border crossings should be open to allow the flow of aid and commerce, with an appropriate monitoring regime, with the international and Palestinian Authority participating.”
Obama has already contacted a number of Middle Eastern leaders, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and he indicated he plans to make the Mideast a major part of his immediate foreign policy issue. Many analysts believe that while the president has already launched efforts towards a new era, one that he hopes will bring peace to the region, in reality, it is expected that presidential Mideast envoy George Mitchell and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will run the show on a day-to-day level, which spells increased pressure on Israel to make additional concessions to the PA (Palestinian Authority).
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert however continues to announce that the opening of the Gaza borders will be done as per Israel’s security considerations and pressure will not change this reality. Statements released by the Prime Minister’s Office and other senior governmental agencies are pointing to a full opening of the gateways to Gaza being hinged to the release of Gilad Shalit. Olmert has stated he hopes to bring Gilad home before completing his term in office.
On the other hand, there is also talk among the leaders of Israel’s intelligence community that the release of Shalit will compel Israel to release of 1,500 terrorists, some serving sentences for their horrific acts of terror that claimed many innocent lives.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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15 Responses
How naive is this man?? And we have to sit through 4 years of this? Now he can show his true colors a la Jimmy “the peanut” Carter, since all you liberals voted him in.
Thank you #2 for correcting some serious yellow Journalism. (How irresponsible)
The author of this article puts in quotes, “As part of a lasting ceasefire, Gaza’s border crossings should be open to allow the flow of aid and commerce, with an appropriate monitoring regime, with the international and Palestinian Authority participating.”
This quote is nowhere to be found in charliehall’s script from the Washington Post. It is quite possible that President Barak Hussein Obama said this in a different forum, but I doubt the writer of this piece completely made up this quote.
Our new president is already shocking Democrats and Republicans alike in his sweeping reforms in protecting murderers, torturers, and other dredges of the earth, who deserve nothing more than Skilah, Sereifa, Hereg, and Chenek.
I hope the rest of his four years go better than his first two days.
8 years, bestbubby. 8.
I address my remarks To Charlie Hall and nfgo2:
Please read the following article from the Financial Times Ft.com
“Obama urges Israel to open Gaza borders
By Daniel Dombey in Washington and Tobias Buck in Jerusalem
Published: January 22 2009 22:07 | Last updated: January 23 2009 00:04
President Barack Obama urged Israel on Thursday to open its borders with Gaza.
The plea came in a speech that signalled the new US administration’s shift from Bush-era policy on the Middle East and the world as a whole. In a high-profile address on his second day in office, just hours after he signed an executive order to close the centre at Guantánamo Bay, Mr Obama proclaimed that the US would “actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians” in the wake of this month’s Gaza war.”
Charlie and nfgo2 what does it mean that Obama “signalled the new US administration’s shift from Bush-era policy on the Middle East”
When you shift. You move. Move in another direction.
IMHO Bush’s stance on Israel was good for Israel and the USA, so why the shift?
Once again #2 and #3 Maybe All caps will help you guys undestand what Mr. Obama is doing.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA URGED ISRAEL ON THURSDAY TO OPEN ITS BORDERS WITH GAZA.
I say: Mr. Obama, let Israel decide when it safe to open their borders.
Thank you YW for calling it as it is.
#2 – Shkoyach for presenting a complete record.
You should not be surprised about what you find here, however; the same people who called Obama an antisemite muslim now call him a antisemite for having so many Jews in his administration – it’s all a trick, you see, to fool us Yidden into thinking he’s not an antisemite! Phooey
Thank you leonard613 for setting the record straight.
Shame on you charliehall and the others who are so liberal, narrow-minded, and stricken by our new president’s smooth oratory skills, that you will blindly protect his every word and move, even when they are dangerous to Acheinu B’Nei Yisroel.
I see that what the talk show hosts have warned us is becoming true. To free the terrorists being held without knowing where to put them, and to side with Gaza without talking to Israeli leaders demonstrates a naivete and inexperience that should make us shudder for the future.
Eliezer – your intolerance of other opinions, and your vilification of those who hold them, is horrible.
There are reasonbly intelligent, good people who do have sharply different political opinions on issues.
To call charlie hall “so liberal, narrow-minded, and stricken by our new president’s smooth oratory skills, that [he] will blindly protect his every word and move, even when they are dangerous to Acheinu B’Nei Yisroel” is about as productive and healthy as it would be for one to call you “an ignorant anti-intellectual narrow minded-right wing racist who denies the humanity of all but Jews.”
Both kinds of statements, I think, are evidence of blind fanatical partisanship and do no justice to Klal Yisroel. L’havdil – can you imagine what the mesorah would be if Bais Hillel and Bais Shammai behaved in such a manner.
A git Shabbos to all.
Yonasan, this is not a matter of opinion.
Charliehall began his statement with “This is a totally biased article. Your correspondent should be ashamed of himself. He is trying to drive a wedge between Israel and the new President.”
All I’m saying is that if charliehall did not have the open-mindedness to even entertain the posibility that perhaps, just maybe, the author of this article actually had a real source for his script, then he would not and should be let into the Beis Medrash at all.
Thank you Eliezer for your kind words.
I am always amazed that many people who are considered ‘liberal’ ‘freethinkers’ ‘progressive’ are in essence extremely narrow minded.
Shouldn’t progressive thinking individuals be more open minded?
The kup is very closed, yet they want Gaza to be opened for all.
Can’t we all just get along.
I wish.
But how naive can one be.
Gitmo helped America’s security.
Yet Obama wants to close it.
Wiretapping without warrants in specific instances helped America’s security.
Yet Obama wants to stop it.
Mr. President if you want to undermine our American security, please do not ask Israel to follow suit.
I plead to the leaders of Israel watch out from the grandchildren of the pereh adom and do not under any circumstances open the borders until you feel that it is safe.
Please do not be influenced by strong arm tactics from Washington. For H-shems sake do what is good for your citizens.
On June 4, 2008 an American citizen said as follows: “Let me be clear: America is committed to Israel’s security.”
Do not play political football with Israel’s security Mr. President. Remember the quote above. I think you know who said it.
While we are taking about security, Mr. President please, please, under your tenure, let America be committed to AMERICA’S security.
Keep up the GREAT SECURITY POLICYS OF PRESIDENT BUSH. PLEASE KEEP US SAFE WITH G-D’s HELP. PLEASE DO NOT UNDERMINE OUR SECURITY.
The way some of the people are writing in these comments makes you wonder whether some people believe that, with the new president, the United States has become some type of toeva, an Obama Nation.
nfgo2 your comments are well taken. Yet, I disagree.
You ask:”Why don’t we all stop parsing selected sentences and see what our President does.”
Some of President Obama’s Executive Orders are mind boggling.
As I stated in a previous post:
Gitmo helped America’s security.
Yet Obama wants to close it.
Wiretapping without warrants in specific instances helped America’s security.
Yet Obama wants to stop it.
I unfortunately “see what our President does” and I do not like it.
My request to the new president is simple.
Keep Us Safe With G-d’s Help.
PS As for your remarks “Please show me the same courtesy.” I agree with this statement 100%
Sorry about the all caps.
May you Have a Good Shabbos.
He appears to be a egomaniac, which means he doesn’t mean anything he says except to the extent it serves his purposes, whatever they may be. Simply review his behavior (not just his words) since the time he ran for US senator in Illinois. Inconsistency and outright deception, by him and his “team”, show where they are headed. Why all the secrecy about his birth, his college career, his law school career, his community “organizing” (agitating), his job with ‘Chicago Challenge’ and William Ayers…?
I am neither Jewish nor a resident of Israel, so I don’t exactly have a “burger on this grill”
However, it seems to me that Obama’s policy towards Israel and Gaza would be enlightened if he had his two young daughters live for a while in Sderot and Ashkelon.