Dignité on the last leg of voyage to Gaza: Small French ship carrying message that cannot be silenced

[ ATHENS] The Steering Committee of Freedom Flotilla II: Stay Human can confirm, that after anchoring in international waters overnight, the French-flagged ship Dignité / Karama has commenced the last leg of its voyage to Gaza. We wish all on board well and remind Israel to refrain from interfering with our vessel as it makes its way through the illegal and immoral sea blockade it has imposed on the Gaza Strip.

It is in large part because the Dignité commenced its voyage from a French port and the French government refused to interfere with this civilian human rights initiative that the ship continues its mission. The Dignité and its passengers – from France, Canada, Greece, Sweden, and Tunisa – represent a flotilla that was delayed by acts of sabotage and by an egregious act of complicity by the Greek government with Israel’s human rights violations and policy towards Gaza that the International Committee of the Red Cross determined to be “collective punishment.” But they also represent the steadfastness and determination of the flotilla movement to sail until the blockade is broken. The idea that Freedom Flotilla II could be stopped misunderstands the nature of this non-violent movement and its strength of purpose.

Despite most of the ships being unable to leave Greek ports, the flotilla nonetheless managed to highlight the vicious nature of Israel’s policy towards Gaza. Israeli leaders showed their willingness to use intimidation, lies, economic blackmail, threats of violence, and sabotage to stop boats that Israeli military officials admitted would not be carrying weapons. This clearly demonstrates that Israel’s blockade of Gaza is not based on “security”, but is meant to punish the Palestinian people, denying their freedom and keeping them cut off from the rest of the world.

Israel believes itself untouchable and continues its affront to humanity as a result of the international community’s failure to take tangible measures to defend Palestinian human rights. Indeed, as we have seen recently in Greece, some significant players – including the EU and the US – are even directly complicit in Israel’s crimes. This is why international civil society has mobilized to take direct action.

We cannot predict how Israel will behave as the Dignité approaches Gaza but we can say that – just as Israeli threats and violence have failed in the past to deter non-violent global solidarity with the people of Palestine – those on board this small French ship intend to reach their destination. The Dignité carries a message of solidarity and human empathy from the people of the world to the people of Gaza, and all of Palestine, that Israel’s violence can never silence.

While the Dignité continues to sail to Gaza, proving that the will of global civil society cannot be intimidated, the remaining ships in Freedom Flotilla II: Stay Human are regrouping to fulfill our obligations to the besieged people of Gaza and to the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people around the world who funded and organized this act of solidarity.

As long as the illegal blockade of Gaza remains in place, ships will sail to confront it; as long as Israel continues its occupation, colonization, and violent repression of Palestinians and our governments are silent about it, the global solidarity movement will mobilize to challenge it directly.

History shows that Israel is running out of options; we are only getting stronger.

Actually, history shows that:

• The Gaza blockade is entirely legal under international law
• The flotillards have not one shred of evidence that Israel used “economic blackmail, threats of violence, and sabotage to stop boats.”
• Nowhere did Israeli military officials admit the ships would not be carrying weapons
• The flotillards are anything but “non-violent”
• The flotillards are the last people who should be lecturing on human rights, given their silence on terror attacks against Israelis, and with whom they have climbed into bed  

And finally, history will show that the flotillards are on the wrong side of history.

“We believe that the movement will grow stronger each time we are thwarted”

“If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine”

Thanks to Carl for the photo and quote from Larudee.

The small French-flagged ship, MV Dignite, is currently making its way to Gaza, carrying citizens from Canada, France, Greece, Israel, Sweden and Tunisia. The people on board not only represent the hundreds that were planning to sail as part of Freedom Flotilla II, but the millions around the world that stand against Israel’s illegal policies and ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people.

Greece shamefully prevented 8 Freedom Flotilla ships from sailing from its ports, then tried to mask its complicity in Israel’s illegal blockade by offering to deliver the Flotilla’s aid to Gaza in coordination with Israel.

Greece offers to deliver the flotilla’s humanitarian aid to Gaza in coordination with Israel? Who do they think they are?

He recently came out with a new song, if I can call it that. 

That was so bad, it actually sounds better in German.

Not wunderbar.

Update: Meanwhile, I paid a visit to Anis’ site – Anis Online – and this photo stuck out.

Creepy!

Not to mention the killing of Jewish-Arab actor Juliano Mer Khamis.

Vittorio and Israel’s attack on the Intellectual Intifada
The intellectual intifada under attack.
By: Lauren Booth

The killing of Vittorio (Vik) Arrigoni in Gaza this weeks follows (too) closely, the murder of pro-Palestinian peace activist Juliano Mer Khamis in the West Bank. Juliano, 52, was shot dead outside the Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp on the West Bank on the 4th April. His documentary Arnas’s Children detailed the work of his mother in helping Palestinian children deal with the trauma of living under Occupation through the use of drama and self – expression.

Juliano was untimely, bloody, end was one he had predicted three years ago on Israeli television.

Vittorio Arrigoni was found, this week, hung, by armed ‘fanatics’ in an apartment in Gaza. An end he would never, ever, have predicted.

There was worldwide condemnation for the killing of both men.

For friends of Vik, touched forever by his deep, smile filled voice, the pain of loss is made more acute by two factors. The first is the brutal manner of his death. For, Vik, was a gentle giant. A Samson in size and appearance, black curly hair about his rugged face. HIs arm muscles, there to scoop up a passing child, or wave the Palestinian flag at a moments notice, in the face of Israeli sniper fire, aimed at farmers attempting to harvest crops, or at fishing the coastal Gazan waters.

That a man dedicated to non violent resistance should die in violence is bad enough.

Worse, far worse is this; That his avowed enemies the ‘Fascisti’ in Israel (as he would call the government there) seek to make political gains from a life lived in direct challenge to them. This, as much as the sight of that last, dreadful film showing his eyes taped and his face bruised, is a knife in the heart of all who loved or knew of him.

The headline ‘Italian peace activist killed by Palestinian extremists’ is an Israeli propagandists wet dream. A gift as potentially large in its political implications as the now inevitable retraction by the UN of the Goldstone report.

Why?

Two reasons. firstly, if nothing is done, and fast, Israel will use the momentum of these two machinated events, as an excuse to re invade the Gaza Strip under the auspices of ‘terrorism and security’ issues.

Secondly, Israeli is seeking to end the growing momentum of the siege breaking movement and the increasing appeal of the ISM (International Solidarity Movement).

Which brings us to timing of both Juliano and Vittorio’s murders. Both men were respected for their creative work. Juliano, for inspiring a new generation of actors and writers in Jenin and for his film making on the subject of life under Occupation.
Vik for his award winning writings and broadcasts, on the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza.

Both men were part of a new uprising, arguably, the most successful yet. The uprising that hurts Israel where it hurts most – in the TV studios of Europe and the US, right in the intelligentsia. Their impact on the Israel ‘fascisti’ machine was a phenomenon in the expanding worlds of twitter and facebook. They had voices like no others in this movement.

More though. Vik was pivotal in the reformation of the ISM Gaza Group, the non violent resistance team, put on hold after the murders of two of its members by Israeli forces ; Tom Hurndall and Rachel Corrie. After it became clear that Israel’s leaders had taken the decision not only not to ignore the human rights of internationals in the West Bank and Gaza (thus putting them on a par with Palestinians), but to actively target them. The ISM in Gaza took time to consider whether it could encourage, young activists to join them on the ever increasingly mission to accompany Gazans about their daily business. Human shield work. Tom Hurndall and Rachel Corrie’s deaths were part of a dedicated attack by Israel on the work of the increasingly effective ISM.

More recently, IOF commanders have been focusing their attention on the Freegaza Movements efforts to break the siege of Gaza by sea.

It is no coincidence then that both Juliano and Vittorio should die within two weeks. Both, at the hands of unknown Palestinian ‘cells.’ As they say on children’s TV – tell us boys and girls what’s wrong with this picture?

Israel’s supporters will doubtless feel affronted at the assertion that Vittorio was murdered by those almost certainly in the pay of the Jewish State. But they can’t have their dark ops cake and eat it too. Not this time. Too many of us have our eyes open to the filthy tactics employed by Israel every time they come under intellectual attack. And there is no doubt that Israeli Apartheid is losing traction by the day.

Still unsure who was behind Vittorio’s murder? Well, how often have the Israeli press lauded and applauded ‘covert ops’ in the Occupied Territories? Want some examples? Fine. In 1952, Shin Bet agents were sent undercover to spy inside Palestinian villages. Ten Jewish men assimilated into Arab communities in the early 1950s, marrying local women and starting families with them, were, all the while serving in the Shin Bet as “mistaarvim,” literally- masqueraders. The men learned the Palestinian dialect, studied the Quran and espionage techniques in an Intelligence Corps base near Ramla. With a detailed cover story, they were sent into Palestinian villages and cities pretending to be refugees from the Nakba returning home.

Just this year, Israel has carried out an assassination in Dubai of a Hamas member (or as it was known in the British media – the ‘passports scandal’). Mossad operatives have kidnapped a Palestinian engineer from the Ukraine, who is now, illegally held in an Israeli prison.

And what of the sadistic coercion that Palestinians with chronic illnesses have been subjected to by Shin Bet? Known in Gaza as treachery for treatment? A Palestinian patient requests a permit from the Israeli- Palestinian Civil Liaisons Department to be allowed to travel from Gaza to the West Bank or Israel for an operation. After exhausting efforts, patients receive permits and go to Erez. Prominent human rights centres report that Shin Bet officers,then attempt to coerce and entrap patients, to do dirty work for them in their home towns and villages in return for rapid and/or ongoing medial treatment. Yes folks, spies-for-health.

Israel then, ‘has form’ when it comes to lying, murdering, and coercion, for its own ends.

As Hamas rounds up the perpetrators of this most recent, deadly crime, the Gaza grapevine is buzzing with the news that they will indeed be found to be, (as suspected from the get-go), Israeli collaborators.

Statements of denial from the ‘Salafis’ accused of the murder have already been issued. Despite the fact the Western media is still running with the story of their guilt.

There were statements from Tawid wal – Jihad and Ma’sadat al- Mujahedin  An excerpt from a statement read,  “we strongly deny any responsibility for or connection to the kidnapping of the Italian (Vittorio Arrigoni)… Our statements are distributed exclusively through Shoumouk al – Islam, Attahadi Network and the Ansar al-Mujahideen Network…Any statement attributed to us that are not released through these channels, have nothing to do with us, even if they are published on Jihadi websites…”

So, who benefits from the killing of Vittorio Arrigoni? And what is the significance of the timing of his murder?

Well, if it smells like s***t and looks like s**t it almost certainly is – Israel.

Sure, the kidnappers’ video looked genuine at first. It had all the customary layout of the kind of ‘Jihadi’ videos that the tabloid press loves: the black flag of Islam, the Quranic verse in the introduction, footage of the kidnapped victim. But a small detail on the black flag, underneath the precious, Islamically untouchable phrase ‘There is No God, but God’ raises questions about the authenticity of the groups grasp on Islam. The extra words read something like “the Brigades of Muhammad Ibn Maslama.” This has been hard for experts to verify because the video is being systematically pulled off YouTube. But one thing is certain;
‘Jihadis’ never write ANYTHING on the flag besides La Ilaha Ila Allah.

Also unusual, was the lack of customary logos of the Jihadi media distribution channels: Shoumoukh al-Islam, Ansar al-Mujahideen, Global Islamic Media Front, etc. (See the statement of denial above).

You know what, right now, who cares?

Vik; friend, solidarity activist, hero, author, is dead and his enemy is making gains from his life. A life dedicated to the opposition of Israeli Fascism.

So what can, what should be done, must be the focus now, not only of his friends, but of all those who support the cause of Palestinian justice.

It was in 2008, as a passenger of the Freegaza, that Vittorio arrived in Gaza for the first time. I had the pleasure of being one of the activists arriving, alongside him on that day. During the weeks preceding the successful crossing all of the passengers had considered Israel’s possible tactics for stopping a sea channel from effectively opening up. Two options seemed most likely.

A massively violent boarding of the ships, incurring several deaths, that would act as a warning to other potential voyagers not to sail

The option, I feared most. The use of on-the-ground collaborators to do Israel’s dirty work for them. A network of paid for ‘cells’ who would pick off activists one by one in the Gaza strip. Thus, both terrifying the solidarity movement AND providing Israel with some much needed beneficial headlines of the kind we have seen since Vik’s death.

We know all to well, the bloody massacre that took place last year on the Mavi Marmara, committed by Israeli forces.

Now, as the second Armada plans to chart the same course on or near the anniversary of that sailing, Israel is pulling out all the stops, in its efforts to stop, frighten, threaten and deter, hundreds more activists from taking action against their Apartheid state.

Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, Gaby Levy, has just asked the Turkish government to help halt the flotilla movement saying their sailing would be a “provocation.” Asked about the pressure, a Turkish foreign ministry official told Reuters: “We listened to the message given by the Israeli side and told them this is an initiative by civil society.”

The official did not elaborate.

Strike one, for Israel.

But the efforts continued.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on EU ambassadors in Jerusalem saying “This flotilla must be stopped.”
And there’s more. On April 1, Netahyahu’s office asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to stop the flotilla setting sail.
Netanyahu told Ban Ki-moon that the mission of ships was being organized by (guess who folks?) “Islamic extremist elements” intent on bringing about “a flare-up.”

Then, on Wednesday, the morally bankrupt, Silvio Berlusconi, told Israel Radio, that he would work to prevent the next flotilla bound for Gaza, from sailing.

Berlusconi said that a peaceful Middle East is farther from reality now than it ever has been before, adding that Israel has no viable peace partner. He even asserted that Israel is the only Middle Eastern country that the West can trust, and that Israel should join the European Union.

The next day, Vik was kidnapped.

The same night, before any realistic negotiations could take place for his release, Vik was murdered.

Feeling sick yet? Yeah, me too.

Because this was a hit. A hit carried out to intimidate, to frighten off those who have already signed up for the next flotilla to Gaza and may be traveling there for the first time, Those unsure of the exceptional good will and generosity of the people there. A good will Vik would tell you about.

If he were still here.

We mustn’t let the Israeli ‘fascisti’ succeed in their latest terror tactic. Early signs are that for all the pain Vik’s death has caused, all the tears that have flowed. that we, in the solidarity movement will only grow more determined, in light of this crime.

Since his death the ISM has reported a sharp rise in people wanting to go to Palestine.

Meanwhile,a Freegagza Movement contact, tells me that no one from the next convoy expected to include Turkish, Algerian, Scottish, Spanish, Dutch, Irish, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Jordanian, Malaysian, Indonesian, Swiss, US, Canadian, British and French nationals, has pulled out as a result of Vik’s murder.

And now, the incredible news comes; That Vik’s own mother will sail to Gaza on the next flotilla.

Agidea Prata told Italian news sources yesterday; “I want to see (the) Gaza that my son loved and sacrificed for, I want to meet the good people living there that my son Vik always talked about”.

Vittorio’s mother knew about the death threats Vittorio received from a right wing American group on their website. She also knew that he loved the people of Gaza with every ounce of his formidable strength, with his every smile, and his every waking moment.

Yesterday, organizers of the  Free Gaza flotilla announced that the coming voyage to Gaza will be named “ Freedom Flotilla – Stay Human” in honor of our fallen friend, Vittorio Arrigoni.

Now it’s time for the Palestinian leaders to pay a decent tribute to this great man. No. Scratch that. As Vik himself would say; it’s time for them to pay a decent tribute to ALL the fallen Palestinian martyrs.

What a great day it will be if in June, Agidea Prata, Vittorio’s mother, sails to Gaza to be met by a single, united, government.

Imagine it Vik. Abbas and Haniyeh side by side. One Palestine, one voice. One government able to stop Israel from infiltrating their midsts and murdering those who come in hope and solidarity.

As my dear, wonderful, strong, funny, friend, Vik would say
‘Come ON!’

Besides there being not one shred of evidence to implicate Israel, Booth is quick to accuse us.

Such is her hatred for Israel. To her, palestinians can do no wrong.

Not the palestinians who murdered the Fogels and their children.

Not the palestinians who fired an anti-aircraft missile in to a school bus.

Not the palestinians committing all kinds of atrocities against Israeli and even against their own people.

Lauren Booth, you are evil in a bloated shell.

Clara Walid Alawad, a 22 years old Political Sciences Palestinian student and member of "The March 15 Coalition," which was first created on Facebook, poses with a broken arm in a restaurant in Gaza City, on March 31, 2011. As Arab regimes face unprecedented uprisings, Palestinian youths have launched their own 'revolution,' seeking to end the bitter divide between Fatah and Hamas, but activists say they face regular harassment from Gaza's Islamist rulers. The group said most of them were beaten, injured and detained by Hamas and their demonstrations prohibited. THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images

Rest assured if this woman suffered a broken fingernail after slapping an IDF soldier, people like Lauren Booth, Jimmy Carter and the Free Gaza fools would be all over it. But criticize Hamas? Hell no.

Yet not a word about it from Free Gaza, George Galloway, Lauren Booth and their ilk.

That’s because mentioning it does not serve their anti-Israel agenda.

Gaza is lacking about 40 percent of basic medicines, the Hamas health minister said on Thursday, accusing the Palestinian Authority of withholding key stocks.

The charge was rejected by his opposite number in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA), who pointed the finger back at Hamas, saying the shortages were the result of “mismanagement.”

“The health situation in Gaza is very difficult, if there is any new Israeli war the situation will be catastrophic,” Hamas health minister Bassem Naim told AFP, saying the health services were missing 182 out of 450 basic types of medicine.

“This is because of a political decision by the government in Ramallah not to send it,” he said.

“If there is any Israeli war on Gaza, we will need this medicine immediately.”

—-

A source within the Hamas government blamed the shortage on a politically motivated decision within the Palestinian Authority, which is controlled by the rival Fatah movement.

“The Ramallah government doesn’t want to send the medical supplies because it helps Hamas,” the source told AFP, saying Hamas would issue an urgent appeal for international health organisations to pressure Ramallah into releasing the necessary supplies.

But Fathi Abu Mughli, health minister in the Palestinian Authority, insisted the Ramallah government was “fully committed” to the people of Gaza.

“We are continuously supplying medicines,” he told AFP. “Every two months we send between five and ten trucks loaded with medicine and equipment.”

Abu Mughli said the shortage was the result of “mismanagement” by the Hamas health ministry which had sacked some 1,600 ministry of health employees and replaced them with people “with no experience in dealing with or storing medicine.”

Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a bitter dispute since 2007, when the Islamists forced Fatah out of Gaza after days of bloody fighting.

Since then, the two sides have traded barbs over a number of issues, with Hamas regularly accusing the PA of withholding funds or key supplies in a bid to put the squeeze on Gaza’s Islamist government

Which is yet more proof that these people and organizations are not as much about helping the palestinians as they are about faciliating the destruction of Israel.

"Zionist Pig": One of the many ways Lieberman has been demonized.

During a phone conversation with British counterpart William Hague over the weekend, Lieberman said, “The Palestinians wasted nine months, and even on the tenth month they didn’t join the talks out of a genuine intent to reach an agreement, but because they were coerced.”

The foreign minister claimed the West Bank construction freeze was merely an “excuse” for the Palestinians to thwart the talks, adding that it was now the Palestinian Authority’s turn to prove its seriousness with regards to the peace talks.

“Those who look for excuses will find them even if the freeze is extended,” said Lieberman.

“Israel has made numerous gestures over the past year, and now it’s the Palestinians’ turn. Israel will gladly continue negotiating without preconditions, including those related to the moratorium.

Lieberman told Hague that the international community must support the negotiations by giving Israel incentives and refrain from increasing pressure on the Jewish state to make concessions.

Indeed. The international community needs to put pressure on the palestinians to implement a permanent terrorism and incitement freeze, not to mention recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:55PM: Hamas has approved a law permitting the death sentence for drug dealers and up to seven years behind bars for drug users.

9:50PM: Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has claimed the Bush administration was willing to immediately absorb 100,000 palestinian “refugees” as US citizens if a peace deal was reached between Israel and the palestinians.

The former premier told a Geneva Initiative conference in Tel Aviv that during negotiations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2008 he had offered a solution to the refugee problem that would have been in line with the Arab League peace plan and promised that any measures would be the result of a coordinated agreement.

The Bush administration had offered this American contribution to the refugee problem as part of what would be a framework of international compensation, he said.

“I think that if the refugees – many of whom are already second or third generation [Palestinians] living outside of the territories – were given a choice between returning to Israel or the United States, we could guess what they would choose,” he said.

Olmert emphasized that during his address to the Annapolis summit in 2007, he had become the first Israeli prime minister to publicly empathize with the suffering the Palestinians had endured over the years as a result of Israel’s operations.

The former prime minister said that every ruling Israeli government must accept the fact that peace negotiations would be based on the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders and would include a land exchange. Still, he stressed that both sides must realize that neither Palestinians or Israel would ever have full sovereignty over Jerusalem.

Boy am I glad this clown is no longer our Prime Minister.

3:56PM: Some worrying news:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted on Sunday that despite intensive diplomacy, Israel had failed to dissuade Russia from selling advanced missiles to Syria.

Speaking at Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu told ministers that Russian plans to go ahead with the delivery of P-800 anti-ship missiles to Syria was “problematic” for Israel.

“We have been aware of this deal for some time and there were discussions with the Russians at every level,” Netanyahu said.

Syria signed a deal to buy the P-800 Yakhont supersonic cruise missiles from Russia in 2007. Israel says the weapons pose significant danger to its naval vessels in the Mediterranean and could upset the strategic balance in the region.

“To our regret, the deal is now proceeding in stages and that is problematic for us,” Netanyahu said, adding that the Syrian missiles were part of the reason behind Israel’s recent decision to upgrade its air force with new American F-35 warplanes.

“We are dealing with a new arsenal of missiles and rockets and there has to be a military response to that,” he said.

Incidentally, the Hebrew word for ‘bad person’ is rasha (which sounds a lot like Russia).

Just sayin’.

2:42PM: Honest Reporting with an important find:

Remember the wrangling over the Gaza war’s casualty count, as Hamas and Israel argued over the definition of civilians?

Now, Hamas confirmed that there’s really no distinction between civilian police and “the resistance” groups who attack Israel. Time writes:

Referring to both the uniformed police and the plainclothes Internal Security, one civilian says, “They’re all Qassam.” The government does little to deny it. “Many of the Qassam operate within both the Qassam brigades and the Internal Security,” Interior Ministry spokesman Ehab al-Ghossain tells TIME. “In our laws, we do not prevent any resistance fighter from joining the police or a security service, provided that he is committed to the rules and regulations of the department he belongs to . . . We make sure that their activities, outside of their official jobs, remain separate.”

12:54PM: Last time we checked on the Crazy Water Park in Gaza, Hamas had ordered it to close down “due to men and women mixing at parties held in the park.”

Things have now gone from bad to worse.

Palestinians look at the damage at Crazy Water Park in Gaza City September 19, 2010. Masked gunman torched the three-month-old entertainment park in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Sunday after neutralizing guards, owners and police officials said. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

I am still awaiting condemnation from Free Gaza, the Gaza flotillards, Lauren Booth and the other usual suspects.

11:46AM: And to think I supported Holland in the recent World Cup.

9:54AM: My response to the Egyptian editor of Al-Ahram, regarding his excuse for the photoshopped image of Mubarak et al.

9:05AM: Anti-Israel “pro-Muslim” group CAIR is honoring antisemitic old hag Helen Thomas…for being an antisemitic old hag.

The longtime White House correspondent who resigned from Hearst newspapers in June in the wake of comments she made about Israel will receive a lifetime achievement award from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR is honoring Helen Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent and now 90 years old, at its Leadership Conference and 16th Annual Fundraising Banquet on Oct. 9 in Arlington, Va.

Speakers will also include Oxford Islamic studies scholar Tariq Ramadan.

Thomas started at the White House as a reporter during the Kennedy administration. In a video interview captured at a White House Jewish heritage event for RabbiLIVE.com that spread quickly across the Internet, Thomas advised Israeli Jews to get the hell out of Palestine and go home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else.

The White House Correspondents Association and the White House rebuked Thomas, and President Obama said she made the right call in stepping down for the offensive remarks.

Thomas later apologized, saying: I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.”

That’s one ugly woman – inside and out.

6:00AM: Breaking news: PA President Mahmoud Abbas threatens to quit..again.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is once again threatening to resign – this time if the direct peace talks fail, a senior PA official said over the weekend.

Despite Abbas’s latest threats, the PLO and Fatah have yet to start searching for a replacement, the official said.

During a recent meeting of the Fatah Central Committee, Abbas declared: “I have made a decision, and I will announce it at the appropriate time.”

The official told the London- based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper that members of the committee understood Abbas’s declaration as a new threat to resign.

Abbas has over the past few years repeatedly threatened to resign, each time for a different reason.

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