Hamas opposing aid in Gaza

Israel is putting a lot of effort into getting aid into Gaza, but Hamas is making it difficult. The Jerusalem Post explains what is happening now with aid.

The IDF plans to open more crossing points into Gaza starting on Wednesday, in an effort to vastly increase aid to the civilian population. …

The IDF now hopes to open the grain chute at the Karni crossing, a major passage way for goods …

On Monday, the IDF opened the chute at Karni for a test run during which 23 truckloads of grain were sent into Gaza, according to Lerner.

It was shut on Tuesday, however, after the army found a tunnel on the Gaza side, meant to be used for a mine attack.

On Wednesday the IDF hopes to open the chute for the passage of 60 truckloads of grain.

That’s not quite what you hear in the media over here. Aren’t the Palestinians crying out for aid and the naughty Israeli’s letting them starve? Yet according to the J-post, it is Hamas standing in the way. Read on, and you’ll find out about Kerem Shalom, where much aid is sent through:

Nor is this a risk free operation, he said. Hamas has been known to shoot mortars over the wall.

Should there be an attack, he suggested that it would be wise to seek safety in the white concrete room at the edge of the lot.

“On one hand, we want to let the aid in, but it is a difficult situation when they start lobbing mortars at us,” he said.

Hamas also:

• Steals trucks of food aid and sells it to the highest bidders.
• Fires rockets from a school during a humanitarian cease-fire (intended to allow aid to be distributed).
• Probably directly attacks UN aid convoys, killing some workers. The mainstream media initially blamed Israel for this incident but I haven’t seen any corrections published now more facts have emerged (who attacked them is still disputed but it certainly wasn’t an Israeli tank), so most of the world still thinks Israel has attacked the aid convoys.
• Uses mosques and schools to attack Israel, and meets in a hospital, directly endangering their fellow Palestinians by requiring Israel to attack these sites if they are to attack Hamas.

I’ll stop the list there, but it would be easy to go on. Please, local media, some balance would be great.

David Farrar advertising Moslem wives

Here’s a rather interesting screenshot from Kiwiblog today, click for a larger view:

I didn’t expect to see Moslem wives being advertised there! Interesting article by the way, a Turkish cafe owner kicked out some Israeli women as a protest against the Gaza war. I would have no problem with this (the cafe is his own property after all) if it were also ok for to kick Moslems out as a protest against Hamas. But I wouldn’t want to try that in NZ, you’d get in too much trouble. Crazy double standard.

Maori Flag on Waitangi day

John Key has given the OK to flying a Maori separatist flag on the Auckland Harbour Bridge and government buildings on Waitangi day, provided the iwi can agree on a flag and explain its meaning. The idea seems to be that as there are two flagpoles on the bridge, one would fly the NZ flag and one the Maori one, symbolising that Waitangi was an agreement between Maori and the Crown.

But this is nonsense. If you wanted to symbolise that, you’d fly the Union Jack and the Maori flag – Waitangi was an agreement between the British government and the Maori.

Note however that it was an agreement with the Maori of the day, NOT with the modern separatist movement. The Maori of the day agreed to a union, therefore the majority were NOT separatist and would probably DISAGREE with this Maori flag.

Or you would just fly the NZ flag, as we already do. The NZ flag already symbolises the fact that the British only formed part of the makeup of NZ, as the Union Jack is only a corner of the NZ flag.

Waitangi was when this country became one nation. To start flying flags representing separate groups undermines the entire purpose of the Treaty. We should be flying the flag of the country formed by the Treaty of Waitangi – New Zealand.