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| Two US Congressmen Visit Gaza |
| 2009-02-19 |
| Two U.S. lawmakers traveled to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Thursday, the first congressional delegation to enter the area since the Islamic militant group took power nearly two years ago. The Democratic congressmen, Brian Baird of Washington and Keith Ellison of Minnesota, were in Gaza early Thursday, the U.S. consulate said. no comment available from WHouse or Dept of State Consulate spokeswoman Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm said the lawmakers would meet with United Nations officials. There were no plans to meet with Hamas, which the U.S. shuns as a terrorist group. Visits by U.S. officials to Gaza have been rare since Palestinian militants blew up an American diplomatic convoy in October 2003, killing three people, and no American representatives have gone since Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006. The group violently seized control of Gaza the following year. |
| Posted by:mhw |
| #9 Kerry's going to Gaza, has it ever snowed in Gaza before now? |
| Posted by: Rednek Jim 2009-02-19 20:40 |
| #8 Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry Yo - Massachusetts, representin'... |
| Posted by: Raj 2009-02-19 15:31 |
| #7 Wouldn't it be nice if they just stayed there? |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-02-19 13:53 |
| #6 Ellison is, in a sense, doing a Haj because some of his constituents identify him as a Fatah Stooge when they want him to be a Hamas stooge. |
| Posted by: mhw 2009-02-19 10:41 |
| #5 Corrections accepted with thanks. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-02-19 10:31 |
| #4 That would be the honourable Representative Ellison (CAIR, MN). No, tw. That would be the honourable Representative Haji Ellison (CAIR, MN). |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2009-02-19 10:14 |
| #3 What's the big deal, TW? Ellison's just visiting his constituency. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-02-19 10:13 |
| #2 That would be the honourable Representative Ellison (CAIR, MN). I wonder what the FBI knows about him that his voters don't... or perhaps, given who he represents, they don't care. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-02-19 10:09 |
| #1 Make that three... Bethlehem – Ma’an – Three US members of Congress made a rare visit to the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the first of its kind to Gaza in at least four years. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry arrived in the coastal enclave shortly after members of Congress Brian Baird of Washington and Keith Ellison. Listening to Jawn drone on for a couple of hours should really make them want to kill Americans... Speaking at the rubble of the American International School in Gaza, which was leveled by and Israeli airstrike in January, Kerry said, “We have no meetings with anyone from Hamas and we will not change our political program. We are here to take the first hand the facts on the ground.” Kinda like when ya didn't meet with the North Vietnamese in Paris, right, Jawn... The three visited the Izbet Abed Rabo area, which was devastated by shelling during Israel’s three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip in December and January. They also held a meeting with UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen Abu Zayed. Psssst...you guys wanna buy a bag of rice? How about a 500 pound bomb? Get ya a good deal. I know some people... Ahmad Yousif, a former political advisor to de facto Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh welcomed the visit saying, “This visit does not have political dimensions but rather purely humanitarian aiming at checking the disastrous facts caused by the Israeli war on Gaza.” I thought you guy's won? “This visit is similar to previous visits of parliamentarians to the area,” he added. Yousif said that he would not oppose meeting with the Americans, although no meeting is scheduled. “We do not mind holding a meeting with him in case he wants to work of communicating the image to America on the vision of the movement [Hamas].” Yeah. "Vision". Democrats love "vision"... Kerry, a Democrat, was the runner up in the 2004 US presidential election. Or, as we say in this country, the "loser"... Ellison is the first Muslim member of the US House of Representatives. He was elected in 2006. Former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney attempted to travel to Gaza by sea in December, but the ship was rammed by an Israeli gunboat and diverted to Lebanon. Believe me, they did you a favor... In 2008, former US President Jimmy Carter was denied permission to enter Gaza by the Israeli government. Carter did meet Hamas officials in Syria and Egypt. ...and he'll be ready to jump on a plane whenever you give the word. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-02-19 09:50 |