Walking back to his house from the rubble of his neighbor's home, Mr. Cohen, the former religious affairs official in Gaza, curses Hamas and also what he sees as missteps that allowed Islamists to put down deep roots in Gaza.
He recalls a 1970s meeting with a traditional Islamic cleric who wanted Israel to stop cooperating with the Muslim Brotherhood followers of Sheikh Yassin: "He told me: 'You are going to have big regrets in 20 or 30 years.' He was right."
And Mr. Basil A. Eleiwa blames at least some on Hamas.
But Hamas?? WHO are they? Lets investigate a bit:
Thanks to the Mossad, Israel's "Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks", the Hamas was allowed to reinforce its presence in the occupied territories. Meanwhile, Arafat's Fatah Movement for National Liberation as well as the Palestinian Left were subjected to the most brutal form of repression and intimidation
Let us not forget that it was Israel, which in fact created Hamas. According to Zeev Sternell, historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, "Israel thought that it was a smart ploy to push the Islamists against the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO)".
Well.. According to the owner of The roots club: Mr. Basil A. Eleiwa, it doesn`t seem to be that rosy
Life for Gazans
Eleiwa, who opened Roots the Restaurant shortly before the Gaza withdrawal, calls himself "a normal businessman'' with no particular ideology. His wife is Gaza correspondent for Al-Arabiya, the moderate Mideast satellite TV network to which Barack Obama gave his first interview as U.S. president.
When Hamas won parliamentary elections a few months after the pullout, Eleiwa thought the group's reputation for honesty and social service would help transform the notoriously corrupt, inept Palestinian Authority.
"I'm not Hamas and I'm not for Hamas,'' he says, "but for me, having Hamas in our legislative council was a good sign that it would control all those corrupt people.''
Instead, a brutal power struggle between Hamas and the rival Fatah Party ended in 2007 with Fatah controlling the West Bank and Hamas, the Gaza Strip. Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist led to an economic blockade of Gaza that has devastated Roots and other businesses, nearly 3,000 of which have closed in the past few years.
With Israel refusing to admit what it considers "nonpriority'' items, Eleiwa's restaurant is often unable to get whipped cream, cheeses, even canned juices and Coca-Cola. Despite his qualms, he joined thousands of other Gazans who now rely on goods smuggled in from Egypt through underground tunnels.
"We used to get 24 cans of Coke from Israel at 40 shekels ($10),'' he says. "We ended up paying 107 shekels a box for less good quality soda from Egypt.''
Trying to hang on to his customers, mostly upper middle class professionals unable to leave Gaza, Eleiwa refuses to raise menu prices as his own costs jump. By cutting hours, he has kept all 75 employees, knowing that hundreds of people depend on Roots for their livelihood. But for the first time, he is seriously considering a move to Cairo.
"All my life I've been accused of being ultra optimistic," he says, "but now I find it extremely difficult to be optimistic.''
Eleiwa is still convinced that Palestinians have a just cause, one that would be helped immeasurably, he says, if their own leaders weren't at each other's throats. He also criticizes Israel for not doing enough to advance peace, though he acknowledges that withdrawing from Gaza gave Palestinians a chance to prove they could manage their affairs.
Says Eleiwa truefully: "It was a golden opportunity.
For those who feel it is difficult to break a relationship, help is on the way...
For only 10 dollars you can sign up on an internet site, and they will phone your boy/girlfriend and tell them that the relationship is over! All you have to do is give the phonenumber and a reason for the break up.
If you are engaged the price is 25 dollars - and married people can get the message through to their husband/wife for 50 dollars.
One extra service is, that you can get the call taped and set up on the site. (Just to make sure they understood )
In the category you can also find BreakUpEmail - where the same procedure takes place, just through mail. You describe why you don`t want to continue the relationship, enter the mail address of the person you don`t want to see anymore and voila! They send the mail for you. This site has approximately 5000 visitors each day!
Smartphone owners has an alternative option: download the application Erase Ur X to your phone. Now tell the message to the soon to come x and press send. In one instant the message is sent and all pics, previous messages and contactinfo are erased in the same instant. ZIPPPPP
How would you feel to get a message from an anonymous person that your wife wants a divorce?? And you are even put out in public how your response was??
I think it is a very cruel way to "get rid" of persons - just like garbage
u2Kitty Forum Posts (974)
Right??
RE: America is recovering! Obama deserves Credit and not Nagging liers!
Now thats what I call a decent man(What a shame that you are considering yourself republican)