The 'Peace Maker' Speaks And A Nation Chokes

Talking about the current crisis in Palestine, Tony Blair said this:

"It's a critical time for all of us who want to see progress and we want to see progress because people are indeed suffering, your people the Palestinian people are suffering, the security of the region is affected, and you demonstrated by the speech that you gave, that you do not want anything to stand in the way of helping the Palestinian people to make progress."

Ah, that old Blairite phrase 'progress'. The people of Palestine are indeed suffering, but this is what Blair and Bush wanted. After all, they backed the punitive action taken against the people of Palestine for voting for Hamas. The consequences led to the following:


over 165,000 civil servants not being paid for six months
businesses closing
people buying sugar and tea on credit
hospitals running out of money, resulting in patients dying
the economy of Palestine being taken back 13 years
rubbish collection, sanitation and sewerage systems in other urban centres under threat
2.4 million Palestinians living under the poverty line
The average monthly household income declining from 644 to 343 dollars.

Leading to Condoleezza Rice claiming that:

the economic boycott on the Hamas-led Palestinian government is effective and the international community will continue to maintain the boycott.

Not to mention the funding and military training thrown at the groups opposed to Hamas. This funding has come directly from the US government and has been used to purchase military hardware by groups supportive of Abbas.

Little wonder the people of Palestine are suffering. No doubt they will be choking on the latest attempts by Blair to act as a 'peace broker'.