A Speaker’s View on Gaza, Israeli Withdrawal and Hamas

I want to start with the accusation of the occupation.

Uh, Israel was minding its own business ever since it existed.

It wa- it reached out to the Arabic world.

It wanted to have peace with the Arabic world.

In 1964, when the PLO, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, was founded, the West Bank was in the hands of Jordan, it was Jordan, and Gaza was in the hands of Egypt, it was Egypt.

So the PLO was founded in 1964, not because of any occupation.

They wanted to drive the Jews into the sea and get rid of every single Jew in the Middle East.

Israel tried repeatedly. The only reason the Palestinian lost the, in '67, and they lost Gaza and the West Bank, is because they preempted an attack against Israel.

And over and over again, Israel reached out to them to make peace with them.

In 2000, Ehud Barak offered them 97% of the territories back, and they refused it again and again and again.

In 2005, when Israel withdrew out of Gaza, they said, "Okay, we're gonna give you your own state.

We're gonna give you your own territory."

Israel forcibly removed its own people, fighting the IDF, by force, removed them out of Gaza.

Not only removed the people, they dug out dead Jews' bones from the cemeteries because they knew exactly what the Palestinians are gonna do to the cemeteries.

So in 2005, when Israel withdrew out of Gaza, there wasn't one Jew alive or dead in Gaza.

They turned over the key to them and said, "Okay, great.

Now build your own place. You are independent."

I know people that they... Israel even left them the greenhouses.

Israel was exporting 50 million flowers to Europe in 2004 out of Gaza.

The greenhouses, the fruits, the vegetables, the flowers, they left them to the Palestinians so the Palestinians can start a, uh, uh, they can have an industry where they can support themselves.

I know a businessman from New York who even raised 14 million dollars to make sure the Palestinians will be able to get paid salaries as they move over and they continue building the greenhouses.

And what did the Palestinians do within 24 hours after Israel withdrew?

Not only they destroyed every single Jewish synagogue in the area, they destroyed the greenhouses, ripped out the pipe, and even stole the copper out of the pipe.

And then they had an election. So they, in their first election, the first woman elected to the cabinet of Hamas was a woman by the name Omni Dal, the mother of Umm al-Muqawama, they called her, the mother of the resistance.

And she ran on the platform, "I killed three of my sons," because she had videos of her sons, uh, she dressing them in suicide bomb, uh, bombers to go kill Israelis.

She said, "I already gave up three for the cause.

I have another seven to give." That's why she was elected.

So that's the democratic election for Hamas.

Israel did not put the Palestinians in a prison in Gaza.

Hamas put the Palestinians in a prison in Gaza.

Gaza could have been turned into Pa- into Singapore.

They had the money. They had more money pouring into the Palestinian territories, and still do, from all over the world.

And what did they do with it? Build a tunnel infrastructure underneath, bigger than the subway system in New York, instead of helping their people.

So those who scream about the occupation, occupation, the Palestinians have brought this on themselves again and again and again. Wow.