Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Gaza Closure? Naw, The Cuba Closure

As I had pointed out during the Flotilla Affair, there was no little hypocrisy going around in the criticism directed against Israel.

Turkey has an almost two-decades old closure and blockade of Armenia (not to mention its occupation of northern Cyprus) and America has one in place against Cuba for almost 60 years.

And now it is reported - and pay attention to what that US blockade means:

The Obama administration is getting ready to relax travel restrictions to Cuba for some Americans, without lifting the trade embargo and a ban on U.S. tourism to the island, a congressional aide said on Tuesday.

The small steps would make it easier for groups of Americans to once again go to the Communist island as part of academic, cultural or religious exchanges, as thousands of them did during the Clinton administration, the aide told Reuters.

Officials are trying to finish regulations...

Some Cuban-American lawmakers are adamantly opposed to improving U.S. ties with Communist Cuba, which have been in the diplomatic deep freeze most of the time since Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959...

Restrictions on money transfers may also be eased, making it easier for Americans to donate cash to Cuban organizations such as churches or community groups, the aide said.

U.S. sanctions against Cuba are aimed at encouraging democratic reform in the one-party state. Critics of the policy say they have failed to do so in almost 50 years in effect.


In other words, what Israel has in place against the Hamastan that is Gaza that actually does fire missiles against Israel - unlike that 1961 threat of Russian missiles in Cuba - can not be compared and yet the US blockade is much worse and harsh.

I so dislike hypocrisy.


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