Unless…

This, rather mundane these days headline, is repeated every week or so:

The U.N. Mideast envoy warned Wednesday of impending economic collapse in the Gaza Strip unless Israel reopens the Hamas-led territory’s main commercial crossing to the outside world to ease international isolation.

I’m sure that the writer did not mean anything but well, same as Michael Williams, the quoted UN envoy. And that the statement in its published form was crafted for brevity and for maximum impact. So, putting that “unless” on paper, the author of the statement had a tough choice to make. Either go the fool-proof, short and easy way (which was the eventual decision, obviously) or to make an effort and to say that unless:

• Hamas stops the attacks against Israel – both by its own members and by the other gangs
• Hamas stops the incessant attacks against and digging under the border crossings
• Hamas starts cooperating with Israel and international organizations that try to feed and to cure the people of Gaza

the tragic situation of 1.5 million citizens of Gaza will get worse and worse.

It must be said that, surprisingly, the UN envoy referred to some of the salient points:

Williams said Palestinian militants fired 192 rockets and mortar shells at Gaza’s crossings and into Israel in the last month. He said Hamas’ military wing was responsible for most of the attacks on the crossings, while Islamic Jihad fired most of the rockets and mortars into Israel.

However, the AP hack conveniently placed this text way down, where most of the readers do not arrive, getting first slightly incensed by the intransigence of these cruel Jooz and then bored by the whole damn subject.

And so the wheel turns…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.