LOC22:28
19:28 GMT
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 23 (KUNA) -- John Ging, the Director of Operations in
UNRWA, on Friday warned that if Gazans don't get justice following the Israeli
aggression on the Strip and if the crossings are not opened now, before a
political solution is found, Extremism will inevitably grow among the
civilians.
"We are now facing a big test. The extremists are telling the people here
cynically that they should not expect to get justice through the rule of law
and civilized processes. They are saying to them they should go with them. The
only place where they will find justice is at the end of a gun or the end of a
rocket. They are cultivating a violent mentatlity," Ging told a press
conference via a video link from Gaza.
"Doing the same thing in the same way will get us back to the same place
and nobody wants this to reoccur," he warned.
He noted that people are "increrasingly angry about what has happened here.
That is perfectly understandable. But we want to channel the emotions now into
something constructive and positive. We have to create a prospective,"
otherwise those who are bent on Extremism will follow their leaders.
To avoid that, he said, the "focus should be on the issue of
accountability, so we have to restrore confidence that there will be
accountability to the rule of law for civilians on both sides of this conflcit.
"
"There is a lot of cynicism here that it will be achieved," he noted. "But
if we don't, then we are defeated by the extremists. It's as simple as that."
Focus, he added, should also be on restoring a dignified existence to the
people, and the "key there is (opening) the crossing points."
"Our message is very simple. There are political operations and security
challenges to opening up the crossing points. But it is time to put the
people's interest before all."
This approach, he recalled, was called for by the Quartet last year and by
the US three years ago, but "it was not delivered."
"Access is the key to everything. Now we need that key turned so that the
crossings are all open. It should not be distracted by the political debates
of the last three years. They have had their time and have resulted in
horrific failutre," he stressed. (end)
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