A gem of an idea

As the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza nears, so too do preparations for anticipated victory clebrations. The Palestinian withdrawal committee has begun to hang banners throughout Gaza city, proclaiming proudly "today Gaza, tommorow the West Bank and Jerusalem."

Now, according to the latest press release from the PA:

"With less than two weeks before Israel's evacuates it Gaza colonies, Palestinians are preparing to reclaim their land. Under the slogan, Gaza -Reclaiming Our Gem, Palestinians are distributing stickers and posters.

OK, so far so good. I have no problem with stickers (though I'm sure the poor blokes will have to sweep the streets the next morning may disagree).

'We plan to wave 20,000 Palestinian flags during the evacuation. This will be a time for Palestinians to join together under one banner - thePalestinian flag" the PA Minister of Civil Affairs, Muhammad Dahlancommented.

Thousands of t-shirts, pants and hats are also being made in factories allthroughout the Gaza Strip, employing 1,800 Palestinians. These clothing articles will be worn by thousands of Palestinians during the course of theevacuation. "

Ok , I"m going to pause here for a moment. Pants?! Did I just read the correctly? Is it just me, or is it difficult to imagine thousands of Palestinian men wearing pants that read something like...to suggest what the PA folks chose as their slogan..."reclaiming my gem." Yikes.

The shirts read, "Our land has returned to us - let's protect it" and call for Palestinians to rebuild the Gaza Strip following Israel's 38-year colonization of the area and depletion of natural resources.

Now that I agree with. Though we may only be aggravating the problem by mass-producing stickers that will likely end up on the city streets.

No word yet on what those pants will read, though.