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Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-peres-qa-20100623,0,5997266,full.story
Peres Defends Israel's Policies as Vital to Security
(Los Angeles Times) Edmund Sanders - Israeli President Shimon Peres said Tuesday: "I've seen reports about the situation in Gaza and the narrative was extremely negative. But when you looked at the people, they dressed properly. The markets were full. It was a contradiction. It's not by accident that there was not a humanitarian crisis. We felt responsible. But Hamas is the one who destroyed everything. That is being forgotten." "We'd hoped that once out of there [after Israel's 2005 unilateral disengagement from Gaza], we would be out. But once we left Gaza, we couldn't understand why they were bombing us. We were seriously surprised by the reaction. I still don't understand. If the rulers of Gaza would demilitarize and de-terrorize Gaza, there would not be a problem." "We agreed to a two-state solution. We agreed to ease the situation in the West Bank. We are easing the situation in Gaza. And there are still acts of terror. Countries that have to fight terror understand what we are doing. Countries that read about it don't understand. It's very hard for a person in Switzerland to understand. But the United States, they understand. We have a biography that no one else has. In 62 years, we've been attacked seven times in an attempt to [destroy] us." Q: Some Palestinians have called Gaza one big concentration camp. Peres: "How? We left Gaza and didn't leave any guards behind. Have you heard of a concentration camp that fires thousands of rockets at us?"