name: Yuram Abdullah Weiler
Comments and thoughts of an American Muslim on US Foreign policy in the Middle East and the so-called War on Terror,examining the contradictions from a perspective of justice, fairness and human rights.
Gaza...And the Siege Goes On
25 January, 2008
“The closure of the Gaza power plant, in addition to Israel's continuing tightened siege of the Gaza Strip, will have a catastrophic effect on the 1.5 million residents of Gaza, who are already suffering chronic shortages of fuel, medicine and some basic food stuffs. The Director of Gaza's main Shiffa hospital describes the current situation as "Potentially disastrous."”[1]
There is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that is not being addressed. This small strip of land adjacent to Egypt is under an on-going siege and the population is suffering. People are going without food, water, medicine, heat and other necessities that we in the West take for granted.
The siege is being carried out by the Israeli government whose military receives over $3 Billion[2] from US Taxpayers each year, making all Americans accomplices in what some are calling mass collective punishment[3] of the Palestinian people and others, ethnic cleansing and genocide.[4] Additionally, Gaza is just a subset of an ongoing problem that now encompasses over 4.5 million people in 5 Middle East countries[5] with a refugee diaspora that extends to Australia, Brazil, Denmark, and Canada, with the largest community outside the Middle East the United States.[6]
Here are some disturbing facts about Gaza. From 29 September 2000 to 17 November 2007,
1804 Palestinians Civilians have been killed by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) 11300 Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) 2931 Palestinian homes were totally demolished 2848 Palestinian homes were partially demolished,Approximately 13% of Gaza’s agricultural land has been leveled.Source: PCHR[7]
Gaza has over 480,000 refugees in 8 refugee camps within the narrow confines of its borders. 1.5 million people dwell within an area of only 360 square kilometers (141 square miles), giving its refugee camps among the highest population densities in the world. Over 200,000 refugees came to Gaza as a result of the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Jaffa and surrounding area as well as Be’er Sheva and the Negev.[8]
What is life like for a refugee in Gaza? Here is an excerpt from a letter written by Najwa Sheikh Ahmad, a Palestinian refugee who lives in Nusairat Refugee Camp in Gaza:
“My son Mustafa asked me if we would remain without electricity forever. "Perhaps," I replied. Then my five-year-old son Ahmed said that he wished he had a spaceship so he could leave the whole universe - not just the earth. I felt sad - aged only five and six my children have already had enough of this life.”[9]
The refusal of the Israeli government to come to any agreement ending its 40 year occupation, let alone to address such issues as Palestinian rights of return to the lands that they were deprived of with the establishment of Israel, has resulted in what the UN calls “The worlds oldest and largest protracted refugee situation.”
“Today, there are at least 33 so-called "protracted refugee situations" involving groups of 25,000 people or more who have been in exile for over five years. According to UNHCR data, altogether they account for 5.7 million of the world's 9.2 million refugees. Those figures do not include the world's oldest and largest protracted refugee situation, Palestinian refugees.”[10]
Surely the leader of the world’s richest and most powerful nation has the ability to put pressure on the Israeli government to end the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. But no such pressure seems to be forthcoming. In fact, it is said that President Bush gave Prime Minister Olmert the green light to intensify the siege of Gaza during his recent Middle East trip.[11]
Recently, Bush made the following comment at a press conference in Ramallah, in the Occupied West Bank of Palestine.
“You’ll be happy to hear that my motorcade of a mere 45 cars was able to make it through without being stopped, but I’m not so exactly sure that’s what happens to the average Palestinian“.[12]
Not only do “average” Palestinians experience inconvenience, detention and humiliation at Israeli checkpoints, but 108 have died while trying to pass through them,[13] and the President of the United States has the audacity to make light of it! His insensitivity and callousness towards the plight of the average Palestinian is appalling. His disconnection and indifference is painfully obvious and frightening.
Predictably, Prime Minister Olmert accused Hamas of exaggerating the severity of the crisis in Gaza, implying that the Gazans themselves are to blame.
"We will not allow a humanitarian catastrophe, but we have no intention of making their lives easier ... As far as I'm concerned, the residents of Gaza can walk, and they will not get gasoline because they have a murderous, terrorist regime."[14]
We could be making every effort to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but we are not. Tired of hearing empty rhetoric about peace plans from officials, a few brave Palestinians took matters into their own hands and blew a hole in the prison-like border wall near Rafah.[15] This allowed some trapped Gazans to escape the Israeli siege and seek food, water and medical attention in Egypt. With the Israeli forces moving in for the kill and the obvious indifference of the Western powers, what else could the people of Gaza do?
Yuram Abdullah Weiler
2008-24-01
[1] Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, PCHR Calls On the International Community to Prevent a Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza, 21 Jan 2008, http://www.pchrgaza.ps/files/PressR/English/2008/21-01-2008.html (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[2] Frida Berrigan and William D. Hartung, U.S. Military Assistance and Arms Transfers to Israel: U.S. Aid, Companies Fuel Israeli Military, World Policy Institute, 20 July 2006, http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/israel.lebanon.FINAL2.pdf (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[3] Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council, 22 Jan 2008, http://www.pchrgaza.ps/Interventions/submisson_un.pdf (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[4] Ilan Pappe, Palestine 2007: Genocide in Gaza, Ethnic Cleansing in the West Bank, The Electronic Intifada, 11 Jan 2007, http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6374.shtml (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[5] UNRWA: UNRWA in Figures, 30 Jun 2007, http://www.un.org/unrwa/publications/pdf/uif-june07.pdf (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[6] The Palestinian Diaspora: A History of Dispossession, Global Exchange, 2 Oct 2005, http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/mideast/palestine/refugeeFacts.html (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[7] PCHR, Statistics related to Al Aqsa Intifada: 29 Sept 2000 - updated 12 Nov 2007, http://www.pchrgaza.ps/alaqsaintifada.html (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[8] UNRWA: Palestine Refugees, Gaza Refugee Camp Profiles, 31 Dec 2006, http://www.un.org/unrwa/refugees/gaza.html (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[9] UNRWA: Refugee Stories, Letters From Gaza (1), Jan 2008, http://www.un.org/unrwa/refugees/stories/2008/LFG_01.html (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[10] UNHCR, Protracted refugee situations: Millions caught in limbo, with no solutions in sight, 2006 Report, http://www.un.org/events/tenstories/story.asp?storyID=2600 (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[11] Gil Ronen, Bush to Olmert: Hit Gaza Without Hitting Civilians, Arutz Sheva, 24 Jan 2008, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124891 (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[12] Gaffe overshadows Bush visit, Al Jazeera, 10 Jan 2008, http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A197001F-06FF-407C-918B-8A1B2E2D7C1E.htm (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[13] Palestinians who died at checkpoints, Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, 12 Dec 2007 http://www.phrmg.org/phrmg%20documents/Died%20at%20checkpoints/Died%20at%20Checkpoints-%20English.htm (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[14] Herb Keinon, Yaakov Katz And Jpost.Com Staff, Israel eases its siege of Gaza, Jerusalem Post, 22 Jan 2008, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1200572506982&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)
[15] Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights Call Upon Israel, Egypt and the International Community to Resolve the Crisis at the Rafah Border Crossing, 23 Jan 2008, http://www.pchrgaza.ps/files/PressR/English/2008/23-01-2008.html (Accessed 24 Jan 2008)