Tuesday, November 30, 2010



Israel is still starving the people of Gaza

Six months ago, following its murder of civilians on the MV Mavi Marmara, Israel announced that it was "easing" its economic blockade of Gaza.

Bullshit:

There has been "little improvement" for people in Gaza since Israel announced it was easing its economic blockade of the territory six months ago.

That is the verdict of a new report by aid agencies and rights groups working inside the Palestinian territory.

[...]

"Only a fraction of the aid needed has made it to the civilians trapped in Gaza by the blockade," said Jeremy Hobbs, Director of Oxfam International.

"Israel's failure to live up to its commitments and the lack of international action to lift the blockade are depriving Palestinians in Gaza of access to clean water, electricity, jobs and a peaceful future," Mr Hobbs added.

Meanwhile, the BBC reminds us all of why the blockade was imposed: not (as Israel claims publicly) to "prevent terrorism", but "as part of a policy of 'deliberately reducing' basic goods for people in Gaza in order to put pressure on Hamas" - that is, starving the Palestinians because they voted for a government the Israelis didn't like. That's their own government's policy, BTW, released under Israel’s freedom of information law; they condemn themselves out of their own mouths.

Starving civilians in order to achieve your political aims is immoral. When thugs like Mugabe do it, we rightly accuse them of perpetrating a crime against humanity. The same should apply to Israel.