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Strangling Gaza
By César Chelala
12/16/07 "ICH"
-- -- -It could, rightfully, be a cause of shame to the world. But the
world, besieged by violence and injustice, hardly notices it.
The people of Gaza, 1.4 million of them, are slowly and
purposely being deprived of basic foods and medicines by the so
called civilized countries in the West and there is hardly a
protest. And all this happens because the people in Gaza want to
be free and independent. Never mind that in the process children
and innocent civilians are killed or families dispossessed.
Dr. Mona Elfarra, a Palestinian physician and human rights
activist, thus describes a situation in her personal blog, “I
don’t know exactly what was going on inside the little heads of
the kids who were preparatory school children, of Al Buriege
boy’s preparatory school. But the two tiny bodies were shot,
with many bullets, as I was told by my colleagues at the
emergency room at the Al Aqsa hospital…On November 10, the
dreams of two tiny kids has stopped forever.”
As Dr. Elfarra states, both the children as well as the Israeli
soldiers who killed them are victims of the occupation, “…the
occupation that deprives the soldiers of their humanity, when
under the false pretence of Israeli security, daily crimes are
committed against my country. And against my people.” This is
particularly true in the lack of food and medicines for the
people in Gaza.
Most of the basic goods in Gaza are imported. Because of border
closures, there is limited delivery of those goods, in
particular sugar and wheat flour, which represent 80 percent of
the caloric intake of Palestinians. The majority of the
population depends on food aid from international organizations.
At the same time, the flow of exports leaving Gaza has
practically stopped, while the commercial and humanitarian goods
allowed to come in continues to decline. The Gaza Strip is
practically sealed off from the outside world. Approximately 80
percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day. It is
estimated that 70 percent of the potential workforce is out of
work or without pay. The Gaza Strip is not receiving tax monies
owed to by Israel, which amounts to almost half of its budget.
Also critical is the public health and medical situation of the
inhabitants of the Strip. The World Health Organization (WHO)
indicates that the public health system is facing an
unprecedented crisis. UNICEF reports that children are living in
an environment of extreme violence, insecurity and fear.
Shelling and sonic bombs have increased children’s signs of
distress and exhaustion.
UN agencies have appealed for Israel to restore full energy
supplies to the Gaza Strip, stating their concern over the
status of the public health system. “In the last months, the
situation has become intolerable, with problems of referral
outside of Gaza for patients who need specialized care that
cannot be delivered in Gaza,” states Dr. Ambroggio Manenti, head
of the WHO office for the West Bank and Gaza.
The Israeli government General Security Service (Shabak) cites
unspecified “security concerns” when denying medical patients
exit permits from Gaza, a situation that has been denounced by
Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel.)
“Israel denial of medical care to those in urgent need amounts
to collective punishment against the population, which violates
international law,” states Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Human
Rights Watch Middle East division.
In June, PHR-Israel and Gisha, another Israel-based human rights
group, challenged Israel’s restrictions on medical evacuees in
Israel’s Supreme Court. One of those denied permission to leave
Gaza was a 16-year-old girl with a heart condition. “Israel has
legitimate security concerns about militant groups firing
rockets from Gaza into civilian areas. But denying medical
treatment to a 16-year-old girl with a congenital heart defect
doesn’t make Israel any safer,” said Leah Whitson.
Leah Whitson’s words are confirmed by Gideon Levy, the Israeli
journalist, writing in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “But we
have no right to do what we are doing. Just as no one would
conceive of killing the residents of an entire neighborhood, to
harass and incarcerate it because of a few criminals living
there, there is no justification for abusing an entire people in
the name of our security. The question of whether ending the
occupation would threaten or strengthen Israel’s security is
irrelevant. There are not, and cannot be, any preconditions for
restoring justice.”
César Chelala, an international public health consultant, is the
foreign correspondent for The Middle East Times (Australia.) He
is also a co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award.
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