- After Hamas' January 25, 2006 electoral victory, Israel
targeted Gaza oppressively. All outside aid was cut off. Sanctions and
an economic embargo were imposed, and the democratically elected government
was falsely called a terrorist organization and isolated. Stepped up repression
followed along with repeated IDF incursions, attacks, killings, targeted
assassinations, arrests, destruction of property and more in a pattern
all too familiar to Palestinians for over six decades. Gazans are imprisoned
in their own land and have been traumatized for months. In June 2007, things
got worse after Israel placed the Territory under siege - described by
some as medieval because of its extreme harshness.
-
- On June 14, 2007, collaboratively with Israel and the
US, Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas declared a "state
of emergency," illegally dismissed Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh
and his national unity government, and appointed his own prime minister
and new "emergency" cabinet. Authority is now split. Abbas runs
the West Bank. Hamas governs Gaza while Israel controls everything - land,
sea, air, movement inside and between the Territories, the population registry,
family unification, and all goods and services in and from Occupied Palestine.
Especially Gaza under siege for nearly 14 months and solely dependent on
Israel for its fuel, electricity and gas. Other essentials as well.
-
- Hamas remains isolated. It's called a "hostile entity,"
and after last September 19 was squeezed by tightened sanctions. Electricity,
fuel and gas were reduced and intermittently cut off. So were supplies
of food, medicines, water and other essentials. Its industrial production
dropped 95%, and its agricultural output is about half its pre-2007 level.
Nearly all construction also stopped, and according to a new UN Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) report,
poverty tops 50% and unemployment is nearly as high. Other unofficial estimates
say 80% for both is more accurate. Things are bad and worsening.
-
- Shops are short of everything because Israel allows in
only nine basic materials. Their availability is spotty, and some essentials
are banned like:
-
- -- certain medicines; -- restricted food items like fruit,
milk and other dairy products, wheat flour, rice, sugar, salt, cooking
oil, and frozen foods;
-
- -- cleaning materials;
-
- -- agricultural samplings; -- herbicides and pesticides;
-- footwear; -- clothing; -- fabrics, threads, and buttons; -- construction
materials: cement, tin, iron, plastic pipes, asbestos, wood, nails, screws,
wires, paint, etc.;
-
- -- spare parts and supplies for manufacturing goods;
-
- -- electrical appliances;
-
- -- office equipment and supplies;
-
- -- livestock and fodder;
-
- -- books;
-
- -- computers;
-
- -- telephones and mobiles;
-
- -- spare parts for communication devices;
-
- -- tobacco and cigarettes;
-
- -- beverages;
-
- -- all types of motor vehicles, including spare parts
(batteries, tires, engine oil, etc.);
-
- -- elevators and their spare parts; -- water pumps and
their spare parts; and
-
- -- the import or export of raw materials for industry,
construction and agriculture - virtually everything a modern society needs
to function and survive.
-
- Compared to 9000 commodities imported before June 2007,
now it's only 20. People don't get enough to eat, and conditions keep getting
worse. Even fishing is restricted, idling thousands of local fishermen
because anyone in open waters risks detention and harassment.
-
- Power is in short supply - affecting hospitals, fresh
water availability, sanitation, and the functioning of daily life under
conditions of extreme duress. Families (including spouses) are also cut
off. Some live in Gaza, others in the West Bank and Israel, and all endure
prolonged separation after authorities prohibited travel from one area
to the other and imposed sweeping restrictions on Egyptian and Jordanian
crossings.
-
- Earlier, family unification was denied after the Knesset
passed the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (July 2003). It bars Palestinians
in the Territories with an Israeli spouse from getting citizenship or residency
status in Israel so families can live together.
-
- Thousands of married couples and their children are affected
- forced to remain apart or leave Israel. The new law solely targets Palestinians.
It's discriminatory, illegal, racist, unrelated to security, and one of
many collective punishment acts. Besides the law, Israeli Arabs married
to Gazans are barred from entering the Territory to visit families.
-
- Here's a brief snapshot of Gaza. It measures 360 square
kilometers in area or about half the size of Chicago for its 1.5 million
residents - in the world's largest and most congested open-air prison.
Over 40% of them live in eight densely overcrowded refugee camps, and in
the best of times, their conditions are inadequate, adverse and sometimes
grim. Under siege, they're intolerable.
-
- International law (including the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention)
obligates occupying powers to protect civilian populations. Its Article
3(1) specifically states:
-
- "Persons taking no active part in the hostilities,
including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those
placed hors de combat (out of action) by sickness, wounds, detention, or
any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without
any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex,
birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria."
-
- Israel disdains the law and disagrees. After its 2005
"disengagement," it denied all "responsibility for Palestinians
in the Gaza Strip" even though the argument is baseless under international
humanitarian and human rights laws. Their language and interpretation are
clear and require occupiers to ensure the safety and welfare of people
they "effective(ly) control" - even if their forces have no fixed
presence in their territory. Israeli security forces have total control
over Gaza and the West Bank and operate freely in both Territories. They
invade and maraud, secure their borders, key points of entry, air space,
and for Gaza its coastline and open waters.
-
- Under Fourth Geneva law, Israel is obligated to protect
all Palestinians - especially the sick, wounded, children under 15, pregnant
women, the elderly, infirm and disabled. It must also allow free passage
of food, medicines and other essentials, let medical teams provide help,
and refrain from imposing collective punishment and de facto martial law.
The (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights goes further, and Israel
is a signatory. It recognizes the right of every person to freedom of movement,
work, an adequate standard of living, education, proper health care, and
a normal family life. Its Article 1 states that "All human beings
are born free and equal in dignity and rights" - including ones under
occupation or "effective(ly) control(led)" by another state.
-
- Israeli Human Rights Violations
-
- In January 2008, John Dugard, the UN Human Rights Council's
Special Rapporteur on Palestine prepared a scathing indictment of Israel's
human rights violations. Leading human and civil rights organizations have
their own like the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), B'Tselem,
the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), and the Alternative Information
Center (AIC). It's an "internationally oriented, progressive, joint
Palestinian - Israeli activist organization" (disseminating) information,
political advocacy, grassroots activism and critical analysis of"
Palestinian - Israeli societies and the conflict.
-
- Its March 9, 2008 report is called: "The Gaza Strip:
A Humanitarian Implosion." Here are some highlights:
-
- -- Gaza conditions are the worst ever under occupation;
they're entirely "manmade," avoidable, and with political will
reversible;
-
- -- Gazans are effectively imprisoned; movement in and
out of the Territory is "impossible;" food, water, health care,
sewage treatment, sanitation and other essentials "can no longer be
taken for granted;"
-
- -- because of the siege and economic collapse, there's
"little money to buy food and limited food to buy;" rising prices
exacerbate the problem;
-
- -- trucks carrying commercial and humanitarian supplies
into Gaza have "plummeted" - from around 250 a day pre-crisis
to a maximum of 45 a day or less;
-
- -- extreme poverty levels have "increased sharply"
making 80% of Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid when it's available
- a 10-fold increase in the last decade; in 2007, households (on average)
spent about 62% of their income on food;
-
- -- 95% of Gaza's industrial operations shut down because
production inputs aren't available and border closures prevent exports;
construction is "paralysed;" agriculture "badly hit;"
unemployment and poverty skyrocketed; in September 2000, 24,000 Gazans
worked in Israel; today none do;
-
- -- the siege destroyed public service infrastructure;
Israel prevents repairs and maintenance; spare parts imports are prohibited;
electricity and fuel are severely restricted; hospitals and public institutions
can't function properly; power cuts last 8 - 12 hours daily; 40 - 50 or
more million liters of partially and untreated sewage are daily dumped
in the sea;
-
- -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) says its higher - up to 60 million liters daily; in addition,
raw sewage is being pumped into heavily populated areas, including three
million liters recently into the Jabaliya camp storm water lagoon;
-
- -- since Israel bombed Gaza's power plant (in June 2006),
it functions at one-third of capacity but needs fuel to operate;
-
- -- the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) provides
drinking water and treats sewage; with limited electricity, fuel, maintenance
and spare parts, the network can't function adequately; as a result, nearly
one-third of Gazans have no running water; pre-siege, they all did;
-
- -- education is so undermined that classes are cancelled;
dropout rates are high because families can't afford to send their children
to school; for those attending, school days are shortened; textbooks and
other resources are in short supply; and failure rates are nearly 80%;
90% in math;
-
- -- healthcare has deteriorated markedly - inside Gaza
and in access to outside treatment; Gazans needing special treatment are
denied exit permits; patients are dying for lack of care, including children;
-
- -- Israel's siege "effectively dismantled the economy
and impoverished" its people; "ordinary men, women and children"
are collectively punished in violation of international and humanitarian
law; these measures also hamper the "broader peace process itself;"
-
- -- Israel effectively controls Gaza; it's obligated to
protect its people but instead punishes them by its: military presence,
attacks, extra-judicial assassinations, land and infrastructure destruction,
restrictions on movement, lack of drinking water, food, medical care and
other essentials, unemployment, impoverishment, and barriers to education;
-
- -- isolating Hamas has been counterproductive; it's failed
"at all levels;" a new strategy of engagement is needed: condemn
the siege; go public on the humanitarian crisis; pressure Israel to end
it; provide adequate emergency help; reactivate Gaza's economy; enforce
international law; and work towards "an inclusive (productive) political
process."
-
- The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights also monitors Gaza's
siege. It calls itself "a (non-partisan) Palestinian (NGO) based in"
Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp with a mandate "to promote, protect and
prevent violations of human rights in general and economic, social and
cultural (ECS) rights in particular; to provide effective aid to those
victims of such violations; and to enhance the quality of (community) life
in marginalized (Gaza) sectors." It also provides legal aid and advocacy
and raises awareness of the continued state of violence, repression and
desperate conditions in Occupied Palestine, particularly in Gaza under
siege.
-
- On April 8, it produced a scathing report called "Worst
Year under Occupation: 2008 1st Quarter Report on (Israeli) Violations
of Human Rights in the Gaza Strip." Below are its highlights:
-
- -- during the first quarter of 2008, Gaza experienced
an "unprecedented escalation" of human rights violations - principally
caused by a "serious increase" in IDF international law breaches;
-
- -- the level of 247 killings exceeded the combined totals
reached for the 2005 through 2007 first quarter periods; they nearly equal
all of them for 2007;
-
- -- public and private property destruction greatly increased;
dunums of agricultural land destroyed as well;
-
- -- Gaza's economy was crushed; the number of poor and
unemployed doubled reaching "unprecedented levels" - the worst
ever under occupation;
-
- -- the international community remains silent in the
face of systematic, "strangulating" collective punishment on
an unprecedented scale; the lives and well-being of Gazans are affected
in all ways imaginable;
-
- -- the number of Gazans victimized and their material
losses show the extent of violations under international law; the international
community's failure to intervene made current conditions possible;
-
- -- Al Mezan condems Israel's "aggression" and
"gross human rights violations;" they're willful crimes of war
and against humanity and one of the most extreme examples ever of collective
punishment against a civilian population; Al Mazen calls on the international
community to intervene - to "investigate, pursue and prosecute those
who ordered and/or perpetrated (these) crimes."
-
- US Special Middle East Envoy Criticizes Administration
Policy
-
- Last November, former NATO commander, (retired) General
James Jones, was named the administration's special Middle East envoy with
this endorsement: he's the "person we need to take up this vital mission....an
experienced leader who can address the regional security challenges comprehensively
and at the highest levels...." His assignment: draft a strategic security
stabilization plan to complement Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
-
- Word is now out about a report Jones is preparing that
his superiors won't like. Nor will Israelis. According to Haaretz (on July
22), it's "extremely critical....of Israel's policies in the territories
and its attitude toward the Palestinian Authority's (PA) security services"
- President Mahmoud Abbas' repressive shock troops doing Israel's dirty
work and targeting Hamas in Gaza and its supporters in the West Bank.
-
- Administration officials have a draft summary, and it's
"arousing considerable discomfort. (It's) conclusions about Israel
are scathing (and those who've seen it say it) make(s) Israel look very
bad" in at least two respects:
-
- -- it's "fairly broad definition" of West Bank
security "under any final-status agreement," and
-
- -- "its attitude toward the PA security services."
-
- That's not all. Jones criticizes Washington as well.
He blames administration figures for failing "to reform PA security
services," not coordinating them, and not preparing them to "enforc(e)
the law in the West Bank." Hamas controls Gaza. Administration officials
and Israelis want the report buried, but Jones will apparently publish
it in full. So far, its contents aren't public, and only hints about it
are being discussed.
-
- Gaza Under Siege: "an atrocity, a crime, an abomination"
- Jimmy Carter
-
- That was Carter's assessment in an April 17 speech at
the American University in Cairo. Palestinians are being "starved
to death," and US efforts to undermine Hamas are counterproductive.
In late May, he went further on a visit to the Welsh town of Hay by calling
on EU nations to break with Washington over the siege - "one of the
greatest human rights crimes on earth (and) to see Europeans going along
with this is embarrassing." He called on EU leaders to reassess their
position if Hamas agrees to a ceasefire - and that's what's likely behind
his trip and comments, although Carter knows Hamas unilaterally observed
months of ceasefire in the past and again declared one on June 19. What
then is Carter up to?
-
- Last April, he met with Khaled Meshaal (Hamas' exiled
leader) in Damascus at the behest of Israel and the Bush administration
- not on his own or as the media said was despite fierce opposition to
his trip. High-level envoys never diverge from state policy or act independently.
Where they go, who they see, and what they say have a purpose, but it's
not always apparent. Carter in part explained it in a comment to the London
Guardian that "The top opinion pollster in Ramallah (said) that opinion
on the West Bank is shifting to Hamas, because people believe Fatah sold
out to Israel and the US."
-
- For Washington and Israel, avoiding that possibility
is crucial, but more importantly, the nightmarish scenario of a united
Arab front (or a unified Muslim one) against the West should the Bush administration
and/or Israel attack Iran, Syria and/or Hezbollah in Lebanon. A wider war
is very possible, but planners know the risk - inciting the whole region
or worse yet letting it become WW III.
-
- Washington's and Israeli strategy may be shifting, but
not for any humanitarian concerns. Keeping Gaza under siege and letting
Hamas' support grow isn't benefitting their imperial project. But it hasn't
helped Gazans either, and nothing hints it will any time soon.
-
- A Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) Narrative
Under Siege - "Swimming in Sewage"
-
- It's one of many PCHR accounts to show how Gazans' lives
have deteriorated under siege. It begins as follows: "I think the
sea probably is polluted. Sometimes I get strange white marks on my skin;
but we come down to the beach each day because we have nowhere else to
go." That's Salim's voice speaking for himself and his friends. They
go to Gaza City beach, and one of the boys today holds a plastic bottle
with small fish and a crab inside. The fish are dead, and here's why. Close
by, a "sewage pipe pours mucky water into streams of dark waste that
flow towards the sea" where the boys swim.
-
- People flock to beaches in summer because it's hot, but
some of them are "swimming in sewage." According to the UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 60 million
liters of untreated and partially treated sewage pour into the sea around
Gaza City daily - because fuel and electricity supplies are spotty, and
conditions months ago became desperate. According to an OCHA worker, "the
sea is (getting) dirtier and more contaminated because of chronic (fuel
and spare parts) shortages. (We) need 14 days of uninterrupted power in
order to run a proper sewage treatment cycle, for the sake of Gaza's public
health."
-
- The Gaza Coastal Municipal Water Utility (CMWU) supplies
the Territory's water and manages its three sewage treatment plants. Because
of power and spare parts shortages, unfiltered tap water is saline and
undrinkable, and sewage plants can't function normally. It forces CMWU
to dump raw sewage into the sea so it doesn't flood residential areas.
-
- Concern is great and growing. The World Health Organization
(WHO) took samples from 30 Gaza shore sites to test for human and animal
fecal contaminants. It found 13 areas covering seven beaches polluted and
unsuitable for swimming, including three beaches along central and southern
Gaza and four others around Gaza City. The beach where Samer and his friends
swim is one of them.
-
- WHO warned that "Waterborne outbreaks are....to
be avoided because of their capacity to result in the simultaneous infection
of a high proportion of (the) community" - most notably with gastroenteritis,
ear and eye infections, dermatitis, dysentery, respiratory and urinary
tract infections, guardia, and e-coli strains. These pathogens cause these
diseases and death, so it's crucial to avoid them.
-
- Gaza can't do it without enough fuel and electricity
and a major upgrading of its plants and equipment. PCHR Head of the Economic
and Social Rights Unit, Khalil Shaheen, says: Israeli "restrictions
are a clear violation of the universal right to health and....a clean environment.
Under international humanitarian law, Israel, as an occupying power, is
obligated to facilitate access to all (essential to life) amenities. Access
to clean drinking (and sea) water are....basic human rights."
-
- Israel is unresponsive. The siege continues. Essential
to life needs go unfilled. Health conditions keep deteriorating, and Gaza's
undrinkable tap water and contaminated sea water are two reasons why. Nothing
is being done to remediate them, and Gazans are forced to endure.
-
- Activists Plan to "breach the (Gaza) siege"
-
- On August 6 or 7, about 40 unarmed activist members of
the International Solidarity Movement, the Israeli Commission against House
Demolitions and others will depart Cyprus on two wooden sailboats - to
"get into the Gaza harbor and breach the siege." On board will
be an 81 year Catholic nun, an 83 year old Holocaust survivor, a Nakba
survivor, an Israeli professor, Palestinians from Gaza, 16 nationalities,
four religions, the international press, and reportedly three members of
the European Parliament. Private boats were invited to join them.
-
- "The IDF will probably stop us but part of the point
is to show that Gaza is closed off," according to spokesperson Angela
Godfrey-Goldstein. The IDF's Spokesman's Office didn't comment on what
if any counteraction it would take. However, Israeli ships regularly patrol
coastal waters and deny all vessels access to Gaza in violation of international
law.
-
- NGOs Worldwide Call for An End to Gaza's Siege
-
- The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is one
of many. It's a "growing alliance of trade unions, community groups,
faith groups, women and youth organisations, NGOs and other campaigners
working together across more than 100 national platforms....to end poverty,
inequality," injustice and human suffering. It cites deep concern
about Gaza's 1.5 million people suffering under Israel's siege and calls
for its end. It wants world leaders and the Security Council to demand
that Israel "abide by international and humanitarian law and UN resolutions....immediately
(end) its (collective punishment) policy," and halt its Gaza siege.
-
- Other NGOs voice similar demands:
-
- -- in January 2007, 8 Israeli human rights organizations
collaboratively joined an international campaign to end Gaza's siege immediately;
they are:
-
- (1) The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI);
-
- (2) Amnesty-Israel;
-
- (3) Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights;
-
- (4) Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement;
-
- (5) Hamoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual;
-
- (6) The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI);
-
- (7) Physicians for Human Rights - Israel; and
-
- (8) Yesh Din - Volunteers for Human Rights.
-
- Others have as well:
-
- -- Gaza's Culture and Free Thought Association says:
"We are living in fear of the devastation of our society. (Gaza's)
siege is a terrible crime....tell the world - don't say you didn't know;"
-
- -- the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC)
says: "The blockade makes export impossible so farmers are abandoning
their crops; Israeli incursions result in huge destruction to lands and
enterprises; almost every industry in Gaza is facing ruin; this collective
punishment must end;"
-
- -- the Palestinian Medical Relief Society says: "Gaza
alone without the West Bank cannot survive; it needs free borders and access;
1.5 million people cut off with no trade or water, it's impossible;"
-
- -- the Women's Affairs Centre says: "Gaza is a prison;"
its people are trapped, and "the result is violence;" not just
"factional violence, domestic violence is also increasing;" and
-
- The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) says:
"How can Gaza be a normal place; how can we live a normal life here....(we
need) free movement between Gaza and the West Bank and open access to the
outside world;"
-
- Many others worldwide as well call for;
-
- -- ending Gaza's siege; -- Israel's illegal isolation
policy; -- the right to work and an adequate standard of living;
-
- -- the right to health;
-
- -- education;
-
- -- life; and
-
- -- 41 illegal years of occupation.
-
- The world no longer can wait. Neither can the people
of Gaza, the West Bank and their growing numbers of supporters worldwide.
-
- Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre
for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
-
- Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
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