VOA News reports that aid headed for Gaza has been stopped in Rafah, Egypt and that it is unknown as to whether or not the supplies will reach desperate Gazans. The British Parliamentarian George Galloway organized the initiative but the degree of its success remains in limbo.
I find it very interesting that international efforts to bring aid into Gaza continue to meet resistance despite the recent and highly disproportionate increases in violence between Hamas and Israel. Concerns that foreign aid could be used to the benefit of Hamas are used to justify the denial of aid to Gaza, but when the general population of the strip has been significantly impacted by the violence, I find it difficult to believe that the quality of life for Gazans has any presence on Israeli or Egyptian government agendas.
ok it's Iraq but it's interesting
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Here is a link to a blog put up by Morgan on a different Blog. There are a
number of entries that tie more to your topic than theirs. Enjoy.
15 years ago
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I also find the resistance very interesting, this Reuter's video has a similar story: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS123389360955 At the end it explains that Israel is allowing food and medicine to reach Gaza, but building materials and cash could help Hamas rearm.
ReplyDeleteAnother connected video: http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUS123486140218._CH_.2400 demonstrates a similar situation where Palestinians are reduced to living in temporary shelters. Without foreign aid to rebuilt homes, these tent communities will most likely persist.
It is always the individual human level that is ignored in conflicts such as these. Palestinians have to live with only the most basic necessities, despite willing and available aid.
I think that your last statement, "despite willing and available aid" is the essential point in this discussion. Is it rational or even morally acceptable for the international community to continue ignoring the fact that Israel is actively preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza? If humanitarian organizations and NGOs have offered, at no significant cost to Israel, to distribute aid to needy Gazans, is it anyone's/country's responsibility to ensure that the aid is received by those who need it and not prevented from reaching Palestine? Beyond the typical "security" and "rearmament of Hamas" justifications, does Israel have any legitimate reason for blockading Palestine?
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