The Gaza break-out
The biggest prison break-out in history is how many Gazans have been describing the events of the past few days 鈥 and if it hadn鈥檛 been for the turmoil in the world of finance, the resignation of a top British Cabinet minister, and the 鈥渙ops sorry, I seem to have lost 7 billion dollars of your money鈥 in Paris, we would probably have been paying a lot more attention to that teeming, over-crowded sliver of land between Israel and Egypt.
For nearly a year now, for the vast majority of the 1.5 million people of Gaza, it鈥檚 been impossible to leave. To the north and the east, Israel, which has been closed to all but the most essential freight traffic and the most urgent humanitarian cases. To the south, Egypt, which has similarly been closed. To the west, the sea, patrolled round the clock by Israeli naval vessels.
Then, last week, on the border with Egypt, someone blew a huge hole in the fence. The effect was not unlike breaching the Berlin wall. Thousands, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of Palestinians streamed across, desperate to buy anything they could lay their hands on: everything from petrol to livestock, from TVs to motor-cycles.
So now what? Israel wants the hole in the fence repaired pronto. It doesn鈥檛 like the idea of weapons and ammunition being smuggled into Gaza from Egypt and nor does Washington. (Egypt is the biggest recipient of US aid after Israel. That gives Washington quite a lot of clout in Cairo.)
Egypt isn鈥檛 too keen on the border remaining open either: it doesn鈥檛 like all those Hamas fighters making common cause with their fellow-Islamists in Egypt. But Hamas? This is the best thing to have happened to Hamas since it seized power in Gaza last summer 鈥 which is why many suspect it was Hamas who blew up the fence in the first place.
There鈥檚 talk now of Egypt trying to get Hamas and the rival Palestinian faction Fatah to sit down and discuss a plan for the future. Might Hamas be prepared to allow Fatah, in the guise of the Palestinian Authority, to take control of the border crossings? It鈥檚 possible, I suppose, but for now, and not for the first time, Hamas seem to have most of the cards.
Israel has legitimate security concerns. Hundreds of home-made 鈥淨assam鈥 rockets are launched from Gaza into Israel 鈥 one recently killed a kibbutz volunteer from Ecuador. In the border town of Sderot, people live in constant fear of the rockets, although only a tiny number have done any real damage.
As for the people of Gaza, they are in a state of constant anger and despair. Dozens have been killed in recent weeks, most of them fighters. But Israeli air attacks sometimes kill civilians as well as fighters, and Israel鈥檚 decision to cut off fuel supplies briefly, thus starving Gazans of any electricity, seems to have been the final straw.
Some Israeli officials have been suggesting that Israel would like to give up any responsibility for Gaza, now that its troops and settlers are long gone 鈥 but my understanding is that under international law Israel is still regarded as the 鈥渙ccupying power鈥 because it retains control over Gaza's airspace and coastline, and controls the flow of goods, including fuel and energy supplies, in and out of the territory. That means it has continuing responsibilities, whether it wants them or not.
It鈥檚 going to take some nimble diplomacy to resolve all this 鈥 and my hunch is it won鈥檛 be quick. Egypt really doesn鈥檛 want to be seen locking the people of Gaza back into their prison 鈥 or even worse, opening fire on them. But neither the US nor Israel will want things to stay as they are. Headaches all round.
I do applaud you taking time to cover this issue in such detail. Especially as this is minefield to cover with balance and impartiality, and no doubt many, many voices and special interests wanting to criticise words, phrases and infer you are preferring one side or another.
I think you are always commendably even-handed. The fact that I don't notice a particular bias reminds me of a particularly comfortable hotel or posh car- it is when you don't notice things [snags, problems, noise ] that one knows that some effort has gone in behind the scenes.
I may even be inspired to pushing Jeremy Bowen's book '6 days' up my reading list, instead of spending my time reading very good, if very light, John O' Farrell books.
Complain about this postAt last a blog on the 大象传媒 which allows all sides of the story to be heard, the first time I have ever read an article on the 大象传媒 which does not portray Hamas as some kind of romantic group of freedom fighters.
The blockade by Israel cannot be supported, however, I have yet to hear the Guardianistas coming up with a solution to stop the continued rocket attacks on Israel.
From my perspective this entire saga has been a clear attempt at propaganda by Hamas, the fact that the 大象传媒 had to tone down its own reports showed that the 大象传媒 overplayed its anti-Israeli bias, it took Al Jazz to actually provide real balance in the initial reporting.
The 大象传媒 also failed to report the fact that Egypt suffered numerous injuries and some deaths to its border police due to Hamas gunmen shooting at them, if it had been Israeli troops doing the firing we could have expected Bowen to be on all 大象传媒 news reports telling us all about it, yet because it was Muslim shooting Muslim the 大象传媒 failed to report it, what a shocking indictment of 大象传媒 bias.
I also note that the 大象传媒 has managed to win its appeal against releasing the Balen report, again the stench of anti-Israeli reporting seems to grow.
Complain about this postRumour (and a report in The Australian) has it that Hamas will next do the same to the wall with Israel. 100s of 1000s of Palestinians will stream through, back to the homes and farms and businesses they left so long ago. A named Israeli minister is saying they'll have to think of something quick. With Israel in dis-array, all the kiddies leaving, this whole tiresome affair could unravel in the next few months.
Complain about this postA few corrections and comments, Robin:
Complain about this post- The Ecuadorian kibbutz volunteer was shot, not killed by a rocket. He was killed by machine guns fired from Gaza at workers in the fields of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha. Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, a Hamas group, claim responsibility.
- Interesting that Israel's chain-link fence is usually referred to as a wall (or even, an 'apartheid' wall!), while Egypt's concrete wall is only referred to as a fence!
- The shut down of fuel supplies to Gaza did not 'starve' Gazans of electricity: only a proportion of electricity generation in Gaza depends on fuel from Israel - Gazans have made as much capital as possible out of a short power cut.
- An interesting aside on the Gaza wall breach: reports from Egypt today state that Bedouin have opened fire on Gazans in the town of al-Joura, attempting to force them back to Gaza.
- While it's true that rockets from Gaza have not caused as much damage as might be expected, several young children have been injured, most recently a 5-year-old and 8-year-old girls and a 2-year-old boy. Rockets have also hit the industrial zone of Ashkelon, marking a significant excalation in Gaza's attacks on Israel.
Freya David tries to play down the effect of blocking fuel supplies claiming the Gazans exaggerate. As I understand it, this is the situation......
Gaza's electrical energy needs in winter peak at 240 Megawatt (MW). Supply comes from three sources:
路 Israel 120 MW.
路 The Gaza power plant 70 MW.
路 Egypt 17 MW (this covers parts of Rafah only).
Total supply is 207 MW, which means that even if all sources are available there is still a 14% deficit.
When the Gaza plant shuts down due to the blockade of fuel oil supplies, the deficit becomes 45%, which mostly affects Gaza City.
In these circumstances, there is almost a total blackout when Israel pulls the electricity switch.
Shortage of LPG for heating puts additional strain on the already overloaded electricity network, which is not designed to cope with huge emergency fluctuations on a daily basis and is danger of collapsing.
Power cuts, of course, affect hospitals, clinics, sewage and domestic water pumps, with catastrophic consequences for public health.
Complain about this postWhen Andy Dyer writes "This whole tiresome affair could unravel in the next few months", is he referring to the state of Israel? Just in case there is anyone who still wants Israel to be destroyed, it is worth bearing in mind just how unlikely it is that the Jewish people will ever give up on their claim to their small territory. If they were to lose it, they would simply fight for it again. This "sorry affair" will never end until the world is willing to let Israel live in peace.
Complain about this postReading Stu Littlewood's figures, I do wonder why Israel provides Gaza with fuel at all, other than for purely humanitarian reasons. Let the rest of the world supply Gaza with all it needs. Why doesn't the EU do it, since they care so much? Or the Arab nations - who better than them to provide Gaza with all the fuel it wants? It is unreasonable to expect Israel to give anything at all to the Gazans when they are repaid with rockets.
Perhaps Jemima Stiles isn't aware that Israel is still technically the 'occupier' since it continues to occupy Gaza's airspace, coastal waters and airwaves, and seals the borders whenever it chooses, so under international law is responsible for the wellbeing of the citizens. The Israelis clearly don't take this obligation, like any others, seriously.
As we speak an aid convoy organised by Israeli human rights organisations, peace activists, and former military personnel, has been blocked for days. Many organisations have been trying to supply Gaza's desperate need for medicines, medical disposables and hospital equipment spares (e.g. for dialysis machines) but are prevented by Israel's siege.
Ms Stiles is like other apologists for Israel's inhuman conduct - they have little idea of what's really going on and are happy to feed on Tel Aviv's propaganda.
Complain about this postStu Littlewoood is filled with impassioned sympathy for the people of Gaza, supposedly suffering what Stu calls 'inhuman' treatment at the hands of the Israelis. But it really can't be that bad in Gaza, or they would stop firing the rockets. The 'siege', as Stu calls it, would then be lifted and all their free supplies and handouts would come rolling in again.
Complain about this postAnother reason for doubting that things are so very bad - when a big hole is blasted in Egypt's frontier wall, all the Gazans pour out. Are they seeking freedom, are they escaping from some hell? No, they are going shopping, and return to Gaza afterwards.
How silly. Of course the Gazans returned home. Who wants to make themselves a refugee in Egypt?
Complain about this postThe 'siege' is what everybody calls it, including the various charities and the UN rapporteur. Perhaps Jemima would prefer 'blockade'. Either way it's illegal and a war crime, and it's been going on for nearly 2 years, since Hamas was elected, just got even tighter recently. It has nothing to do with rockets - this from B'Tselem, the Israel human rights organisation: In 2007 Israeli security forces killed 373 Palestinians (290 in Gaza , 83 in the West Bank ), 53 among them minors. About 35 percent of those killed were civilians who were not taking part in the hostilities when killed. Palestinians killed seven Israeli civilians (three in a suicide attack in Eilat, two in Sderot by Qassam attacks, and two by gunfire in the West Bank ). This is the lowest number of Israeli civilian casualties since the beginning of the Intifada. Palestinians also killed six Israeli security forces.
It's all about crushing Hamas and punishing the civilian population for exercising their democratic choice. Not that bad in Gaza? Go see for yourself.
What happened Mr. Lustig, didn't you like my comment comparing people who consider suicide bombers who blow up civilians in shopping malls and restaurants, and people who launch rockets at other peoples' homes, as freedom fighters and national heros to rabid animals who should be caged and if not cured then euthanized for the safety of civilized society? I wonder how you would feel if one of your close relatives were killed by one of them or if their target was London instead of Israel. Should I have considered the IRA terrorists as freedom fighters too? Or was it that you just thought that some of your audience might be offended by such an obviously correct observation?
Complain about this post'It is prohibited to attack destroy remove or render useless objects indispensable to the sirvival of the civilian population such as foodstuffs crops livestock drinking water installations and supplies such as irrigation works for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population ... whatever the motive whether in order to starve out civilians to cause them to move away or for any other motive." Protocol 1 Additional to the Geneva COnvention 1977
Israel fails on all above counts. As for power which Gaza can supply it needs to import the wherewithal from Israel. When the power goes off so do the hospitals life support machines.
And when talking of missiles please remember Israel's US supplied bombs and the F-16's etc which rain them on homes and civilians.
Complain about this postFelicity #11
It's also prohibited to fire rockets at people's homes and to commit mass murder by exploding bombs in shopping malls and restaurants. The Moslems always conveniently forget when they cite so called international law that it either applies to them too or it applies to nobody. If a law is applied selectively, then there is no law.
Those civilian homes the Israelis bomb are suspected of being occupied by the terrorists who mastermind or will execute their murders of Jews or the factories which manufacture the bombs and rockets they use. Since the Palestinian Authority will not take any steps to stop them, the Israelis have to do it themselves. It's just like Moslem terrorists in lots of places, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon to hide behind the skirts of women and children with the expectation that if they are killed, so will innocents who will become martyrs to incite new hatreds and gain new recruits. That is the mark of true cowards. They have no more regard for Moslem lives than for Israelis, only their hopeless insane cause matters to them. Israel therefore has no choice if it is to survive and as an American taxpayer, I am only too happy to see my tax dollars go to this worthy cause. Every dead terrorist is one less danger in the world to civilized people.
If the Palestinians want the attacks from Israel to stop, they must stop attacking Israel themselves and call off their war against it. Right now, they don't seem inclined to do that.
Complain about this postWe can get right to the core of the problem if the Israelis could see both their own pain and stop denying the violence and war crimes they have committed against Palestinian people. They will not admit that the Palestinians were living in peace until their land was stolen from them by European Jews behaving like typical European colonialists. I fear that as long as Israelis and their supporters abroad live in this denial, they will never find peace for themselves and will never allow the Palestinians to live in peace in their own homeland - Palestine.
Complain about this postAll Palestinians should take as much pride in what Palestinians are doing in Gaza to stand up to their oppressors as Jews have taken pride in those who resisted Nazism in the Warsaw Ghetto. Frankly, conditions in Gaza are as appalling as were conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto, except there the Jews were not subjected to aerial bombing and the use of illegal munitions upon them.
Mark makes a very useful analogy between Hamas and the IRA. Unfortunately he only takes it as far as will suit his own argument. Someone has to make the first move to bring about peace, the constant harping of "He started it!" is beginning to wear thin. The present calm in Ireland was brought about by the Bristish Government taking the courageous step of talking with the IRA and so starting the process of peace. A step it seems that Israel is unwilling or unable to take.
Complain about this postMark makes an analogy between Hamas and the IRA. Unfortunately he only takes it as far as will suit his own argument. Someone has to make the first move to bring about peace, the constant harping of "He started it!" is beginning to wear thin. The present calm in Ireland was brought about by the British Government taking the courageous step of talking with the IRA and so starting the process of peace. A step it seems that the Government of Israel is unwilling to take.
Complain about this postPaul, the fact is....the IRA surrendered. They gave up their goal of ending the consequences of British colonial rule in Northern Ireland and unifying it with the Republic of Ireland. In the end, they decided the price Catholics in NI were paying for their terrorism wasn't worth it and they could never win anyway. They accepted the fact that a Protestant majority nation existed and decided to live in peace with it. Until that happened, the fighting and killing didn't stop. When the Palestinians and the rest of Islam comes to the same conclusion about the permanence of Israel, the fighting there will also end but not before. In fact, with every day that goes by, the Palestinians come closer to some horrifying catastrophe which will kill large numbers of them. It might be an epidemic the result of their sewage system being destroyed or lack of potable water, who knows but it will happen.
Egypt has closed up its border with Gaza now. While the Palestinians may have brought back only enough food, medicine, and other provisions to live for a relatively short time, they surely have acquired enough material and explosives to build lots more rockets and bombs, enough to keep Israel counterattacking well into the next American President's term. It will be clear that any further efforts by the Bush Administration to bring peace or create a Palestinian state will be a waste of time and energy.
Complain about this postThis morning I read the lead article on the 大象传媒 website about the suicide bomber attack on Israeli citizens, to my absolute astonishment the article was headlined 'Rare Attack on Israel', how dare the 大象传媒 say it was a 'Rare' attack, what about the thousands of rockets etc which hit Israel every year.
I pointed out earlier about my concerns regarding the 大象传媒's Middle East reporting, this headline proves this point and I defy anyone to say otherwise.
If you want further proof then check out the amount of complaints the 大象传媒 has received regarding the use of such an obviously false statement.
Shame on the 大象传媒.
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