[News] Gaza Under Siege

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/18348

Gaza Under Siege
August 05, 2008 By Stephen Lendman

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 lives in Chicago and can be reached at 
<mailto:lendmanstephen at sbcglobal.net>lendmanstephen at sbcglobal.net. 
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.





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