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<b>Life In Gaza<br>
<i>As President Obama visits Cairo, Nearby Gaza Remains Devastated and
Isolated<br>
</i>By Jordan Flaherty<br>
<a href="http://monthlyreview.org/mrzine/flaherty030609.html">
http://monthlyreview.org/mrzine/flaherty030609.html</a><br>
</b> <br>
More than four months after Gaza was devastated by a massive Israeli
military bombardment, rebuilding has not yet begun. The problem is not a
lack of funding or desire to rebuild. However, an Israeli-led blockade
has kept all materials, including concrete or any tools that could be
used to rebuild the hundreds of homes and buildings here, out of Gaza.
The border entries, controlled by the Israeli and Egyptian governments,
are sealed to almost all traffic. Among the arbitrary and frequently
changing list of prohibited items are products from pasta to children's
toys.<br>
<br>
There is an intense desire here to rebuild, and there is no shortage of
skilled labor. Billions of dollars of aid from countries around the
world, including the US, has been pledged. But scarcely a single house
has been repaired. From the Rafah border in the south to the town of Beit
Hanoun in the north, people are still living in tents, or with family
members, or in shelters.<br>
<br>
The range of destruction is breathtaking. More than 1,400 Palestinians
were killed in 22 days, the vast majority civilians, including more than
300 children. Schools, health clinics, houses, and, most importantly, the
basic infrastructure of both public services and government has been
destroyed. Rubble is everywhere. And the violence from the Israeli
military continues. This morning, as with many mornings here, we woke up
to the sound of Israeli ships shooting at Palestinian fishermen, just a
few hundred meters off the coast.<br>
<br>
Two days ago, a delegation 66 activists, scholars, journalists and human
rights workers, mostly from the US, visited the Parliament building. The
visit was organized by the peace group Code Pink, which has led several
delegations attempting to break the blockade. The group was surprised to
find the building housing the legislature reduced partly to rubble, and
Parliament members forced to meet in a tent outside. Having no
building to meet in is just one of the many problems facing the elected
government of the Palestinian people. "Not only are more than 11,000
prisoners in Israeli jails," explained Dr. Ahmed Bahar, the acting
speaker of the Palestinian legislative council, and part of the Hamas
political party. "Forty members of the legislative council are
imprisoned, including the head of the legislature.Can you imagine if the
head of the legislature, of anywhere else in the world, were held in
prison by a foreign government?" Dr. Bahar appealed to the US
activists assembled for help in breaking the siege. "They don't
allow basic construction material to enter," he said. "Cement,
glass, wood, steel."<br>
<br>
Gaza is among the most densely populated places on earth. One and a half
million people live in 139 square miles, and it has been described as the
world's largest prison. Traveling across this very small area, you meet
people everywhere who just want to live a normal life, but are being
prevented by a cruel blockade from going anywhere or doing anything.<br>
<br>
"The biggest lie that has been told is that Gaza is a hostile
entity," declares John Ging, the head of the United Nation's Relief
and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip. "Its populated by well educated,
decent people. They're not spitting hatred. They're asking for help,
they're asking for justice, they're asking for the rule of law." A
tall and charismatic Irish former soldier with a staff of 10,000, Ging is
a UN bureaucrat, not an activist, but his respect for the international
law has made him a passionate spokesperson for a rebuilding of Gaza.<br>
<br>
Under the current siege, explains, Ging, "Theres no cement, even if
its to repair a hospital or school or health center. So people are being
kept alive, nothing more." Its been said in the US media that the
situation in Gaza is complicated, that the siege is part of a defense
against terrorism, but Ging denies these claims. "When it
comes down to it, its rather simple what's needed," he says.
"What we now need to focus on is creating a life for people here. We
need to see the depoliticization of assistance. What we have here in Gaza
is a failure to uphold those basic human rights." <br>
<br>
Gaza is currently hosting several delegations of international human
rights observers and activists from the US and Europe. With each month,
more people come here, and see the painful reality of the situation here.
And with each new arrival, the siege perhaps moves a step closer to
ending. <br>
<br>
President Obama is scheduled to be in Cairo tomorrow, and members of Code
Pink plan to ask him to visit Gaza. Tens of thousands of people from the
US have signed a petition asking him to see the devastation. Across Gaza,
people are looking for some sign that the new president will stand up for
human rights in Palestine. "We ask Obama not to close his eyes to
the Palestinian catastrophe," says Dr. Bahar. "We are running
out of time," says John Ging. "We need to move from keeping
people alive to giving them a life."<br>
<br>
<br>
<b><i>Jordan Flaherty is a journalist based in New Orleans, and an editor
of Left Turn Magazine. He was the first writer to bring the story
of the Jena Six to a national audience and his reporting on post-Katrina
New Orleans shared a journalism award from New America Media. His work
has been published and broadcast in outlets including Die Zeit (in
Germany), Clarin (in Argentina), Al-Jazeera, TeleSur, and Democracy Now.
He is currently traveling in Gaza with a delegation of journalists,
organizers and human rights workers from the US south. He can be reached
at
<a href="mailto:neworleans@leftturn.org">neworleans@leftturn.org</a>.<br>
</i></b> <br>
<b>More Information about the US South Delgation to Gaza: <br>
<a href="http://patoisfilmfest.org/?page_id=160">
http://patoisfilmfest.org/?page_id=160</a><br>
</b> <br>
<b>More information about Gaza: <br>
<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/">
http://electronicintifada.net/</a><br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/<br>
</a> <br>
Other Resources:<br>
Left Turn Magazine -
<a href="http://www.leftturn.org/">http://www.leftturn.org</a><br>
PATOIS: The New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival -
<a href="http://patoisfilmfest.org/">http://patoisfilmfest.org</a><br>
<br>
Other recent reporting by Jordan Flaherty:<br>
Media As Weapon: New Orleans’ 2-Cent -
<a href="http://www.colorlines.com/article.php?ID=532&p=1">
http://www.colorlines.com/article.php?ID=532&p=1</a><br>
Torture at Angola Prison -
<a href="http://monthlyreview.org/mrzine/flaherty270109.html">
http://monthlyreview.org/mrzine/flaherty270109.html</a><br>
New Orleans Intifada -
<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10340.shtml">
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10340.shtml</a><br>
Video report for Democracy Now during Hurricane Gustav -
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtfcMkdoNhk">
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtfcMkdoNhk</a><br><br>
<br><br>
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