The rift over access to Al-Aqsa mosque
IDF bloqueia acesso à mesquita Al-Aqsa, em Jerusalém
Na semana passada, enquanto o Parlamento britânico protestatava contra o injusto status quo da Palestina, Israel continuava seu bloqueio da Faixa de Gaza, apesar de ter se comprometido ao contrário no Acordo de cessar-fogo, e continuava sua violência quotidiana na Cisjordânia.
A semana terminou com vários feridos nos confrontos de pedras contra artilharia. E uma vítima. Um menino de 13 anos, Bahaa Badr. Bahaa foi morto quando tropas da IDF invadiram Beit Liqya, cidadezinha próxima do muro da vergonha, e quando se retirava, veículos e soldados foram apedrejados. Segundo um porta-voz da IDF, a resistência dos jovens palestinos à invasão da tropa da IDF era uma "illegal riot" e foi por isso que cravaram chumbo na garotada.
Desde a Operação Protective Edge na Faixa de Gaza que a repressão da IDF na Cisjordânia multiplicou de crueldade, embora a situação já estivesse péssima desde fevereiro de 2014 quando extremistas israelenses reivindicaram a posse de Jerusalém, que pertence legalmente à Palestina, e do local que abriga a mesquita Al Aqsa.
A situação em Jerusalém está cada vez mais insuportável para os nativos, pois os colonos/invasores civis estão cada vez mais agressivos e os soldados da IDF com atitudes cada vez mais de bandidos e não de militares de um exército honrado. Humilham constantemente os adultos, atiram nos adolescentes e nos meninos só para passar tempo, e fazem incursões militares em bairros e vilarejos vizinhos só para aterrorizar as famílias palestinas.
Pois é, Israel invade, ocupa, bombardeia civis, atira em meninos e adolescentes para que virem deficientes, e cadê as sanções da UE e dos EUA? A Rússia foi inundada de sanções por mil vez menos do que isso. São os Dois pesos e duas medidas. É disto que o mundo está farto. Até os lordes ingleses.
A situação em Jerusalém, e na Cisjordânia inteira, vem se deteriorando desde fevereiro
British MPs back recognition of Palestine
Parlamento britânico reconhece o Estado da Palestina
Os deputados britânicos aprovaram o reconhecimento da Palestina por 274 votos a favor e 12 contra. A abstenção foi alta - dos 650 deputados, apenas 286 ousaram votar, mas até este fato é significante. Os do Partido Trabalhista que desertaram o plenário foram uma minoria, e a grande maioria dos conservadores ausentes mostra que não tiveram coragem de votar a favor da medida, mas que deixaram de apoiar Israel à vista.
Alguns dos ausentes se abstiveram por ocuparem cargos ministeriais (tanto na Inglaterra quanto na França, os políticos acumulam mandatos - e nós reclamamos de tráfico de influência...) e por isso tinham de manter-se de fora. Outros não apareceram porque o Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista) pediu que os deputados que fossem ao plenário votassem "yes", daí a minoria contrária ausentar-se; e por outro lado, a maioria absoluta dos Tory, partido conservador, ter preferido não dar as caras e ficar em cima do muro a fim de preservar seus fundos de campanha patrocinadas por sionistas.
O voto é simbólico, pois o Primeiro Ministro David Cameron não é obrigado a tomar a posição que tomou o Primeiro Ministro sueco no início do mês.
Porém, há implicações concretas inegáveis. Mostra que o Partido Trabalhista endossou oficialmente o reconhecimento da Palestina, assim como a maioria absoluta de seus representantes parlamentares. O que é lógico, por causa da demanda das bases. E embora os ministros do partido Liberal Democrat que co-governa com os Tory tenham se asbtido, o partido apoia o reconhecimento da Palestina por 39 a 6. E apesar da abstenção massissa dos deputados Tory, o editor do website do partido deixa claro que o apoio a Israel está ‘slipping away’ - ou seja, desaparecendo. Prova disso foram os pronunciamentos de Sir Richard Ottaway e de Sir Alan Duncan.
Concordo pleanamente. E há atos precedidos de poucas palavras que valem por todo um tratado. Como o pronunciamento perigoso para Israel de um Tory conservadoríssimo, Sir Richard Ottaway, que citei acima. Ele disse que sua amizade e compromisso com Israel eram longos e profundos, que precediam sua entrada no Parlamento. Porém, disse Sir Richard, a conduta recente de Israel, inclusive o confisco de terra palestina, o levaram ao desespero. E portanto ele não tinha como votar contra a moção de reconhecimento do Estado da Palestina. "I was a friend of Israel long before I became a Tory. I have stood by Israel through thick and thin. But a I realise now, in truth, looking back over the past 20 years, that Israel has been slowly dirfting away from world public opinion. the annexation of the 950 acres of the West Bank just a few months ago has outraged dme more than anything ele in my political life. I have to say to the Government of Israel that if they are losing people like me, they will be losing a lot of people". A mensagem do presidente da Comissão Tory de Relações Exteriores não podia ser mais clara: Binyamin Netanyahu, quando vocês chegam a perder até gente como eu, quanto mais gente estão perdendo e vão perder nos próximos dias, meses, anos? Respeite as leis internacionais senão só vai ficar com amigos bandidos! Como Hitler, que acabou ficando só Mussolini. Até o general espanhol Franco, igualmente sanguinário, na época de seu terrível programa de limpeza étnica, declarou neutralidade.
Ora, quem conhece Israel e o governo israelense sabe que a única coisa que Netanyahu entende é pressão, é ameaça, é sanção, enfim, atos eloquentes. Palavras, com ele e sua corja, são vãs porque eles ouvem atravessado, respondem com mentiras e sarcamo, e continuam a ocupar terreno e a oprimir os palestinos, que eles não consideram humanos.
O voto do Parlamento britânico não é lei, mas mostra claramente para onde está indo a simpatia europeia. Pois os governos britânico e francês são, teoricamente, os melhores amigos de Tel Aviv, embora a população de ambos os países seja majoritariamente a favor do reconhecimento da Palestina, sobretudo os ingleses. Isto, somado ao anúncio do Primeiro Ministro sueco Stefan Lofven no início do mês, a frustração crescente da União Europeia e à firmeza da América Latina com Israel, liderados por Chile e Brasil (com a Dilma no comando, já que o PSDB é tradicionalmente subordinado aos EUA e ao grande capital), é presságio de mudança.
Assim como foi a reunião no Cairo dos doadores para a reconstrução da Faixa de Gaza.
Ao ponto de um dos piores cupinchas de Binyamin Netanyahu, o general Ehud Barak há pouco ter lamentado que "On the matter of borders, the entire world is with the Palestinians and not with us". Quando foi Primeiro Ministro, ele foi inflexível com Yasser Arafat em Campo David quando podia ter solucionado o problema com facilidade, e durante seu governo, as colônias se multiplicaram, a repressão foi feroz, até levar à Segunda Infitifada após o general Ariel Sharon ter invadido a esplanada da Mesquita al-Aqsa em Jerusalém ns primórdios do terceiro milênio. Hipocrisia pouca é bobagem.
Para quem apóia uma solução pacífica e justa o voto do parlamento britânico renovou as esperanças de uma solução unilateral imposta a Israel guela abaixo - a não ser que queria virar pária mundial como a Àfrica do Sul virou durante o apartheid.
O Parlamento britânico declarou com seu voto: Reconheçamos o Estado da Palestina, terminemos com o sítio ilegal da Faixa de Gaza, derrubemos o muro da vergonha como derrubamos o de Berlin, e obriguemos Israel a respeitar as leis internacionais.
Assino embaixo.
Good man, great speech
Sir Alan Duncan
Conservative Member of British Parliament and former Tory Minister
Conservative Member of British Parliament and former Tory Minister
delivers a hard-hitting speech on the Israel-Palestinian "Peace process"
RUSI (Royal United Services Institute) (14/10/2014)
After his brilliantly human speech on Parliament, Jewish groups have reacted angrily to Sir Alan Duncan, who described settlement building in the Occupied West Bank as an “ever-deepening stain on the face of the globe”.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said that part of Sir Alan’s argument – that US thinking on the issue of settlements as being dominated by “a very powerful financial lobby” was, guess what – anti-semitic...
The Board’s vice-president, Jonathan Arkush said a lot of nasty things, and then, he added: “If this was not bad enough, Sir Alan made the extraordinary demand that anyone who ‘endorses settlements’ (whatever that may mean) cannot be considered ‘fit to stand for election, remain a member of a mainstream political party, or sit in a Parliament.’ We invite Sir Alan to reconsider the implications of those words."
Sir Alan Duncan declined to comment on those idiocies.
The fact is that under international law, settlements in the West Bank are illegal and under human standards the occupation is scandalous.
The Israeli government has increased settlement activity this year. Last month, the biggest single project for 30 years was announced. Palestinians and international observers say that the 1,000 acre bloc, Etzion, and other settlements, threaten the possibility of a contiguous future Palestinian state.
Cross Talk: Recognizing Palestine (20/10/14)
"I watched the entire House of Commons debate on a motion to recognise a Palestinian state on Monday night, then read your reportthe next morning. It was as if your reporters were describing a different occasion. In just over 100 lines, you gave 38 lines to the admittedly significant change of heart by Conservative Richard Ottaway; five lines to the anti-recognition sentiments of Conservative Sir Malcolm Rifkind; 17 lines to the largely incoherent speech of an Israel supporter, Conservative MP James Clappison; and 21 to the rather measured words in support of the motion by Jack Straw. What was missing was any reference to the 40 or so passionate speeches by MPs of all parties condemning the decades of injustice, suffering and deaths imposed on the Palestinians by Israel, and calling for the British government to pressure Israel directly rather than make ineffectual statements of mild criticism from time to time. Although your paper presumably went to press before the vote, it was clear from the beginning of the debate that the House was overwhelmingly supportive of statehood for Palestine, and yet you hardly mentioned the arguments in favour, even those made by the proposer Grahame Morris, quoting one short phrase from his speech. As it was, the vote was an overwhelming 274 in favour of the motion and only 12 against, but no one would have guessed that outcome from your coverage of the debate".
Carta do escritor Karl Sabbagh (Palestine, A personal History) para o jornal inglês The Guardian.
Repercussão no Fatah, na Cisjordânia
Repercussão em Israel do voto pró-palestino em Londres. Com a palavra, Uri Avnery:
"If the British parliament had adopted a resolution in favor of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the reaction of our media would have been like this:
"In an atmosphere of great enthusiasm, the British parliament adopted with a huge majority a mere 12 against) a pro-Israeli motion... Over half the seats were occupied, more than usual... the opponents of Israel were in hiding and did not dare to vote against..."
Unfortunately, the British parliament voted this week on a pro-Palestinian resolution, and our media reacted almost unanimously like this: "The hall was half empty…there was no enthusiasm…a meaningless exercise…Only 274 Members voted for the resolution, which is not binding…Many Members stayed away altogether…"Yet all our media reported on the proceedings at length, many related articles appeared in the newspapers. Quite a feat for such a negligible, unimportant, insignificant, inconsequential, trivial, petty act.
A day before, 363 Jewish Israeli citizens called upon the British Parliament to adopt the resolution [below], which calls for the British government to recognize the State of Palestine. The signatories included a Nobel Prize laureate, several winners of the highest Israeli civilian award, 2 former cabinet ministers and four former members of the Knesset (including myself), diplomats and a general.
The official propaganda machine did not go into action. Knowing that the resolution would be adopted anyhow, it tried to downplay the event as far as possible. The Israeli ambassador in London could not be reached.
Was it a negligible event? In a strictly procedural sense it was. In a broader sense, far from it. For the Israeli leadership, it is the harbinger of very bad news.
A few days before, a similar news item came from Sweden. The newly elected leftist prime minister announced that his government was considering the recognition of the State of Palestine in the near future.
Sweden, like Britain, was always considered a "pro-Israeli" country, loyally voting against "anti-Israel" resolutions in the UN. If such important Western nations are reconsidering their attitudes towards the policy of Israel, what does it mean?
Another unexpected blow came from the South. The Egyptian dictator, Muhammad Abd-al-Fatah al-Sisi, disabused the Israeli leadership of the notion that the "moderate" Arab states would fill the ranks of our allies against the Palestinians. In a sharp speech, he warned his new-found soul-mate, Binyamin Netanyahu, that the Arab states would not cooperate with Israel before we make peace with a Palestinian state.
Thus he punctured the newly inflated balloon floated by Netanyahu – that pro-American Arab states, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar, would become open allies of Israel.
In South America, public opinion has already shifted markedly against Israel. The recognition of Palestine is gaining ground in official circles, too. Even in the US, unconditional support for the Israeli government seems to be wavering.
What the hell is going on?
What is going on is a profound, perhaps tectonic change in the public attitude towards Israel.
For years now, Israel has been appearing in world media mainly as a country that occupies the Palestinian lands. Press photos of Israelis almost always show heavily armed and armored soldiers confronting protesting Palestinians, often children. Few of these pictures have had an immediate dramatic impact, but the cumulative, incremental effect should not have been underestimated.
A truly alert diplomatic service would have alerted its government long ago. But our foreign service is thoroughly demoralized. Headed by Avigdor Lieberman, a brutal heavyweight bully considered by many of his colleagues around the world as a semi-fascist, the diplomatic corps is terrorized. They prefer to keep quiet.
This ongoing process reached a higher pitch with the recent Gaza war. It was not basically different from the two Gaza wars that preceded it not so long ago, but for some unfathomable reason it had a much stronger impact.
For a month and a half, day after day, people around the world were bombarded with pictures of killed human beings, maimed children, crying mothers, destroyed apartment buildings, damaged hospitals and schools, masses of homeless refugees. Thanks to Iron Dome, no destroyed Israeli buildings could be seen, nor hardly any dead Israeli civilians.
An ordinary decent person, whether in Stockholm or Seattle or Singapore, cannot be exposed to such a steady stream of horrible images without being affected – first unconsciously, then consciously. The picture of "The Israeli" in the mind's eye changes slowly, almost imperceptibly. The brave pioneer standing up to the savages around him mutates into an ugly bully terrorizing a helpless population.
Why do Israelis not realize this? Because We Are Always Right.
It has often been said before: the main danger of propaganda, any propaganda, is that its first victim is the propagandist himself. It convinces him, rather than his audience. If you twist a fact and repeat it a hundred times, you are bound to believe it.
Take the assertion that we were compelled to bomb UN installations in the Gaza Strip because Hamas was using them to launch rockets at our towns and villages. Kindergartens, schools, hospitals and mosques were targeted by our artillery, planes, drones and warships. 99% of Israelis believe that this was necessary. They were shocked when the UN General Secretary, Ban Ki-moon, who visited Gaza this week, claimed that this was totally inadmissible.
Doesn't the General Secretary know that ours is the Most Moral Army in the World?
Another assertion is that these buildings were used by Hamas to hide their arms. A person of my age reminded us this week in Haaretz that we did exactly the same during our fight against the British government of Palestine and Arab attackers: our arms were hidden in kindergartens, schools, hospitals and synagogues. In many places there are now proud memorial plaques as a reminder.
In the eyes of the average Israeli, the extensive killing and destruction during the recent campaign was completely justified. He is quite incapable of understanding the world-wide outrage. For lack of another reason, he attributes it to anti-Semitism.
After one of the Lebanon wars (I forget which) I received an unusual message: an army general invited me to give a lecture to his assembled officer corps about the impact of the war on the world media. (He probably wanted to impress his officers with his enlightened attitude.)
I told the officers that the modern battlefield has changed, that modern wars are fought in the full glare of the world media, that today's soldiers have to take this into account while planning and fighting. They listened respectfully and asked relevant questions, but I wondered if they were really absorbing the lesson.
Soldiering is a profession like any other. Any professional person, be he (or she) a lawyer or a street-cleaner, adopts a set of attitudes suitable to it.
A general thinks in real terms: how many troops for the job, how many cannon. What is necessary to break the enemy's resistance? How to reduce his own casualties?
He does not think about photos in the New York Times.
In the Gaza campaign, children were not killed nor houses destroyed arbitrarily. Everything had a military reason. People had to be killed in order to reduce the risk to the lives of our soldiers. (Better a hundred Palestinians killed than one Israeli soldier.) People had to be terrorized to make them turn against Hamas. Neighborhoods had to be destroyed to allow our troops to advance, and also to teach the population a lesson they will remember for years, thus postponing the next war.
All this makes military sense to a general. He is fighting a war, for God's sake, and cannot be bothered with non-military considerations. Such as the impact on world public opinion. And anyway, after the Holocaust…
What the general thinks, Israel thinks.
Israel is not a military dictatorship. General al-Sisi may be Netanyahu's best friend, but Netanyahu is not a general. Israel likes doing business, especially arms business, with military dictators all around the world, but in Israel itself the military obeys the elected civilian government.
True, but…
But the State of Israel was born in the middle of a hard-fought war, the outcome of which was by no means assured at that moment. The army was then, and is now, the center of Israel's national life. It may be said that the army is the only truly unifying element in Israeli society. It is where males and females, Ashkenazi and Oriental, secular and religious (except the orthodox), wealthy and poor, old-timer and new immigrant meet and are indoctrinated in the same spirit.
Most Jewish Israelis are former soldiers. Most officers, who leave the army in their mid-40s, spread out in the administrative, economic, political and academic elite. The result is that the military mindset is dominant in Israel.
This being so, Israelis are quite unable to comprehend the turn of world public opinion. What do they want from us, these Swedes and Britons and Japanese? Do they believe that we enjoy killing children, destroying homes? (As Golda Meir memorably once declared: "We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children, but we shall never forgive them for compelling us to kill their children!")
The founders of Israel were very conscious of world public opinion. True, David Ben-Gurion once declared that "it is not important what the goyim are saying, what is important is what the Jews are doing!" but in real life Ben-Gurion was very conscious of the need to win over world opinion. So was his adversary, the right-wing Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky, who once told Menachem Begin that if he despairs of the conscience of the world, he should "jump into the Vistula".
World public opinion is important. More than that, it is vital. The British Parliament's resolution may be non-binding, but it expresses public opinion, which will sooner or later decide government action on arms sales, Security Council resolutions, European Union decisions and what not. As Thomas Jefferson said: "If the people lead, then eventually the leaders will follow."
The same Jefferson recommended "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind."
Uri Avnery, 14/10/2014
Hundreds of Israeli public figures call upon Members of the British Parliament to vote in favor of recognizing the State of Palestine. Press Release, October 13, 2014
363 Israeli public figures have signed a letter to the Members of the British Parliament, calling upon them to vote in favor of British recognition of a Palestinian State, to be created side-by-side with Israel.
The letter was handed on Sunday noon to representatives of the British MPs supporting the motion, due to be voted tomorrow (Monday). The Israeli letter was initiated by Dr. Alon Liel, former Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry; Prof. Amiram Goldblum, a founder of the Peace Now movement; and Yehuda Shaul of “Breaking the Silence”.
The letter reads: "We, Israelis who worry and care for the well-being of the state of Israel, believe that the long-term existence and security of Israel depends on the long-term existence and security of a Palestinian state. For this reason we, the undersigned, urge members of the UK Parliament to vote in favor of the motion to be debated on Monday 13th October 2014, calling on the British Government to recognize the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel ".
Signatories include: Nobel Prize Laureate (Economics) Daniel Kahneman Six Laureates of the Israel Prize - Professors Alice Levy, David Har’el, Shimon Sandbank, Yehoshua Kolodny, Yona Rosenfeld and Yoram Bilu; Two former ministers - Ran Cohen and Yossi Sarid, as well as four former Knesset Members - Uri Avnery, Yael Dayan, Mossi Raz and Naomi Chazan; Former Ambassador and Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Dr. Alon Liel, as well as former Ambassador Ilan Baruch; Gen. (ret.) Emanuel Shaked, former of the Paratooper Corps; Former Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair; Four writers – Yehoshua Sobol, Yehudit Kafri, Savyon Liebrecht and Amos Mokadi; Professor Rafi Walden, Deputy Ditector of the Shiba Hospital and Chair of "Physicians for Human Rights" Yuval Rahamim, Co-Chair of "Bereaved Families for Palestinian-Israeli Peace" and the grouop’s founder Yitzhak Frankenthal; As well as many residents of Gaza border communities and other peace and social rights activists.
363 Israeli public figures have signed a letter to the Members of the British Parliament, calling upon them to vote in favor of British recognition of a Palestinian State, to be created side-by-side with Israel.
The letter was handed on Sunday noon to representatives of the British MPs supporting the motion, due to be voted tomorrow (Monday). The Israeli letter was initiated by Dr. Alon Liel, former Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry; Prof. Amiram Goldblum, a founder of the Peace Now movement; and Yehuda Shaul of “Breaking the Silence”.
The letter reads: "We, Israelis who worry and care for the well-being of the state of Israel, believe that the long-term existence and security of Israel depends on the long-term existence and security of a Palestinian state. For this reason we, the undersigned, urge members of the UK Parliament to vote in favor of the motion to be debated on Monday 13th October 2014, calling on the British Government to recognize the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel ".
Signatories include: Nobel Prize Laureate (Economics) Daniel Kahneman Six Laureates of the Israel Prize - Professors Alice Levy, David Har’el, Shimon Sandbank, Yehoshua Kolodny, Yona Rosenfeld and Yoram Bilu; Two former ministers - Ran Cohen and Yossi Sarid, as well as four former Knesset Members - Uri Avnery, Yael Dayan, Mossi Raz and Naomi Chazan; Former Ambassador and Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Dr. Alon Liel, as well as former Ambassador Ilan Baruch; Gen. (ret.) Emanuel Shaked, former of the Paratooper Corps; Former Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair; Four writers – Yehoshua Sobol, Yehudit Kafri, Savyon Liebrecht and Amos Mokadi; Professor Rafi Walden, Deputy Ditector of the Shiba Hospital and Chair of "Physicians for Human Rights" Yuval Rahamim, Co-Chair of "Bereaved Families for Palestinian-Israeli Peace" and the grouop’s founder Yitzhak Frankenthal; As well as many residents of Gaza border communities and other peace and social rights activists.
Dispatch: Israeli Lobby in the United Kingdom
Documentário de Peter Oborne (2009)
Reconstruction of Gaza
"We've been here before. On October 12, the international community came together in Cairo and pledged $5.4bn towards the reconstruction of Gaza, over $1bn more than was requested including $1bn given by Qatar alone. The need has never been greater. Gaza was becoming "unliveable" before the unprecedented destruction and displacement of Israel's bombardment - today the situation is utterly dire.
It was estimated that $4bn is needed to repair the damage from the latest violence. Back in 2009, a similar amount, $4.4bn, was pledged following Israel's "Operation Cast Lead". It was never delivered. Most of the projects to rebuild homes and hospitals and schools, the water and sewage systems, and the power station, all of them desperately needed, never took place; not because the donors' broke their promises - but because the materials necessary for rebuilding were not allowed into Gaza.
Now that the donor conference has happened with all the pomp and ceremony that characterise such events, we must focus on learning the lessons from Cast Lead. It is not enough to pledge large sums. There must be cast iron assurances from Israel that the goods will be allowed in. There must be assurances also that exports will be allowed out and that Gaza's shattered economy will be enabled to recover.
I was working with the UN at the time of Cast Lead, as head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) office for West Bank and Gaza. I was closely involved in the emergency response and the subsequent efforts over the following five years to support a recovery. It never happened.
I was working with the UN at the time of Cast Lead, as head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) office for West Bank and Gaza. I was closely involved in the emergency response and the subsequent efforts over the following five years to support a recovery. It never happened.
All our efforts were thwarted by Israel's Kafkaesque obstruction and bureaucracy. They tied us up in knots negotiating how many trucks would be allowed in, when crossings would be open or closed, what information was needed for goods to be cleared, how many permits they would issue for UN drivers, and so on and so forth. Hopes were sometimes raised of a breakthrough, especially after the Mavi Marmara incident and the escalation of the conflict in November 2012, only for our expectations to be disappointed.
Could things be different this time round? The details of the "Serry Plan" were leaked last week. The plan, which puts the UN and the Palestinian Authority at the heart of things, should lead to significant amounts of aid and rebuilding materials being allowed into Gaza.
The UN estimates that Gaza needs 89,000 housing units, a figure that includes the 18,000 units that were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable during Operation Protective Edge and the pre-crisis deficit of 71,000.
At the current rate of entry for construction materials, it would take 18 years to import the materials needed for that reconstruction. If, however, the plan works, it will be a major step towards ending the blockade and starting to rebuild Gaza's decimated infrastructure.
There are urgent health challenges facing Gaza too. The 62 hospitals and clinics that were damaged or destroyed in the recent conflict must be rebuilt. The state of equipment in Gaza's hospitals is deplorable; it must be replaced - and proper systems put in place for maintenance and repair. Thousands were seriously wounded and there needs to be free movement of medics, medicines and equipment into Gaza. Investment in resources are needed to provide community-based rehabilitation. As winter approaches, decent shelters must be provided for tens of thousands of people who are still displaced.
We should be clear about the costs of failure. Without the restoration and expansion of the water, electricity, sewerage processing facilities, health and educational services, life in Gaza will not be tenable by 2020. Gaza being unliveable may even happen sooner than that with concerns that the water supply can only be sustained until 2016. I was in Gaza with a medical mission during a brief ceasefire in the war. There was desperation for things to change, to offer hope of a better future. There was talk of emigration and now we've even seen the tragic appearance of Palestinian "boat people" for the first time.
The rebuilding of Gaza must be undertaken as part of a larger plan for Palestinian statehood in both the West Bank and Gaza. European foreign ministers have been clear that the return to the status quo in Gaza "is not an option".
Norwegian Foreign Minister Boerge Brende said following the conference that it was a "very important signal of solidarity to the Palestinian people". Gaza remains today a potent symbol of international failure to mediate the conflicts of our time. The pledges made on October 12 represent yet another chance to "get it right". If we don't, then we must prepare ourselves for renewed conflict in the near future".
Tony Laurance is the Chief Executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians and former Head of the WHO in Palestine.
UN chief Ban Ki Moon visits Gaza
Secretário Geral da ONU visita Gaza
What will become of the Gaza Strip? The American academic Sara Roy doubts that there is a future for Gaza and its inhabitants following the recent Israeli offensive. Bettina Marx has the details.
“Everything is different this time,” says Sara Roy. This time, she says, the Gaza Strip cannot simply be rebuilt; the wounds of this last war could prove too severe to heal. The 1.8 million inhabitants of this thin coastal region have no hope of any immediate improvement of their situation following this summer’s Israeli military offensive known as“Protective Edge”.
As a result, for the first time in recent history, a true exodus is taking place. Hundreds of Palestinians have already fled the Gaza Strip. They have been smuggled through tunnels under the border to Egypt where they have boarded ships to cross the Mediterranean. “People are simply leaving. They are fleeing from the intolerable conditions in Gaza,” says the Boston academic.
Just the other week, a ship with 500 passengers, many of them Palestinians from Gaza, sunk off the coast of Malta. “This has never happened before,” stresses Roy. “Even in the worst of times, people never considered abandoning the Gaza Strip.” Now, however, Palestinians from all social strata and all political camps are leaving. Even members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad are sending their children abroad to give them the chance of a better future.
Sara Roy is a senior research scholar at the prestigious Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Boston. She knows the Gaza Strip better than practically any other outsider. For more than 30 years, she has focused her research on the economic and social structures of the Palestinian enclave on the Mediterranean. She has written countless articles and numerous books on the subject, including a standard work on the economy of the Gaza Strip and a book on Hamas.
She was invited to Berlin by the Heinrich Böll Foundation to take part in a panel discussion on the situation in Gaza. However, the other scheduled speakers, Issam Younis from the Mezan Center for Human Rights and the blogger Asmaa Al-Ghoul, did not make it. They were unable to leave the Gaza Strip; Egypt once again closed the border.
The last time Sara Roy was in Gaza was in May, just a few weeks before the start of the Israeli military offensive. Even then, the sense of despair could be clearly felt, she reports. After almost eight years of blockade, the economy had already reached rock bottom, with unemployment hovering around 40 per cent and unemployment among young people rising to over 60 per cent. The war has only worsened the situation. Now, unemployment is estimated at over 50 per cent.
At least 175 factories were destroyed during the fighting, including medium-sized businesses like Gaza’s only asphalt producer, its only flour mill facility, and a biscuit factory. The entrepreneurs, who provided work for thousands of individuals, thereby ensuring the survival of tens of thousands, have themselves been reduced to poverty and forced to turn to humanitarian aid as a result of the destruction of their businesses and homes.
“The middle class has largely been wiped out,” says Roy. This, she adds, has broken the back of Gaza’s economy. She goes on to say that the war has eliminated class distinctions and made everyone equal, although at the cost of catapulting the entire population into utter destitution. In the wake of the war, there are hardly any wealthy people left in the Gaza Strip. The unique social network, which enabled the impoverished to keep their heads above water both socially and economically, has been torn apart.
Accordgin to Bettina Mrx, at least 175 factories were destroyed during Operation Protective Edge. This is having a catastrophic effect on the population because it means that the thousands of jobs provided by these factories have disapperared, which in turn means that tens of thousands of Gazas have been reduced to poverty and now rely on aid and charity.
According to estimates from the Palestinian Authority, reconstruction of the Gaza Strip will cost at least $7.8 billion. Whole districts have to be rebuilt, including the reconstruction of infrastructure, the water supply and sewage disposal system, the power station, and power lines. Sara Roy believes this figure is far too low. She doubts whether the Gaza Strip can ever be rebuilt.
“The question remains: what should be rebuilt? Should only the destruction from 2014 be repaired, or do we also include the damage resulting from the military operations of 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, and so on?” To this day, the destruction caused in late 2008 and early 2009 by Operation “Cast Lead” is still visible, says the researcher. In her view, the devastation from the last war has hit the already emaciated Gaza Strip and its economically and physically exhausted population especially hard.
Roy is of the opinion that this cycle of recurring Israeli military offensives, resulting in the destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and its reconstruction by the international community, cannot continue.
“Germany and the EU must ask themselves this question: do we want to continue to be a part of the problem and one of the reasons why this region continues to decline? Or do we want to start being part of the solution?” The international community has to press for a political solution to the Middle East conflict, says Roy. This includes lifting the blockade because it is only when people and goods can move freely that the Gaza Strip has a chance of recovering.
“The Palestinians have become a humanitarian problem,” she says. The majority of the population relies on food aid and charity. Some 450,000 individuals have no access to clean drinking water and at least 370,000 children are severely traumatised. These problems cannot be solved with additional infusions of cash, donor conferences, or reconstruction assistance as long as the political issues in the Gaza Strip are not addressed. “The people in Gaza do not need humanitarian aid, they need their freedom.”
Bettina Marx; © Deutsche Welle 2014. Translated from the German by John Bergeron
Just the other week, a ship with 500 passengers, many of them Palestinians from Gaza, sunk off the coast of Malta. “This has never happened before,” stresses Roy. “Even in the worst of times, people never considered abandoning the Gaza Strip.” Now, however, Palestinians from all social strata and all political camps are leaving. Even members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad are sending their children abroad to give them the chance of a better future.
She was invited to Berlin by the Heinrich Böll Foundation to take part in a panel discussion on the situation in Gaza. However, the other scheduled speakers, Issam Younis from the Mezan Center for Human Rights and the blogger Asmaa Al-Ghoul, did not make it. They were unable to leave the Gaza Strip; Egypt once again closed the border.
The last time Sara Roy was in Gaza was in May, just a few weeks before the start of the Israeli military offensive. Even then, the sense of despair could be clearly felt, she reports. After almost eight years of blockade, the economy had already reached rock bottom, with unemployment hovering around 40 per cent and unemployment among young people rising to over 60 per cent. The war has only worsened the situation. Now, unemployment is estimated at over 50 per cent.
At least 175 factories were destroyed during the fighting, including medium-sized businesses like Gaza’s only asphalt producer, its only flour mill facility, and a biscuit factory. The entrepreneurs, who provided work for thousands of individuals, thereby ensuring the survival of tens of thousands, have themselves been reduced to poverty and forced to turn to humanitarian aid as a result of the destruction of their businesses and homes.
“The middle class has largely been wiped out,” says Roy. This, she adds, has broken the back of Gaza’s economy. She goes on to say that the war has eliminated class distinctions and made everyone equal, although at the cost of catapulting the entire population into utter destitution. In the wake of the war, there are hardly any wealthy people left in the Gaza Strip. The unique social network, which enabled the impoverished to keep their heads above water both socially and economically, has been torn apart.
Accordgin to Bettina Mrx, at least 175 factories were destroyed during Operation Protective Edge. This is having a catastrophic effect on the population because it means that the thousands of jobs provided by these factories have disapperared, which in turn means that tens of thousands of Gazas have been reduced to poverty and now rely on aid and charity.
“The question remains: what should be rebuilt? Should only the destruction from 2014 be repaired, or do we also include the damage resulting from the military operations of 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, and so on?” To this day, the destruction caused in late 2008 and early 2009 by Operation “Cast Lead” is still visible, says the researcher. In her view, the devastation from the last war has hit the already emaciated Gaza Strip and its economically and physically exhausted population especially hard.
Roy is of the opinion that this cycle of recurring Israeli military offensives, resulting in the destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and its reconstruction by the international community, cannot continue.
“Germany and the EU must ask themselves this question: do we want to continue to be a part of the problem and one of the reasons why this region continues to decline? Or do we want to start being part of the solution?” The international community has to press for a political solution to the Middle East conflict, says Roy. This includes lifting the blockade because it is only when people and goods can move freely that the Gaza Strip has a chance of recovering.
“The Palestinians have become a humanitarian problem,” she says. The majority of the population relies on food aid and charity. Some 450,000 individuals have no access to clean drinking water and at least 370,000 children are severely traumatised. These problems cannot be solved with additional infusions of cash, donor conferences, or reconstruction assistance as long as the political issues in the Gaza Strip are not addressed. “The people in Gaza do not need humanitarian aid, they need their freedom.”
Bettina Marx; © Deutsche Welle 2014. Translated from the German by John Bergeron
Video launched by the National Concensus Government of Palestine
Vídeo do Governo Palestino de Concenso Nacional
"A massive UN-supervised project to rebuild Gaza got underway earlier last week, but officials in Gaza and Ramallah are already doubtful that it will bring immediate aid to residents of the battered strip. The reconstruction plan calls for a highly intricate monitoring system, with restrictive measures on the import and distribution of building materials.
This comes at the behest of the Israelis, who have long barred the entry of basic construction materials - including cement, metal pipes and steel - into Gaza, insisting that they are 'dual use' items that Hamas could use to build underground tunnels for military purposes.
A new monitoring system will place security personnel and video cameras at distribution points for construction materials, and will vet both suppliers and buyers. And a central database, linked to the Palestinian Ministry of Civil Affairs, but available to Israeli intelligence agencies, will track material entering the Gaza Strip.
The details of this deal were revealed in a document named the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, which outlined a UN-brokered agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Palestinian officials have said that Gaza will need almost $7.8bn in aid to rebuild after the recent Israeli offensive, which lasted 51 days and left more than 2,000 Palestinians dead...
...Critics say that the convoluted process risks prolonging reconstruction efforts. "Complicated mechanisms are being created to manoeuvre around the problem, not address it," said Ala Tartir, the programme director of Al Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network. "This means more money is wasted and Palestinians' dependency status is entrenched."
Oxfam has already warned that under current restrictions and the rate of imports, it could take more than 50 years to build the infrastructure the people of Gaza need. "Any mechanism needs to be much more than slightly better than what's currently in place," said Alun McDonald, the relief group's media coordinator in Jerusalem. "It will take more than a few truckloads [entering Gaza] every day… considering the enormity of the needs."
There is also widespread concern that, after three devastating wars in the past six years, any effort to rebuild Gaza will eventually be lost in a renewed military offensive. "You can't keep sticking a plaster on Gaza, which is what we are doing with aid coming in," McDonald said. "We need a long-term solution, which means the end of the blockade."
Equally controversial is Hamas' and Israel's absence from the Cairo conference where details of the post-war construction efforts were discussed.
"They are trying to manoeuvre around Hamas, even though, like it or not, it's the governing body in Gaza," Tartir said. "They've also relieved Israel of its responsibilities and gave it another incentive to do what it wants, while the donors paid for it."
Gregg Carlstrom reported from Gaza City and Dalia Hatuqa from Ramallah.
Primeira reunião do novo governo de união Fatah e Hamas
E neste domingo, na Cisjordânia, dois "corajosos" soldados da IDF prenderam e maltrataram um menino palestino deficiente "por jogar pedras." A "brincadeira" de mau gosto durou até o pai chegar desesperado e conseguir convencer os desalmados que seu filho, que eles tinham algemado, vendado os olhos, e brutalizado, era deficiente mental e por isso não falava. Shame on the IDF! Once more.
Vídeo B'Tselem
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