I presume that Israel’s “agreement” to ease the Gaza blockade after the murders on the Mavi Marmara was just a ploy to influence the international media until the agenda moved on, which it now well and truly has. Is there any reliable and up to date information on the current state of the blockade, particularly as regards construction materials?
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your not wrong there craig, now the media attention is focused on the world cup and other things its buisness as usual….
cement is still banned, afaik, they have relented on most of the food stuff and more medicine, but the blockade is still on.
I wonder why there is no company negotiating to utilise the gas resources under gaza’s coastline for the population of Gaza, it would mean an independent source of energy they can do with.
It would also sort the blatatnt flagration we see on a daily basis, gunboats shooting at fishermen has to stop, should there be an end to the blockade.
As usual with Israel the agreement to allow goods in was a PR exercise nothing else. The Gaza strip is still being strangled, and even if they said an item is now allowed, they, as usual are lying. They continue their holocaust of the palestinians and all those BIG politicians who have plenty to say, and plenty to threaten on Iran, who the west seem to believe have an atomic weapons programme without providing one shred of evidence get away with it. We elect liars and expect truth.
Ishmael,
I am sure you are right but I can’t find a reliable fist hand report on current practice.
By Vittorio Arrigoni, Gaza City, Gaza
July 4, 2010
Ketchup, mayonnaise, thread and needles are the items that were included last week by Israel on the list of those few goods now allowed into Gaza. Farming tools, spare parts for cars, toys and make-up were added to the list on Tuesday, items we watched being carried into the Strip loaded onto 130 trucks.
Taking into account the decision of the Israeli government to “loosen” the siege of Gaza by allowing the entry of more goods, B’Tselem, the Israeli organisation for human rights commented: “This is a first, tiny step towards the right direction, the direction which’ll bring Israeli policy in line with its obligations.”
A veritable microscopic step, considering that before the start of the siege, more than ten thousand trucks a month would drive through the Karni pass alone, and even then, these deliveries were miles away from the 500 truckfuls of goods a day (15,000 trucks a month), the minimum decreed by the United Nations to cover the basic needs of one and a half million people.
According to some Palestinian political analysts, this step might even be counterproductive, because it proposes to attempt to legitimise the siege. This is a siege that is a form of collective punishment against a civilian population. As such, it violates Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and is considered illegal by all major human rights organisations, whether governmental or otherwise, as Amnesty International and the International Red Cross have recently decreed.
Cement, iron and any other building material continues to be banned from the Strip, so much so that according to the UN, one year after the Cast Lead bombings, 75% of the damaged buildings still gape open among the rubble.
According to Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the UNRWA (UN Agency for Palestinian refugees), Israel’s new policy is an attempt to throw smoke into the eyes of the international community and hide its blatant violation of international law: “The Israeli strategy is that of getting the world to talk about a random bag of cement being let in on one side, and a sponsored project on another. What we really need is complete and free access through all the passes.”
All eyes are now turned towards the mirage of the opened Israeli passes. Yet, forgetting to take note of the Egyptian border is a mistake. Rafah continues to remain semi-open, or better still… semi-closed. The Egyptian border authorities refuse to let any type of goods through, including tons of food supplies and medicine collected during the last weeks by the union of Cairo chemists. The bullies of the infamous Egyptian Mubarak, renowned for their rough treatment of Palestinian civilians, including women, children and sick people, have sent back hundreds of travellers with regular passports and visas over the past few weeks.
For internationals in Egypt who plan to come and report on what they see, or support the population of Gaza in any way, entering “the Rafah Pass” remains forbidding. John, a freelance journalist who accompanied us from the International Solidarity Movement to report on the daily harrassment that the farmers face from Israeli snipers at the border, eventually came in through the tunnels when he had grown tired of waiting for a pass that never came at Al Arish.
Italian state television is trying to put through the message that the siege has been loosened as an act of generosity on the part of the Israeli government, but the reality is indeed very different. The siege itself needs to be totally lifted, because the people here certainly don’t need potato chips or toothpicks. They need cement, iron, medicine, medical supplies and all the essentials coming in the way they would normally come in… through import and export. Only that means will help boost the economy and make Gaza self-sufficient, besides opening the borders to make it possible for anyone to come into or leave this prison.
All that we have before our eyes these days is the artificial image of a tragic situation, made up to seem like an improvement after the cosmetic surgery of Israeli and Egyptian propaganda. Amid these far-reaching echoes of propaganda, Tony Blair’s congratulations to Israel for the alleged “loosening” of its blockade comes across as a strident contradition. Behind the smile of Blair, one the of puppet masters of the Quartet (USA, EU, Russia and UN) who for years has produced nothing but useless press releases, is all the rot of the stone caryatids jointly holding up the current Iraqi genocide, as well as the political laxity of European governments in the face of the Palestinian tragedy.
I’m keen to remind Tony Blair that if two extra bags of flour enter the besieged Strip, it certainly isn’t thanks to his work within the castrated quartet, or any other institution in charge of resolving the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It’s actually thanks to the sacrifices over many years of thousands of ordinary civilians throughout the world committed to the rights of Palestinians. It’s an effort that has culminated in the murder of nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara, much the same way as before them, Tom Hurndall and Rachel Corrie gave their lives for the good of Gaza.
On the eve of the second Gulf war, the New York Times coined the phrase “second world power”, to define the global pacifist movement that filled thousands of squares around the world. These civilians were protesting against a war “that never before in history had been met with as much blatant hostility.” Well, that second world power has now joined us on the field and is siding with the Palestinians: it is now Israel that’s under siege.
Stay human.
Vittorio Arrigoni from Gaza city
(translated by Daniela Filippin)
“Israel to present blacklist of items forbidden to Gaza on Monday”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3914988,00.html
There has been an almost complete MSM shutdown on the follow up. Where are the investigative journalists? Not on the BBC for sure.
eg
Where are the pirated boats?
When are they being returned?
What happened to their cargoes?
What happened to the myriad belongings of the passengers including all the electronic items?
What is the health of the injured Turkish passengers? I heard that some were ‘brain dead’?
Is restitition going to be made by Israel for the murders and injuries to the passengers, the loss and damage to the boats?
etc etc the list of questions is endless.
Perhaps HM the Queen will raise these issues on behalf of the British citizens when she speaks to the UN General Assembly tomorrow after a gap of 50 years!!
somebody
or more probably not!
I believe six activists are still missing also.
My friend was from Gaza and returned there with his family just before the Israeli, bombed the crap out the place. They hid in their basement for the duration. They managed to get out after the suspected war crimes had been committed due to having U.K passports. When he came home it was very difficult to understand the xpression on his face, i am not sure if it was desperation, exhaustion, or the fact this can happen and no other country stands up to Israel. It really is hell in Gaza. Isreal will not lift the blockade, blaming Hamas is an acceptable excuse for those less informed, and who frankly could care less.
This is clearly an anti-Semitic site with knowledge being repressed and lies being encouraged.
At least 12,000 tonnes of supplies enter Gaza every week from Israel and more than 1.5 million litres of oil. Gazans cross into Israel for medical treatment even though they have hospitals of their own.
Gaza has declared war on Israel – is 7000 rockets not enough evidence? Are dozens of suicide bombers being sent into Israel not enough evidence? It is not Israel that uses children for these, it is Muslim nations. It is not Israel who stones and lashes rape victims it is Muslim nations. It is not Israel who behead women accused of adultery, it is Muslim nations. It is Israelis who killed 3000 people at ground zero it was Muslims and it is they are are tormenting Afghanistan.
The Mavi Marmara was clearly a ship carrying activists who would like to see Israel destroyed or it would have passed through the legal channels that the other ships headed for, willing to be searched. This was a deliberate attempt to make Israel look bad in the eyes of the world. It was Israel that released over 100 terrorists in an attempt to get their lone soldier, Galid Shalit, returned but even that didn’t work.
Be careful, Israel is the only democratic nation in a Middle East rabid with hate for the West and for freedom. Gaza would be free tomorrow it it stopped attacking Israel and any suffering is caused by its Hamas rulers who terrorists themselves and spend Arab aid on more arms with which to attack Israel.