PREAMBLE: For this issue we present verbatim, a recent report by Amnesty International which outlines the desperate situation of the people of Gaza due to the Israeli blockade. While this seemingly archaic military tactic continues to be excused by Israel as an act of self-defence, independent analyses have revealed this to be capricious in terms of the range of prohibited items, and it is obviously counter-productive to the peace effort although apparently good politics in Israel itself. On the ground however, the situation is nothing less than a humanitarian disaster, especially as over half the Gaza population are children.
Regarding the boarding of a relief ship on which 9 relief workers were killed by Israeli military, while it is obvious that this must be subjected to an internal inquiry, it is doubtful that this will prove satisfactory in the eyes of world opinion. An international inquiry appears to be in order, as proposed by the United Nations and many countries which have voiced criticisms of Israel's blockade.
We also note that the Harper government of Canada has aligned itself so completely with the Israeli position that it appears to have lost the capacity for impartial analysis. The presence on the Israeli tribunal of a former Canadian military judge advocate (one of only two international observors) will surely be tainted by this, at least as a matter of perception. For a June 14 BBC article on the tribunal membership, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10309872.stm
In the present politically disingenuous fog of asymmetrical violence, organizations such as Amnesty Internatinal play an indispensable role in bringing an independent view to bear on this example of massive unresolved human rights abuse.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT:
Suffocating Gaza - the Israeli blockade's effects on Palestinians
Israel's military blockade of Gaza has left more than 1.4 million Palestinian men, women and children trapped in the Gaza Strip, an area of land just 40 kilometres long and 9.5 kilometres wide.
Mass unemployment, extreme poverty and food price rises caused by shortages have left four in five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid. As a form of collective punishment, Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza is a flagrant violation of international law.
The situation in Gaza has been made worse by the Egyptian government’s general closure of the Rafah crossing, although this was opened following the deaths of activists on the Gaza flotilla.
However, it is Israel, as the occupying power, that bears the foremost responsibility for ensuring the welfare of the inhabitants of Gaza.
Closed crossings
Since the blockade of Gaza was imposed in June 2007, none of the Israeli-controlled crossings between Gaza and Israel has been open in a regular or consistent way, and relatively little aid is getting through.
The one other land crossing at Rafah, on the border between Gaza and Egypt, is kept shut most of the time. The closures prevent the movement of Palestinians into and out of Gaza in all but a handful of cases, generally in exceptional humanitarian cases.
Basic goods
The blockade prohibits most exports and restricts the entry of basic goods, including food and fuel. Much of the available food is provided by the UN and other aid agencies, or smuggled in through tunnels running under the Egypt-Gaza border and then sold on at exorbitantly high prices to Gaza’s beleaguered residents.
The situation has been made worse by the Egyptian government’s construction of a steel wall along the border at Rafah to disrupt the cross-border smuggling that has become Gaza’s lifeline, as well as the bombing of tunnels by the Israeli airforce.
Economic collapse
Rather than targeting armed groups, the blockade mainly hits the most vulnerable, such as children (who make up more than half of the population in Gaza), the elderly, the sick and the Gaza Strip's large refugee population.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the number of refugees living in abject poverty in the Gaza Strip has tripled since the blockade began. These families lack the means to purchase even the most basic items, including soap, school materials and clean drinking water. According to the UN, more than 60 per cent of households are currently "food insecure".
Lack of facilities
There are worsening problems with the supply of electricity in the Gaza Strip, with many residents enduring 8-12 hours of power cuts each day. There are also recurrent shortages of cooking gas, requiring the implementation of a rationing scheme in which hospitals and bakeries are prioritized.
Aid blocked
While Israel allows some humanitarian supplies from international aid agencies into Gaza, these are strictly limited and frequently delayed. UN agencies have said that additional storage and transportation costs incurred from delays due to the blockade totalled around $5 million in 2009.
Health
Gaza's health sector has been plagued by shortages in equipment and medical supplies during the blockade.
Following the Israeli closure of crossings, people with medical conditions that cannot be treated in Gaza have been required to apply for permits to leave the territory to receive treatment in either foreign hospitals or Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank.
The Israeli authorities frequently delay or refuse these permits; some Gazans have died while waiting to obtain permits to leave the territory for medical treatment elsewhere.
World Health Organization (WHO) trucks of medical equipment bound for Gazan hospitals have repeatedly been turned away, without explanation, by Israeli border officials.
The Gaza conflict
From 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009, Gaza was subjected to a devastating Israeli military offensive – Operation “Cast Lead” – which Israel said it carried out to stop Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups firing indiscriminate rockets into Israel.
More then 1,380 Palestinians were killed, including more than 300 children and other civilians, and thousands were injured. Many thousands of homes were destroyed or severely damaged, as were the electricity and water systems. Civilian buildings, including hospitals and schools, were also damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks.
Operation “Cast Lead” pushed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to catastrophic levels. Since it concluded, the blockade has severely hampered or prevented reconstruction efforts. With many construction materials barred or limited by Israel, Gaza’s inhabitants are unable to rebuild their shattered lives.
Continued violence
In November 2009, Hamas declared a unilateral cessation of rocket fire, although this has since been breached on several occasions by members of Palestinian armed groups.
Since the ceasefire following Operation “Cast Lead” in January 2009, one person in southern Israel has been killed by mortars and rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups.
Israeli military forces, meanwhile, have conducted regular raids into Gaza and have continued to bomb the tunnels under the border at Rafah used for smuggling between Gaza and Egypt. In the year following Operation “Cast Lead”, 71 Palestinians were killed and 130 injured in the Gaza tunnels from tunnel collapse, accidents or airstrikes.
Israeli soldiers also continue to shoot at Palestinian farmers, fishermen and other civilians when they venture near Gaza’s perimeter or approach the three nautical mile limit that Israel imposes on Gaza’s coastline causing deaths and injuries.
Collective punishment
The Israeli authorities have put forward a range of justifications for the blockade - saying variously that it is a response to attacks from Palestinian armed groups, a reaction to the continued holding of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and a means to pressure the Hamas de facto administration.
But whatever its stated justification, the blockade is collectively punishing the entire population of Gaza, the majority of whom are children, rather than targeting the Hamas administration or armed groups.
SOURCE: Amnesty International June 1, 2010. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/suffocating-gaza-israeli-blockades-effects-palestinians-2010-06-01
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
INTERNATIONAL & GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT – YEAR IN REVIEW 2008
PREAMBLE: This is our second annual review, offered at the beginning of New Year 2009 because we reserved our December 2008 issue to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Pacific Health & Development Sciences (PacificSci).
THREE LEADING ISSUES FROM 2008:
Flowers or Fertilizer?
1. GLOBAL STEWARDSHIP: There can be little debate that the leading issue in this category is the global economic crisis. In the latter half of 2008, the world faced an unprecedented near-collapse of its banking systems, ushering in a global recession.
Fertilizer: We assign the prime responsibility for this catastrophe jointly to political leadership in the United States in concert with the greed, negligence and corruption of its financial industry. This does not take the inaction and practices of other countries off the hook, as consequential national and global failures are documented extensively elsewhere, especially in Europe. Clearly, no country (rich or poor) has been spared, and it will take many years for individuals, families, communities and societies as a whole to recover from this crisis of greed, neglect and incompetence. Perhaps needless to say, the necessities of life and the social fabric of all countries e.g, health and educational systems, secure food supply, clothing and shelter depend on integrity in our financial systems. Trust must be restored in those systems.
Flowers: Out of this morass some good is emerging, and in this regard we note the leadership of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who put forward a 5 point plan to galvanize the world financial community around new principles. Implicit in the “Brown Doctrine” is an analysis of what is so seriously wrong with the world financial order. It forms a clear case for supra-national supervision of international finance, which clearly cannot any longer be left to the caprices of any one country. The key features of the Doctrine are presented below (2008 as we observed it) from our October 2008 issue.
2. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
In this category we draw attention to the work of a World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, released in August 2008, chaired by Sir Michael Marmot. In releasing the report in August, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan stated: "Health inequity really is a matter of life and death,…but health systems will not naturally gravitate towards equity. Unprecedented leadership is needed that compels all actors, including those beyond the health sector, to examine their impact on health. Primary health care, which integrates health in all of government's policies, is the best framework for doing so." It does not seem appropriate to allocate “flowers” to the Commission itself, as this would be like “applauding the messenger”. Instead, we now draw attention to their mention of a few countries for addressing inequities:
Flowers: “Some low-income countries such as Cuba, Costa Rica, China, state of Kerala in India and Sri Lanka have achieved levels of good health despite relatively low national incomes”. Wealth alone therefore does not determine the health of a nation's population. But, the Commission points out, wealth can be wisely used: “Nordic countries,… have followed policies that encouraged equality of benefits and services, full employment, gender equity and low levels of social exclusion”. Also “the feasibility of action is indicated in the change… already occurring. Egypt has shown a remarkable drop in child mortality from 235 to 33 per 1000 in 30 years. Greece and Portugal reduced their child mortality from 50 per 1000 births to levels nearly as low as Japan, Sweden, and Iceland. Cuba achieved more than 99% coverage of its child development services in 2000.”
Fertilizer: This can be applied to a large number of nations for whom "health gradients" within countries are persistent or even deteriorating. Examples: Life expectancy for Indigenous Australian males is shorter by 17 years than all other Australian males. In Indonesia, maternal mortality is 3–4 times higher among the poor than the rich. The adult mortality differential between least and most deprived UK neighbourhoods is more than 2.5 times. Child mortality in Nairobi slums is 2.5 times higher than in other parts of the city. A baby born to a Bolivian mother with no education has 10% chance of dying, while one born to a woman with at least secondary education has a 0.4% chance. In the US, 886 202 deaths would have been averted between 1991 and 2000 if mortality rates between white and African Americans were equalized. In Uganda the death rate of children under 5 years in the richest fifth of households is 106 per 1000 live births versus 192 deaths per 1000 live births in the poorest fifth (almost one in five)…; set this against an average death rate for under fives in high income countries of 7 deaths per 1000.
Comment: All too often our political “leaders”, more interested in short term gains (“looking good”) than in real change, respond to such information with fatuous, even pontifical comments, without intending to deal with the underlying causes. This is worse in some countries than in others, and there is even greater cause for concern wherever relevant social indicators are slipping: deteriorating infrastructure, lack of measurable gains in access to health care and quality education, return of previously controlled preventable diseases (e.g, gastroenteritis, dengue fever), crime of various sorts (often related to mismanaged economies and related poverty), corruption and related trends towards authoritarian politics ignoring the fundamentals of human rights.
3. HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
At time of writing, over a thousand people, mostly innocent civilians, have been killed in Gaza by hi-tech Israeli military attacks since mid December 2008, virtually 100 times the number of Israeli casualties (mostly military, including “friendly fire”). In alleged retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks, in themselves a crime under international humanitarian law, this disproportionate and collective punishment of the Palestinian people can only be viewed as an atrocity of far greater magnitude.
In the meantime, long standing legitimate Palestinian grievances continue to be ignored by Israel and by the so-called “international community”.
Apologists for Israel are quick to note the horrific atrocities elsewhere in the world over the past year, such as in the Sudan and the Congo, and complain that their conflict attracts disproportionate condemnation. Israel thereby claims to occupy higher moral ground in its conflict with the Palestinians; yet the facts remain that people driven out of their ancestral land, penned up in refugee camps, impoverished and colonized by settlements on land that many recognize as theirs, also have the right to self-determination.
Flowers: Six international humanitarian NGOs: Amnesty International, Christian Aid, CAFOD, CARE, OXFAM, Save the Children, Trocaire; for documenting the situation in the Gaza as “the worst since the 1967 war between Israel and its neighbours” (March 2008).
Fertilizer: Israel, and through their support for its actions, the US and Canada. The US has funded and armed Israel to become the most powerful military force in the Middle East, on land, sea and air (Gaza has no military capacity, hence the asymmetry of home-made rockets). Canada, once a fair minded country, meanwhile has adopted an almost totally one-sided posture in support of Israel (under the minority government of Stephen Harper). It remains to be seen whether the incoming Obama administration will be more even-handed than its predecessor, given the power of the Israeli lobby on this continent.
With supporters like this, should Israel really be compared with Sudan or the Congo? Or should it be given the same scrutiny as the Balkans, and be referred urgently to a war crimes tribunal?
Comment: It is difficult to see where this is going and who is intended to benefit from the continued stand-off between these two peoples. What are the motivations behind the attacks? There is surely more to this than home-made rockets, especially in the context of unresolved injustices. There is potential here for an even wider regional conflagration. For a world only now starting to emerge from the Bush-Blair distortions of information to prosecute the disaster in Iraq, we must remain alert to the advice of Edmund Burke:
All that is needed for the forces of evil to succeed is for enough good men to remain silent.
2008 AS WE RECORDED IT
January: WORLD DEVELOPMENT CALLS FOR INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURE 2008 The World Development Report 2008 (linked) calls for greater investment in agriculture in developing countries. This annual World Bank report warns that the sector must be placed at the center of the development agenda if goals of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 are to be realized: While 75% of the world’s poor live in rural areas in developing countries, a mere 4% of official development assistance goes to agriculture; In Sub-Saharan Africa, a region heavily reliant on agriculture for overall growth, public spending for farming is also only 4% of total government spending and the sector is still taxed at relatively high levels; GDP growth originating in agriculture is about four times more effective in raising incomes of extremely poor people than GDP growth originating outside the sector.
Said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick: “At the global level, countries must deliver on vital reforms such as cutting distorting subsidies and opening markets, while civil society groups, especially farmer organizations, need more say in setting the agricultural agenda.”
In this issue we focused on Malawi as a Case Study of the role of new subsidies to enhance agricultural production, despite decades of donor proscription not to subsidize, and take note of a World Trade Organization investigation into the use by the United States of truly massive trade-distorting farm subsidies in violation of international commerce rules.
February: CANADIAN POLITICS TRUMPS NUCLEAR SCIENCE, HEALTH AND SAFETY This issue draws attention to the apparent disregard for nuclear safeguards recently revealed by Canada’s minority Conservative government. This failure to respect the independent role of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission puts into question whether Canada takes nuclear safety seriously. For a synopsis of this episode, we paraphrased and updated the core content of a January 2008 article in The (Toronto) Star by Walkom (acknowledged). Further down, we summarized a report from the Canadian Medical Association Journal that revealed the manipulative attitude of the Canadian medical isotope industry, paraphrased from a CTV News report. The main story is how Canada’s government put politics ahead of public health and safety. Clearly there are questionable commercial and political practices in Canada at present.
March: HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN GAZA WORST IN FOUR DECADES This issue features a report recently released by six international humanitarian NGOs (Amnesty International, Christian Aid, CAFOD, CARE, OXFAM, Save the Children, Trocaire), documenting the situation in Gaza as the worst since the 1967 war between Israel and its neighbours. The deterioration can be attributed mostly to the period since mid-2007 when Israel imposed a blockade. For "balance", we cite two reports from Israeli media; we also recognize that – like Canadians and their government –the views of all Israelis are not necessarily reflected in the policies of their government.
Canadian Complicity: This report should be of particular concern for Canadians, especially because Canada (under the minority Conservative government of Stephen Harper) is the only member country to vote against a recent United Nations Human Rights Council motion calling for immediate international action to force Israel to allow fuel, food, medicine and other essential items to be sent to the Gaza Strip, to reopen border crossings and to end its “grave violations” in the occupied Palestinian territory.
April: SEX RATIOS DESTABILIZING IN ASIA “Sex ratio” (SR) refers to the ratio of males to females (M:F) in a population. We focused on this topic because dramatic shifts in sex ratio are taking place in some parts of the world that reveal cultural preferences and social practices favoring the birth/survival of one sex over the other (more often favoring males over females). Other factors influencing the sex ratio of societies include: changing composition by ethnicity and race; civil unrest or warfare; large-scale immigration e.g., male labourers unable to travel with their families; ecological factors eg contaminants in environment; variables affecting mother’s health eg social status, smoking, nutrition, access to support networks.
May: THE GLOBAL ARMS TRADE – An Atrocity? To find out who shares responsibility for global militarization, follow the money trail. Regardless of attempts to legitimize the trade, the historical reality is that bribery, corruption and mercenary as well as national self-interest lie at the heart of the trade. The arms industry is unlike any other. It operates without regulation. It suffers from widespread corruption and bribes. And it makes its profits on the back of machines designed to kill and maim human beings.
So who profits most from this murderous trade? The five permanent members of the UN Security Council—the USA, UK, France, Russia, and China. Together, they are responsible for 80% of reported conventional arms exports. “We can’t have it both ways. We can’t be both the world’s leading champion of peace and the world’s leading supplier of arms.” Former US President Jimmy Carter, presidential campaign, 1976.
June: HEALTH CARE IN CANADA – An Essay: A public consultation on health care, called the Conversation on Health, took place during 2007 in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Our firm made a written submission, and in this issue we took the opportunity to transform the core of this into an overview of Canada’s health care, on the premise that this may be of global interest.
NOTE: The essay is written for the Canadian context, so we caution that Canada’s model is NOT readily translatable to most other countries. However, it may be a viable option for economically developed ones that still lack universal coverage. We reserve the right to change our views on any aspect of this essay; in this sense it is as a work in progress.
July: CHILD SOLDIER INCARCERATED IN GUANTANAMO BAY This month we depicted the situation of a Canadian youth held at the offshore US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a site selected by the US military for detention of “enemy combatants” so as to circumvent the normal jurisdiction of US laws and to exert military control over due process.
The background on Guantanamo Bay itself is instructive. The US assumed territorial control over this Cuban region under the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty, which granted the US a perpetual lease. The Cuban government today considers the US presence to be illegal, arguing that the Treaty violates Article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which declares a treaty void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of international law. Article 4 of the document, however, states that the Convention shall not be retroactively applied.
August: SELECTED WEB RESOURCES ON GLOBAL HEALTH with an acknowledgement to ProCOR This issue highlights some of the work of an organization we respect for its efforts to bring together a virtual community of health professionals from around the world. ProCOR is devoted to examining health and related social issues of relevance to developing countries, with particular reference to cardiovascular diseases. ProCor's monthly "Resource Update" (edited by Juan Ramos) highlights relevant materials. A recent Resource Update on ProCOR listed a number of websites that offer valuable information about health and/or health resources around the world. Selections are made from this list in order to further disseminate ProCOR’s efforts in this regard, as well as to draw attention to the health communications work of ProCOR.
September: THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH In this month we drew attention to the work of a World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, released in August 2008, chaired by Sir Michael Marmot.
In releasing the report in August, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan stated: "Health inequity really is a matter of life and death,…but health systems will not naturally gravitate towards equity. Unprecedented leadership is needed that compels all actors, including those beyond the health sector, to examine their impact on health. Primary health care, which integrates health in all of government's policies, is the best framework for doing so."
October: GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS, FINANCIAL REFORMS & “THE BROWN DOCTRINE” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown outlined a five-point program on October 14, 2008 to reform the world’s financial system, and serve as a basis for a new set of global institutions to replace those that have governed international finance since 1944. The 5 principles (for elaboration see the October issue) are: Transparency, Integrity, Responsibility, Tighter Regulation, and New Institutions.
The new system of banking cooperation will need “a new international financial architecture for the Global Age”. New institutions will provide “an effective global early warning system for the world economy, to alert us to the risks at hand”, and “globally accepted standards of regulation” and the cross-border supervision of global corporations.
November: CAN OBAMA RESTORE THE WORLD’S TRUST IN AMERICA’S IDEALS? We dedicate this issue of PacificSci Global Perspectives to Senator Obama’s political victory, and wish him whatever success is achievable in his efforts to turn around the abysmal situation faced by the US following the Bush 2 administration’s widespread failures in global and domestic vision, leadership and management. There are challenges on every front: economy, health, education, security, restoration of democratic and human rights principles in the US itself (including closing Guantanamo Bay, and rejecting torture), and not least rebuilding the nation’s reputation.
December: PacificSci – FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF A BUSINESS VENTURE WITH A SOCIAL PURPOSE In this issue we examine the emergence of fourth sector organizations as virtually inevitable: breaking with earlier relationships between the state, the private sector and the voluntary sector, operating outside the world of grants, and inside the economic requirement of surviving as a business, the bottom line is one of social purpose: a modern renaissance of motivation to improve the human condition.
AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We extend to readers our best wishes for 2009, with hopes that the serious challenges facing the world in 2008 and other recent years will be better understood and managed going forward. For this to happen we all need better political leadership. PacificSci will continue to offer an independent view of trends and events.
THREE LEADING ISSUES FROM 2008:
Flowers or Fertilizer?
1. GLOBAL STEWARDSHIP: There can be little debate that the leading issue in this category is the global economic crisis. In the latter half of 2008, the world faced an unprecedented near-collapse of its banking systems, ushering in a global recession.
Fertilizer: We assign the prime responsibility for this catastrophe jointly to political leadership in the United States in concert with the greed, negligence and corruption of its financial industry. This does not take the inaction and practices of other countries off the hook, as consequential national and global failures are documented extensively elsewhere, especially in Europe. Clearly, no country (rich or poor) has been spared, and it will take many years for individuals, families, communities and societies as a whole to recover from this crisis of greed, neglect and incompetence. Perhaps needless to say, the necessities of life and the social fabric of all countries e.g, health and educational systems, secure food supply, clothing and shelter depend on integrity in our financial systems. Trust must be restored in those systems.
Flowers: Out of this morass some good is emerging, and in this regard we note the leadership of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who put forward a 5 point plan to galvanize the world financial community around new principles. Implicit in the “Brown Doctrine” is an analysis of what is so seriously wrong with the world financial order. It forms a clear case for supra-national supervision of international finance, which clearly cannot any longer be left to the caprices of any one country. The key features of the Doctrine are presented below (2008 as we observed it) from our October 2008 issue.
2. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
In this category we draw attention to the work of a World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, released in August 2008, chaired by Sir Michael Marmot. In releasing the report in August, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan stated: "Health inequity really is a matter of life and death,…but health systems will not naturally gravitate towards equity. Unprecedented leadership is needed that compels all actors, including those beyond the health sector, to examine their impact on health. Primary health care, which integrates health in all of government's policies, is the best framework for doing so." It does not seem appropriate to allocate “flowers” to the Commission itself, as this would be like “applauding the messenger”. Instead, we now draw attention to their mention of a few countries for addressing inequities:
Flowers: “Some low-income countries such as Cuba, Costa Rica, China, state of Kerala in India and Sri Lanka have achieved levels of good health despite relatively low national incomes”. Wealth alone therefore does not determine the health of a nation's population. But, the Commission points out, wealth can be wisely used: “Nordic countries,… have followed policies that encouraged equality of benefits and services, full employment, gender equity and low levels of social exclusion”. Also “the feasibility of action is indicated in the change… already occurring. Egypt has shown a remarkable drop in child mortality from 235 to 33 per 1000 in 30 years. Greece and Portugal reduced their child mortality from 50 per 1000 births to levels nearly as low as Japan, Sweden, and Iceland. Cuba achieved more than 99% coverage of its child development services in 2000.”
Fertilizer: This can be applied to a large number of nations for whom "health gradients" within countries are persistent or even deteriorating. Examples: Life expectancy for Indigenous Australian males is shorter by 17 years than all other Australian males. In Indonesia, maternal mortality is 3–4 times higher among the poor than the rich. The adult mortality differential between least and most deprived UK neighbourhoods is more than 2.5 times. Child mortality in Nairobi slums is 2.5 times higher than in other parts of the city. A baby born to a Bolivian mother with no education has 10% chance of dying, while one born to a woman with at least secondary education has a 0.4% chance. In the US, 886 202 deaths would have been averted between 1991 and 2000 if mortality rates between white and African Americans were equalized. In Uganda the death rate of children under 5 years in the richest fifth of households is 106 per 1000 live births versus 192 deaths per 1000 live births in the poorest fifth (almost one in five)…; set this against an average death rate for under fives in high income countries of 7 deaths per 1000.
Comment: All too often our political “leaders”, more interested in short term gains (“looking good”) than in real change, respond to such information with fatuous, even pontifical comments, without intending to deal with the underlying causes. This is worse in some countries than in others, and there is even greater cause for concern wherever relevant social indicators are slipping: deteriorating infrastructure, lack of measurable gains in access to health care and quality education, return of previously controlled preventable diseases (e.g, gastroenteritis, dengue fever), crime of various sorts (often related to mismanaged economies and related poverty), corruption and related trends towards authoritarian politics ignoring the fundamentals of human rights.
3. HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
At time of writing, over a thousand people, mostly innocent civilians, have been killed in Gaza by hi-tech Israeli military attacks since mid December 2008, virtually 100 times the number of Israeli casualties (mostly military, including “friendly fire”). In alleged retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks, in themselves a crime under international humanitarian law, this disproportionate and collective punishment of the Palestinian people can only be viewed as an atrocity of far greater magnitude.
In the meantime, long standing legitimate Palestinian grievances continue to be ignored by Israel and by the so-called “international community”.
Apologists for Israel are quick to note the horrific atrocities elsewhere in the world over the past year, such as in the Sudan and the Congo, and complain that their conflict attracts disproportionate condemnation. Israel thereby claims to occupy higher moral ground in its conflict with the Palestinians; yet the facts remain that people driven out of their ancestral land, penned up in refugee camps, impoverished and colonized by settlements on land that many recognize as theirs, also have the right to self-determination.
Flowers: Six international humanitarian NGOs: Amnesty International, Christian Aid, CAFOD, CARE, OXFAM, Save the Children, Trocaire; for documenting the situation in the Gaza as “the worst since the 1967 war between Israel and its neighbours” (March 2008).
Fertilizer: Israel, and through their support for its actions, the US and Canada. The US has funded and armed Israel to become the most powerful military force in the Middle East, on land, sea and air (Gaza has no military capacity, hence the asymmetry of home-made rockets). Canada, once a fair minded country, meanwhile has adopted an almost totally one-sided posture in support of Israel (under the minority government of Stephen Harper). It remains to be seen whether the incoming Obama administration will be more even-handed than its predecessor, given the power of the Israeli lobby on this continent.
With supporters like this, should Israel really be compared with Sudan or the Congo? Or should it be given the same scrutiny as the Balkans, and be referred urgently to a war crimes tribunal?
Comment: It is difficult to see where this is going and who is intended to benefit from the continued stand-off between these two peoples. What are the motivations behind the attacks? There is surely more to this than home-made rockets, especially in the context of unresolved injustices. There is potential here for an even wider regional conflagration. For a world only now starting to emerge from the Bush-Blair distortions of information to prosecute the disaster in Iraq, we must remain alert to the advice of Edmund Burke:
All that is needed for the forces of evil to succeed is for enough good men to remain silent.
2008 AS WE RECORDED IT
January: WORLD DEVELOPMENT CALLS FOR INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURE 2008 The World Development Report 2008 (linked) calls for greater investment in agriculture in developing countries. This annual World Bank report warns that the sector must be placed at the center of the development agenda if goals of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 are to be realized: While 75% of the world’s poor live in rural areas in developing countries, a mere 4% of official development assistance goes to agriculture; In Sub-Saharan Africa, a region heavily reliant on agriculture for overall growth, public spending for farming is also only 4% of total government spending and the sector is still taxed at relatively high levels; GDP growth originating in agriculture is about four times more effective in raising incomes of extremely poor people than GDP growth originating outside the sector.
Said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick: “At the global level, countries must deliver on vital reforms such as cutting distorting subsidies and opening markets, while civil society groups, especially farmer organizations, need more say in setting the agricultural agenda.”
In this issue we focused on Malawi as a Case Study of the role of new subsidies to enhance agricultural production, despite decades of donor proscription not to subsidize, and take note of a World Trade Organization investigation into the use by the United States of truly massive trade-distorting farm subsidies in violation of international commerce rules.
February: CANADIAN POLITICS TRUMPS NUCLEAR SCIENCE, HEALTH AND SAFETY This issue draws attention to the apparent disregard for nuclear safeguards recently revealed by Canada’s minority Conservative government. This failure to respect the independent role of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission puts into question whether Canada takes nuclear safety seriously. For a synopsis of this episode, we paraphrased and updated the core content of a January 2008 article in The (Toronto) Star by Walkom (acknowledged). Further down, we summarized a report from the Canadian Medical Association Journal that revealed the manipulative attitude of the Canadian medical isotope industry, paraphrased from a CTV News report. The main story is how Canada’s government put politics ahead of public health and safety. Clearly there are questionable commercial and political practices in Canada at present.
March: HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN GAZA WORST IN FOUR DECADES This issue features a report recently released by six international humanitarian NGOs (Amnesty International, Christian Aid, CAFOD, CARE, OXFAM, Save the Children, Trocaire), documenting the situation in Gaza as the worst since the 1967 war between Israel and its neighbours. The deterioration can be attributed mostly to the period since mid-2007 when Israel imposed a blockade. For "balance", we cite two reports from Israeli media; we also recognize that – like Canadians and their government –the views of all Israelis are not necessarily reflected in the policies of their government.
Canadian Complicity: This report should be of particular concern for Canadians, especially because Canada (under the minority Conservative government of Stephen Harper) is the only member country to vote against a recent United Nations Human Rights Council motion calling for immediate international action to force Israel to allow fuel, food, medicine and other essential items to be sent to the Gaza Strip, to reopen border crossings and to end its “grave violations” in the occupied Palestinian territory.
April: SEX RATIOS DESTABILIZING IN ASIA “Sex ratio” (SR) refers to the ratio of males to females (M:F) in a population. We focused on this topic because dramatic shifts in sex ratio are taking place in some parts of the world that reveal cultural preferences and social practices favoring the birth/survival of one sex over the other (more often favoring males over females). Other factors influencing the sex ratio of societies include: changing composition by ethnicity and race; civil unrest or warfare; large-scale immigration e.g., male labourers unable to travel with their families; ecological factors eg contaminants in environment; variables affecting mother’s health eg social status, smoking, nutrition, access to support networks.
May: THE GLOBAL ARMS TRADE – An Atrocity? To find out who shares responsibility for global militarization, follow the money trail. Regardless of attempts to legitimize the trade, the historical reality is that bribery, corruption and mercenary as well as national self-interest lie at the heart of the trade. The arms industry is unlike any other. It operates without regulation. It suffers from widespread corruption and bribes. And it makes its profits on the back of machines designed to kill and maim human beings.
So who profits most from this murderous trade? The five permanent members of the UN Security Council—the USA, UK, France, Russia, and China. Together, they are responsible for 80% of reported conventional arms exports. “We can’t have it both ways. We can’t be both the world’s leading champion of peace and the world’s leading supplier of arms.” Former US President Jimmy Carter, presidential campaign, 1976.
June: HEALTH CARE IN CANADA – An Essay: A public consultation on health care, called the Conversation on Health, took place during 2007 in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Our firm made a written submission, and in this issue we took the opportunity to transform the core of this into an overview of Canada’s health care, on the premise that this may be of global interest.
NOTE: The essay is written for the Canadian context, so we caution that Canada’s model is NOT readily translatable to most other countries. However, it may be a viable option for economically developed ones that still lack universal coverage. We reserve the right to change our views on any aspect of this essay; in this sense it is as a work in progress.
July: CHILD SOLDIER INCARCERATED IN GUANTANAMO BAY This month we depicted the situation of a Canadian youth held at the offshore US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a site selected by the US military for detention of “enemy combatants” so as to circumvent the normal jurisdiction of US laws and to exert military control over due process.
The background on Guantanamo Bay itself is instructive. The US assumed territorial control over this Cuban region under the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty, which granted the US a perpetual lease. The Cuban government today considers the US presence to be illegal, arguing that the Treaty violates Article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which declares a treaty void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of international law. Article 4 of the document, however, states that the Convention shall not be retroactively applied.
August: SELECTED WEB RESOURCES ON GLOBAL HEALTH with an acknowledgement to ProCOR This issue highlights some of the work of an organization we respect for its efforts to bring together a virtual community of health professionals from around the world. ProCOR is devoted to examining health and related social issues of relevance to developing countries, with particular reference to cardiovascular diseases. ProCor's monthly "Resource Update" (edited by Juan Ramos) highlights relevant materials. A recent Resource Update on ProCOR listed a number of websites that offer valuable information about health and/or health resources around the world. Selections are made from this list in order to further disseminate ProCOR’s efforts in this regard, as well as to draw attention to the health communications work of ProCOR.
September: THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH In this month we drew attention to the work of a World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, released in August 2008, chaired by Sir Michael Marmot.
In releasing the report in August, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan stated: "Health inequity really is a matter of life and death,…but health systems will not naturally gravitate towards equity. Unprecedented leadership is needed that compels all actors, including those beyond the health sector, to examine their impact on health. Primary health care, which integrates health in all of government's policies, is the best framework for doing so."
October: GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS, FINANCIAL REFORMS & “THE BROWN DOCTRINE” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown outlined a five-point program on October 14, 2008 to reform the world’s financial system, and serve as a basis for a new set of global institutions to replace those that have governed international finance since 1944. The 5 principles (for elaboration see the October issue) are: Transparency, Integrity, Responsibility, Tighter Regulation, and New Institutions.
The new system of banking cooperation will need “a new international financial architecture for the Global Age”. New institutions will provide “an effective global early warning system for the world economy, to alert us to the risks at hand”, and “globally accepted standards of regulation” and the cross-border supervision of global corporations.
November: CAN OBAMA RESTORE THE WORLD’S TRUST IN AMERICA’S IDEALS? We dedicate this issue of PacificSci Global Perspectives to Senator Obama’s political victory, and wish him whatever success is achievable in his efforts to turn around the abysmal situation faced by the US following the Bush 2 administration’s widespread failures in global and domestic vision, leadership and management. There are challenges on every front: economy, health, education, security, restoration of democratic and human rights principles in the US itself (including closing Guantanamo Bay, and rejecting torture), and not least rebuilding the nation’s reputation.
December: PacificSci – FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF A BUSINESS VENTURE WITH A SOCIAL PURPOSE In this issue we examine the emergence of fourth sector organizations as virtually inevitable: breaking with earlier relationships between the state, the private sector and the voluntary sector, operating outside the world of grants, and inside the economic requirement of surviving as a business, the bottom line is one of social purpose: a modern renaissance of motivation to improve the human condition.
AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We extend to readers our best wishes for 2009, with hopes that the serious challenges facing the world in 2008 and other recent years will be better understood and managed going forward. For this to happen we all need better political leadership. PacificSci will continue to offer an independent view of trends and events.
Saturday, 15 March 2008
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN GAZA WORST IN FOUR DECADES
PREAMBLE: This issue features a report recently released by six international humanitarian NGOs (Amnesty International, Christian Aid, CAFOD, CARE, OXFAM, Save the Children, Trocaire), documenting the situation in Gaza as the worst since the 1967 war between Israel and its neighbours. The deterioration can be attributed mostly to the period since mid-2007 when Israel imposed a blockade. For "balance", we cite two reports from Israeli media; we also recognize that – like Canadians and their government –the views of all Israelis are not necessarily reflected in the policies of their government.
Canadian Complicity: This report should be of particular concern for Canadians, especially because Canada (under the minority Conservative government of Stephen Harper) is the only member country to vote against a recent United Nations Human Rights Council motion calling for immediate international action to force Israel to allow fuel, food, medicine and other essential items to be sent to the Gaza Strip, to reopen border crossings and to end its “grave violations” in the occupied Palestinian territory. References: 1. http://presscue.com/node/45049 2. http://radio.un.org/detail/8975.html
The UN Human Rights Council motion expressed deep concern about the “incessant and repeated Israeli military attacks and incursions,” which had killed and injured many Palestinian civilians. The resolution demanded “that the occupying power, Israel, lift immediately the siege it has imposed on the occupied Gaza Strip, restore continued supply of fuel, food and medicine and reopen the border crossings.” It called for protection of civilians in occupied Palestine in line with human rights law and international humanitarian law, and urged all parties to refrain from violence against civilians.
The text also called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), to report to the Council at its next session on the progress made towards implementing the resolution. The High Commissioner Ms. Arbour (a respected Canadian jurist) told the Council’s special session that the situation for both Palestinians and Israelis will continue to deteriorate unless both parties to the conflict and the international community take broader steps to action. “All parties concerned should put an end to the vicious spiral of violence before it becomes unstoppable,” she said. “To this end, they must ensure accountability for breaches of international humanitarian law and violations of international human rights law through credible, independent, and transparent investigations.”
Ms. Arbour added that the Israeli practice of collective punishment, disproportionate use of force and targeted killings continued, as did the Palestinian militants’ practice of indiscriminate firing of mortars and rockets into Israel.
Shortly afterwards, in early March 2008, Louise Arbour tended her resignation. While denying pressure to leave, there is no doubt she has been under continuing pressure from various interests for being such a forceful advocate for human rights. While Ms Arbour gave family reasons for stepping down, the fact that her own country Canada voted uniquely against this UN Human Rights Council resolution should not be ignored.
Reference: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/un-high-commissioner-human-rights-resigns-20080310
Feature Report: A HUMANITARIAN IMPLOSION.
Basic Services: The blockade is destroying public service infrastructure in Gaza. The Israeli government prevents repair and maintenance of electricity and water service infrastructure in Gaza by prohibiting the import of spare parts. The impact of this is amplified by Israel’s parallel punitive restrictions on fuel and electricity. Hospitals cannot generate electricity to keep lifesaving equipment working or to generate oxygen, while 40-50 million tons of sewage continues to pour into the sea daily 14. In September 2007, an UNRWA survey in Gaza revealed a nearly 80% failure rate in schools grades four to nine, with up to 90% failure in Mathematics. In January 2008, UNICEF reported that schools in Gaza had been canceling classes that are high on energy consumption, such as IT, science labs and extra curricular activities.
Basic Medical Supplies and Access to Treatment: As a result of fuel and electricity restrictions, hospitals are currently experiencing power cuts lasting for 8-12 hours a day. There is currently a 60-70 % shortage reported in the diesel required for hospital power generators. According to the World Health Organization, the proportion of patients given permits to exit Gaza for medical care decreased from 89.3% in January 2007 to 64.3% in December 2007, an unprecedented low. It is important to note that even those patients who are granted permits to exit Gaza are often denied access at the crossing itself. Twenty-seven such cases were reported in the month of October alone. WHO has been monitoring the access of patients to specialized health services not available within Gaza. One main indicator monitored since October 2007 is the death of patients due to lack of access to referral services. During the period October-December 2007, WHO has confirmed the deaths of 20 patients, including 5 children.
A New Policy for Gaza: The blockade has effectively dismantled the economy and impoverished the population. Israel’s policy affects the civilian population of Gaza indiscriminately and constitutes a collective punishment against ordinary men, women and children. The measures taken are illegal under international humanitarian law. Israel has the right and duty to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks against its civilian population, but the current policy fails to provide Israel with increased security and has led to increasing polarization. As the head of UNRWA has pointed out, ‘Hungry, unhealthy, angry communities do not make good partners for peace.’ International efforts should be directed towards securing a swift end to the blockade of Gaza. Israel’s current policy of isolation and refusal to engage with all elements of the Palestinian leadership only closes doors to negotiations while reinforcing the political and humanitarian crisis. There is an urgent need for Palestinian dialogue and reconciliation in order to create and sustain a credible and effective peace process with Israel. The international community must provide the political support to facilitate such an undertaking. To date, failure to address the situation in Gaza has harmed both Palestinians and Israelis and has been detrimental to the broader peace process itself.
Source: Amnesty International, Christian Aid, CAFOD, CARE, OXFAM, Save the Children and Trocaire. The Gaza Strip: a humanitarian implosion. Embargoed until March 6, 2008 http://my.ynet.co.il/pic/news/5.3.08/embargoedGazalowreswithout.pdf
As Reported in the Israeli Media
ISRAEL NEWS: The situation for 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is worse now than it has ever been since the start of the Israeli military occupation in 1967. The current situation in Gaza is man-made, completely avoidable and, with the necessary political will, can also be reversed. Gaza has suffered from a long-term pattern of economic stagnation and plummeting development indicators. The severity of the situation has increased exponentially since Israel imposed extreme restrictions on the movement of goods and people in response to the Hamas take over of Gaza and to indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israel. This report illustrates the gravity of the current situation across key sectors.
According to the report, the economic isolation of the 1.5 Palestinians living in Gaza has worsened unemployment and poverty and caused education and health services to deteriorate. Over a million people – 80% of the families - in the Strip are currently dependent on food supply from international aid agencies, compared to 63% of the families in 2006. Additionally, the number of trucks allowed to enter Gaza daily currently stands at only 45, compared to an average of 250 in the past. The Israeli ban on the transfer of raw materials has led to the freezing of 95% of industrial projects. As a result, almost all the factories in the Strip have gone bankrupt and forced to close.
Hamas' takeover of the Strip has also had a devastating effect on the local economy. Between June and September 2007, the rate of Palestinians earning less than $1.2 a day rose from 55% to 70%. The unemployment rate in Gaza currently stands at 40% and experts believe it might soon reach 50%. In the last year alone, some 75,000 people have lost their jobs.
Hike in Food Prices: The closure on the Strip and the collapse of the local economy have also contributed to a sharp increase in food prices. In 2007, Gazans spent 62% of their income on food supplies, compared to only 37% in 2004. The prices of flour and milk climbed 34% and 30% respectively between May and July 2007. Rice prices jumped by 20% over the same period.
As a result of the limited fuel and electricity supply, hospitals in Gaza face long power cuts, which last up to 12 hours a day. The report states that 18.5% of Palestinians who applied for medical treatment outside the Strip were rejected in 2007 and that the number of Palestinians who were approved treatment outside Gaza dropped by 25%. Twenty people awaiting an entry permit to Israel to receive medical treatment have died between October-December 2007, including five children.
'Exert greater pressure on Israel': The report's authors call on the UK government and the European Union to exert pressure on the Israeli government to lift the blockade on Gaza and refrain from limiting fuel and electricity supply to the Strip. The groups also urge the UK and EU to help mediate a truce between the Palestinian factions, in order to facilitate talks between Israel and the PA. The report further calls on the Palestinian terror groups to cease rocket attacks and refrain from targeting civilians, and urges Israel to stop strikes in Gaza.
Source: Israel News March 6, 2008/yNetNews.com Mar 6, 2008
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3515538,00.html
JERUSALEM POST: For more on Israel’s rejection of the report, laying blame on Hamas, visit Jerusalem Post, March 7, 2008. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1204546412033
Canadian Complicity: This report should be of particular concern for Canadians, especially because Canada (under the minority Conservative government of Stephen Harper) is the only member country to vote against a recent United Nations Human Rights Council motion calling for immediate international action to force Israel to allow fuel, food, medicine and other essential items to be sent to the Gaza Strip, to reopen border crossings and to end its “grave violations” in the occupied Palestinian territory. References: 1. http://presscue.com/node/45049 2. http://radio.un.org/detail/8975.html
The UN Human Rights Council motion expressed deep concern about the “incessant and repeated Israeli military attacks and incursions,” which had killed and injured many Palestinian civilians. The resolution demanded “that the occupying power, Israel, lift immediately the siege it has imposed on the occupied Gaza Strip, restore continued supply of fuel, food and medicine and reopen the border crossings.” It called for protection of civilians in occupied Palestine in line with human rights law and international humanitarian law, and urged all parties to refrain from violence against civilians.
The text also called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), to report to the Council at its next session on the progress made towards implementing the resolution. The High Commissioner Ms. Arbour (a respected Canadian jurist) told the Council’s special session that the situation for both Palestinians and Israelis will continue to deteriorate unless both parties to the conflict and the international community take broader steps to action. “All parties concerned should put an end to the vicious spiral of violence before it becomes unstoppable,” she said. “To this end, they must ensure accountability for breaches of international humanitarian law and violations of international human rights law through credible, independent, and transparent investigations.”
Ms. Arbour added that the Israeli practice of collective punishment, disproportionate use of force and targeted killings continued, as did the Palestinian militants’ practice of indiscriminate firing of mortars and rockets into Israel.
Shortly afterwards, in early March 2008, Louise Arbour tended her resignation. While denying pressure to leave, there is no doubt she has been under continuing pressure from various interests for being such a forceful advocate for human rights. While Ms Arbour gave family reasons for stepping down, the fact that her own country Canada voted uniquely against this UN Human Rights Council resolution should not be ignored.
Reference: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/un-high-commissioner-human-rights-resigns-20080310
Feature Report: A HUMANITARIAN IMPLOSION.
Basic Services: The blockade is destroying public service infrastructure in Gaza. The Israeli government prevents repair and maintenance of electricity and water service infrastructure in Gaza by prohibiting the import of spare parts. The impact of this is amplified by Israel’s parallel punitive restrictions on fuel and electricity. Hospitals cannot generate electricity to keep lifesaving equipment working or to generate oxygen, while 40-50 million tons of sewage continues to pour into the sea daily 14. In September 2007, an UNRWA survey in Gaza revealed a nearly 80% failure rate in schools grades four to nine, with up to 90% failure in Mathematics. In January 2008, UNICEF reported that schools in Gaza had been canceling classes that are high on energy consumption, such as IT, science labs and extra curricular activities.
Basic Medical Supplies and Access to Treatment: As a result of fuel and electricity restrictions, hospitals are currently experiencing power cuts lasting for 8-12 hours a day. There is currently a 60-70 % shortage reported in the diesel required for hospital power generators. According to the World Health Organization, the proportion of patients given permits to exit Gaza for medical care decreased from 89.3% in January 2007 to 64.3% in December 2007, an unprecedented low. It is important to note that even those patients who are granted permits to exit Gaza are often denied access at the crossing itself. Twenty-seven such cases were reported in the month of October alone. WHO has been monitoring the access of patients to specialized health services not available within Gaza. One main indicator monitored since October 2007 is the death of patients due to lack of access to referral services. During the period October-December 2007, WHO has confirmed the deaths of 20 patients, including 5 children.
A New Policy for Gaza: The blockade has effectively dismantled the economy and impoverished the population. Israel’s policy affects the civilian population of Gaza indiscriminately and constitutes a collective punishment against ordinary men, women and children. The measures taken are illegal under international humanitarian law. Israel has the right and duty to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks against its civilian population, but the current policy fails to provide Israel with increased security and has led to increasing polarization. As the head of UNRWA has pointed out, ‘Hungry, unhealthy, angry communities do not make good partners for peace.’ International efforts should be directed towards securing a swift end to the blockade of Gaza. Israel’s current policy of isolation and refusal to engage with all elements of the Palestinian leadership only closes doors to negotiations while reinforcing the political and humanitarian crisis. There is an urgent need for Palestinian dialogue and reconciliation in order to create and sustain a credible and effective peace process with Israel. The international community must provide the political support to facilitate such an undertaking. To date, failure to address the situation in Gaza has harmed both Palestinians and Israelis and has been detrimental to the broader peace process itself.
Source: Amnesty International, Christian Aid, CAFOD, CARE, OXFAM, Save the Children and Trocaire. The Gaza Strip: a humanitarian implosion. Embargoed until March 6, 2008 http://my.ynet.co.il/pic/news/5.3.08/embargoedGazalowreswithout.pdf
As Reported in the Israeli Media
ISRAEL NEWS: The situation for 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is worse now than it has ever been since the start of the Israeli military occupation in 1967. The current situation in Gaza is man-made, completely avoidable and, with the necessary political will, can also be reversed. Gaza has suffered from a long-term pattern of economic stagnation and plummeting development indicators. The severity of the situation has increased exponentially since Israel imposed extreme restrictions on the movement of goods and people in response to the Hamas take over of Gaza and to indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israel. This report illustrates the gravity of the current situation across key sectors.
According to the report, the economic isolation of the 1.5 Palestinians living in Gaza has worsened unemployment and poverty and caused education and health services to deteriorate. Over a million people – 80% of the families - in the Strip are currently dependent on food supply from international aid agencies, compared to 63% of the families in 2006. Additionally, the number of trucks allowed to enter Gaza daily currently stands at only 45, compared to an average of 250 in the past. The Israeli ban on the transfer of raw materials has led to the freezing of 95% of industrial projects. As a result, almost all the factories in the Strip have gone bankrupt and forced to close.
Hamas' takeover of the Strip has also had a devastating effect on the local economy. Between June and September 2007, the rate of Palestinians earning less than $1.2 a day rose from 55% to 70%. The unemployment rate in Gaza currently stands at 40% and experts believe it might soon reach 50%. In the last year alone, some 75,000 people have lost their jobs.
Hike in Food Prices: The closure on the Strip and the collapse of the local economy have also contributed to a sharp increase in food prices. In 2007, Gazans spent 62% of their income on food supplies, compared to only 37% in 2004. The prices of flour and milk climbed 34% and 30% respectively between May and July 2007. Rice prices jumped by 20% over the same period.
As a result of the limited fuel and electricity supply, hospitals in Gaza face long power cuts, which last up to 12 hours a day. The report states that 18.5% of Palestinians who applied for medical treatment outside the Strip were rejected in 2007 and that the number of Palestinians who were approved treatment outside Gaza dropped by 25%. Twenty people awaiting an entry permit to Israel to receive medical treatment have died between October-December 2007, including five children.
'Exert greater pressure on Israel': The report's authors call on the UK government and the European Union to exert pressure on the Israeli government to lift the blockade on Gaza and refrain from limiting fuel and electricity supply to the Strip. The groups also urge the UK and EU to help mediate a truce between the Palestinian factions, in order to facilitate talks between Israel and the PA. The report further calls on the Palestinian terror groups to cease rocket attacks and refrain from targeting civilians, and urges Israel to stop strikes in Gaza.
Source: Israel News March 6, 2008/yNetNews.com Mar 6, 2008
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3515538,00.html
JERUSALEM POST: For more on Israel’s rejection of the report, laying blame on Hamas, visit Jerusalem Post, March 7, 2008. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1204546412033
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
