Trouble in the Gaza Strip

Well, here’s something I didn’t know.  Palestine is near disintegration.

Observer :

Gaza on brink of implosion as aid cut-off starts to bite
The end of Western funding and Israel’s crossing closure sharpen Palestinian divisions, reports Conal Urquhart in Gaza City

Sunday April 16, 2006
The Observer

An empty watchtower overlooks a deserted road lined with rusting vehicle parts. The only traffic is a pregnant bitch and a mule and cart. This is Gaza’s economic lifeline, the Karni crossing into Israel, which is supposed to handle 1,300 containers of merchandise and food per day in order to sustain 1.3 million people.
But nothing is entering or leaving Gaza, and now the funds to purchase what is available there are also drying up, bringing the dire situation of its people to a new and febrile crisis.

Karni is officially closed because the Israeli army has declared a security alert for the Jewish Passover holiday. Yet it has barely been open this year. The effect is a paralysis of Gaza’s commerce and severe shortages of basic foods. Not that the locals are in a position to buy what food there is. There is little money because the European Union, Canada and the United States have stopped funding the aid-dependent Palestinian Authority, which can no longer pay its staff’s wages.

The result is that families are existing on tiny amounts of money and businesses are facing collapse. Palestinian areas in the West Bank face similar difficulties, but the situation in Gaza is much more severe. John Ging, the Gaza director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said that, while he did not expect people to starve, ‘the clock is ticking towards a crisis’.

To add further misery, in retaliation for militants firing home-made Qassam rockets at Israel, the Israel Defence Force has bombarded the north of Gaza with thousands of artillery shells. Gazans fear external pressures will lead to domestic unrest in which the situation is used as a weapon against Hamas by supporters of Fatah who have not accepted January’s electoral defeat.

Confronted with the crisis facing Palestinian society, Russia broke ranks with fellow mediators the EU and Washington yesterday by promising emergency aid to save the authority from complete bankruptcy.

It came as the first anti-government protests took place in Khan Yunis in Gaza, when about 50 policemen, most of them Fatah supporters, blocked Gaza’s main artery to demand the government pay their salaries or step aside. Yesterday dozens more stormed a government building and blocked roads.

At the root of Gaza’s problems is Israel’s determination to force Hamas to recognise the state of Israel and renounce violence. Israel has been joined in its efforts by Britain, the EU and the US. Hamas militants have been on a ceasefire for 16 months but they are determined to withhold recognition of Israel at least until it withdraws from occupied Palestinian territory.

Israel’s policy was summed up by Dov Weisglass, an adviser to Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, earlier this year. ‘The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger,’ he said. The hunger pangs are supposed to encourage the Palestinians to force Hamas to change its attitude towards Israel or force Hamas out of government.

But it is not certain that the Palestinian reality will conform to the Israeli theory. Even if the wage bill is finally paid – with Russia’s help – analysts believe it will only provide a short respite until the same problem arises next month.

Mohammed Salah, 38, a barber in the Jabalia refugee camp said that the economic crisis was ‘a conspiracy from inside and outside against Hamas. Things are very low at the moment, but if we give up thieves will take over the government,’ he said. He estimated that his takings had fallen by 50 per cent. ‘I don’t turn anyone away. They pay what they can when they can,’ he said.

— snip —

For those families who do not have a wage to rely on, the UN relief agency is their life support system. The agency, which was set up in 1948 to cater for the needs of Palestinian refugees, is responsible for 962,000 registered refugees in Gaza and 735,000 of them receive food aid. ‘We are living with the consequences of an unprecedented period of closure. We have contingency plans for this event but they have been exhausted,’ he said.

‘We have run out of reserves, there is a pressure pot of of frustration compounded by the intensity of shelling, and in the midst of all this we have had avian flu and not a shekel has been offered in compensation to the farmers who have lost their livestock,’ he said

Raji Serani, director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, said that the ultimate effect could be to silence moderate voices. ‘I have no idea where this will end, but I fear it will be bleak and black,’ he said.

Guardian :

Prodi quickly caught in row over remarks about Hamas

John Hooper in Rome
Friday April 14, 2006
The Guardian

Italy’s prime minister-in-waiting, Romano Prodi, yesterday stumbled into his first big row since winning this week’s general election when he was quoted as saying he would try to get the European Union to change its approach to Hamas.
The centre-left leader’s aides rushed to correct what they said was a mis-translation. But by then he had come under fire from his opponents in Italy, and even the accurate version of his remarks prompted criticism from a Jewish representative.

The left wing of Mr Prodi’s broad alliance made big advances in the vote and can block legislation in either chamber of parliament. There was speculation that its influence was already showing up in Mr Prodi’s foreign policy after he was quoted by news agencies as having told the Arab satellite channel, Al-Jazeera: “I shall commit myself at the European level to shape a new position with respect to the new Palestinian government. I am looking with great attention at the signs of an opening being made by Hamas.”

A spokesman for the right accused Mr Prodi of complicity in “the worst sort of anti-westernism”. The remarks had been translated into Italian from the Arabic voiceover and what Mr Prodi actually said was: “Now I’ll get to work in an active way in Europe and we shall see the position in future. Beside, there have been openings by Hamas that are very interesting.”

— snip —

Ynetnews :

Petition: Gaza shelling illegal

Six Israeli, Palestinian human rights groups petition High Court of Justice after army permits troops to fire at sites closer to Gaza residential homes; IDF playing Russian roulette with Palestinian lives, attorney charges
Tal Rosner

A recent order given to IDF forces to fire shells closer to the homes of Gaza residents is illegal and should be rescinded, according to a High Court of Justice petition filed by six human rights groups Sunday.

“The order given to IDF forces to aim shells to a distances of only 100 meters (roughly 300 feet) from residents’ homes harms the lives of civilians and places officers and soldiers at risk of committing war crimes,” the petition charges.