Posted By Yousef Munayyer
Thursday, June 3, 2010 - 10:44 AM
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In recent days, coverage of the attack on the aid flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip has focused on the lack of availability of certain humanitarian goods. This fact sheet is a reference tool based on data collected by international aid agencies and human rights groups on the impact of the siege on the population of Gaza.
Electricity: The siege has led to a significant lack of power in the Gaza Strip. In 2006, Israel carried out an attack on Gaza's only power plant and never permitted the rebuilding to its pre-attack capacity (down to producing 80 megawatts maximum from 140 megawatts). According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the daily electricity deficit has increased since January of 2010 with the plant only able to operate one turbine producing only 30 megawatts compared to its previous average of 60-65 megawatts in 2009. The majority of houses have power cuts at least eight hours per day. Some have no electricity for long as 12 hours a day. The lack of electricity has led to reliance on generators, many of which have exploded from overwork, killing and maiming civilians. Oxfam reported that "[in 2009], a total of 75 Palestinians died from carbon monoxide gas poisoning or fires from generators, and 15 died and 27 people were injured in the first two months of this year."
Water: Israel has not permitted supplies into the Gaza Strip to rebuild the sewage system. Amnesty International reports that 90-95 percent of the drinking water in Gaza is contaminated and unfit for consumption. The United Nations even found that bottled water in Gaza contained contaminants, likely due to the plastic bottles recycled in dysfunctional factories. The lack of sufficient power for desalination and sewage facilities results in significant amounts of sewage seeping into Gaza's costal aquifer--the main source of water for the people of Gaza.
Industry: Prior to the siege, the industrial sector employed 20 percent of Gaza's labor force. One year after the siege began, the Palestinian Federation of Industries reported that "61% of the factories have completely closed down. 1% was forced to change their scope of work in order to meet their living expenses, 38% were partially closed (sometimes means they operate with less than 15% capacity)". A World Health Organization report from this year states: "In the Gaza Strip, private enterprise is practically at a standstill as a consequence of the blockade. Almost all (98%) industrial operations have been shut down. The construction sector, which before September 2000 provided 15% of all jobs, has effectively halted. Only 258 industrial establishments in Gaza were operational in 2009 compared with over 2400 in 2006. As a result, unemployment rates have soared to 42% (up from 32% before the blockade)."
Health: Gaza's health sector, dramatically overworked, was also significantly damaged by Operation Cast Lead. According to UN OCHA, infrastructure for 15 of 27 of Gaza's hospitals, 43 of 110 of its primary care facilities, and 29 of its 148 ambulances were damaged or destroyed during the war. Without rebuilding materials like cement and glass due to Israeli restrictions, the vast majority of the destroyed health infrastructure has not been rebuilt. Many medical procedures for advanced illnesses are not available in Gaza. 1103 individuals applied for permits to exit the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing for medical treatment in 2009. 21 percent of these permits were denied or delayed resulting in missed hospital appointments, and several have died waiting to leave Gaza for treatment.
Food: A 2010 World Health Organization report stated that "chronic malnutrition in the Gaza Strip has risen over the past few years and has now reached 10.2%. Micronutrient deficiencies among children and women have reached levels that are of concern." According to UN OCHA: "Over 60 percent of households are now food insecure, threatening the health and wellbeing of children, women and men. In this context, agriculture offers some practical solutions to a humanitarian problem. However, Israel's import and access restrictions continue to suffocate the agriculture sector and directly contribute to rising food insecurity. Of particular concern, farmers and fishers' lives are regularly put at risk, due to Israel's enforcement of its access restrictions. The fact that this coastal population now imports fish from Israel and through tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border speaks to the absurdity of the situation." 72 percent of Gaza's fish profit comes from beyond the three nautical mile mark, but further restrictions by Israel's naval blockade prevents Gazans from fishing beyond that mark. Between 2008 and 2009 the fishing catch was down 47 percent.
Yousef Munayyer is the Executive Director of the Jerusalem Fund and the Palestine Center
Nice, an article based on facts rather than an opinion piece with the usual BS.
and i love the info.
If Egypt were to accept Gaza refugees...
If Egypt were to accept Gaza refugees, how would that work out for both in short and medium time frames? Suppose the US were to favor an open pipeline into Gaza; can Egypt do that, given Israeli ability to cordon the S. Gaza border closed again.
It's been proposed that Israel's hope in the Jan 2009 attack was to force Egypt to open up, and achieve a partial depopulaton of Gaza. Anything to that?
Israel calls Hamas an agent of Iran. Others say it's a branch of the Brotherhood, which has a recent salafist history. I'm confused.
Why should Israel one grain of rice or a drop of water to gaza
I don't know about everybody else but I know when Israel has left gaza in 2005 it took it's hands off the responsibility for the people of gaza, it provides then with water and electricity, don't forget about Israeli currency that the bank of Israels till delivers to gaza, ther is 100 trucks with food going to the gaza strip everyday. WHy should Israel be responsible for an entity thAT SWEARS TO KILL it, does it make sense to deliver goods to your enemies, they have a boarder with egypt, why don't alll the rich phony arab states who claim to care about gaza don't make factories there invest in infastructure and just deliver goods to the people there if it bothers them so much all we hear from them is complaints and see little action, big words yet when it comes to giving money guess who? , thats right the u.s and the EU are the biggest donors wierd. If you shoot rockets at me why would I feed you? you think the russians would?
Funny how the writer had no complaints to the hamas regime, the blockade is to make sure that there are no weapons going in to gaza, if you all believe there is not enough food please feel free to donate your money to the hamas.
Gaza had a chance to flourish, Israel has left infastructure and the passages were fully open, they had a chance to build schools invest in infastructure invest in their kids, make something instead of just terror land they chose not to, no one told them they chose it so don't complain now, you arabs are funny you shoot rockets and at the same time you demand the person who you are shooting at to give you all these things.
Go cry to your Egyptians "brothers" thank god gaza is their problem now
Not to mention the fact that the only reason there is a blockade at all is because Hamas usurped the PA and fired thousands of rockets into Israel, lets see how many ways this article is dishonest and misleading.
1. "Israel has not permitted supplies into the Gaza Strip to rebuild the sewage system."
In 2009, Israel sent 95 truckloads of materials to repair Gaza sewer systems as well as 3700 tons of chloride to purify water.
2. "the industrial sector employed 20 percent of Gaza's labor force"
That number excludes the enormous black market in Gaza. Which is so extensive that:
"the prices of many smuggled goods have fallen in recent months, thanks to a SUPPLY GLUT that is on striking display across the Strip."(emphasis added).
and
"the tunnel operators have also flooded Gaza with Korean refrigerators, German food mixers and Chinese air conditioning units. Tunnel operators and traders alike complain of a SATURATED MARKET- and FALLING PRICES."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4c51267a-66ca-11df-aeb1-00144feab49a.html
3."1103 individuals applied for permits to exit the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing for medical treatment in 2009"
Now this is just a lie. From one of your own sources: 800 Gazans were approved to go to Israel for medical treatment in December 2009 alone.
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ochaopt_who_gaza_health_fact_sheet_20100120_english.pdf
I could go on.
If you're going to publish a one-sided editorial, fine, do so; that's the point of editorials. But an article that only gives on side of the story and makes absolutely no mention of Hamas weaponry, Israeli-provided humanitarian aid (which dwarfs that on the flotillas), or, as previously pointed out, the Egyptian role definitely does NOT consist of "everything" you need to know about the blockade of Gaza.
Seriously, what is wrong with the editors of Foreign Policy? You're turning your publication into an overtly-biased joke, regardless of how correct you may thing you're being.
You bOmb civillian houses and don't allow aid agencies to help rebuild their houses bcoz they could turned into bunkers instead.. Humanitarian aid by Israeli defination. According to me, israel is waiting for the population of gaza to perish so they can build their settlements without any resistance. A new way of doing what the europeans did to the red Indians.
Hamas's weaponry is irrelevant to the effect of the blockade, which is what the story is about. The article is not about the cause of the blockade.
WASLOVE,
If Jthomas is a fool who hates Israel and ignorant about many things you are an idiot.
If israel wanted to starve Gazans to death they easily could prevent any humanitarian supplies to go thru them to Gaza (read my response to JThomas).
If Hamas would care about their own people they can recognize Israel and negotiate peace and land with them. Read what Arafat told off the record when he refused to sign a peace agreement with Barack in 2000 when he was offred 93-96% of West Bank, all Gaza and East Jerusalem as their capital for 2 state solution.
The fact is that palestinian leaders (and 99% of muslim nations) don't want peace between Israelis and Palestinians. They want to"wipe Israel from the map of the MiddleEast". And they need palestinian people as the cause. Palestinian people lived without any problems under Jordanian occupation for 19 years.
1.25 million palestinian arabs live in Israel and have Israely citizenship. They have the same civil rights, vote and have their reps in the Israel parlament.
Can you point me to any muslim country where Jews have the same rights and have their delegates in country government.
Insh Allah
"In 2009, 1.1 billion shekels (about $250 million) were transferred to the Gaza Strip for the ongoing activity of international organizations and to pay the salaries of Palestinian Authority workers. 40 million damaged bank notes were traded for new bills, and at the request of the Palestinian Monetary Fund, 282.5 million shekels were transferred from Gazan to Israeli banks"
In addition to what I've already posted.
"Gazans produce much of their own food products including olives, citrus, vegetables, Halal beef, and dairy products. Primary exports from Gaza are cut flowers and citrus, with trade partners being Israel, Egypt and the West Bank. During 2009, 7.5 million tons of flowers and 54 tons of strawberries were exported from Gaza with Israeli cooperation."
The cycle of life:
"Projected life expectancy in the Gaza Strip (2010) is 73.86, greater than Estonia, Malaysia, Jamaica and Bulgaria.
The infant mortality rate in Gaza is 17.71 per 1000, lower than that of China, Jordan, Lebanon and Thailand.
Fertility rates are about five children per family, equal to many African nations such as Rwanda and Senegal.
Healthcare:
Palestinian families receive the same subsidized healthcare as Israelis, about 10% of the cost for the same treatment in the United States
About 20% of the population in Gaza owns a personal computer - this is more than Portugal, Brazil, Saudi Arabia or Russia. They have access to ADSL and dial-up Internet service, provided by one of four providers"
"According to USAID report, 81% of households in Gaza have access to a cell phone. The PA-owned cell phone provider Jawwal has more than 1 million cellular subscribers"
"Despite the inherent dangers involved, Israel permits Gazans and visitors to travel between Gaza and Israel, from Gaza to Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and even abroad for medical treatment, religious pilgrimages, and business trips. In additional to medical travel, 21,200 activists from international organizations and over 400 diplomatic delegations were permitted entry into Gaza, while 2,200 Palestinians employed by international organizations were given exit permits from the Gaza Strip."
Some kind of agressors and occupaers. And all these liberal hyppocrits are crying about poor palestinians but don't give a d..n about North Korea sunking a ship and killing 46 sailors.
Now, who can tell me who killed most palestionians - Israelis or arabs. I will make it easy. Israelis in all 63 years of their existance and all the wars did not kill as much palestinians as did king of Jordan Hussein in 1970 during black September when he push Arafat from Jordan. His troops killed about 20,000 PLO fighters.
You can verify all these facts.
Insh Allah
The Gaza strip is ruled by people who did nothing to invest in their economy, zero in education, opposed R&D (for non-missle purposes that is) and commute only to Teheran. And what a surprise that their piece of land is impoversihed....Must be Israel's fault then...
Israel imposed the blockade to keep them from getting weapons? Did somebody claim that? How can they possibly get weapons by exporting flowers or food or fish etc? The blockade officially does not allow Gaza to export anything.
So, to buy anything they need foreign exchange and Israel does not allow them to earn any. replica omega A big part of the money they get comes from Hamas, which gets donations from Iran etc.
You idiots have a blockade that's supposed to make Hamas weaker. And you end up with a situation where the people of Gaza have no money and depend on Hamas to give them stuff. And Hamas depends on iran.
Egypt does have a de facto open border through tunnels that are technically illegal. What problem would there be for Egypt to allow food, clothing, construction material etc cross the border in exchange for money? I don't see that Egypt loses by trade with Gaza. Even if it's things imported into Egypt and then sold to Gaza, Egypt replica TAG still gets various taxes and fees and transport payments.
Is the Egyptian government afraid Gaza will get advanced weapons and then attack Egypt? Well, don't sell them those.
There's a lot of room for profit between the extremes of letting Gazans go wherever they want in Egypt while carrying anti-tank guns, versus the other extreme of complete blockade. I expect Egypt would choose a profitable course if they were allowed to.
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