There is no hunger in Gaza

By Gideon Levy

For the information of all the anxious: There is no hunger in the territories. No baby has died of malnutrition; no child is walking around with a swollen belly. There is no lack of flour, and from Rafah to Jenin rice is available. Let the tongue-cluckers relax: The talk about a "humanitarian disaster" is exaggerated. The international relief and aid organizations are trying in despair to cry "wolf," to alert the Israelis and the world and enlist them in the cause to save the Palestinian people, knowing that only exaggerated talk might move anyone. They might be right, but their calls are coming too soon, and also much too late.

The use of the term "humanitarian disaster" is actually proof of the dehumanization of the Palestinians. There's no flour? "Humanitarian disaster." There is flour? Then there's no disaster. There's an assumption that all the Palestinians need is a daily serving of food so they won't be considered disaster victims. It's enough that they have water and food in their troughs to conclude that their situation is fine. But human beings, including the Palestinians, have a few other basic needs as well.

The real humanitarian disaster in the territories began a long time ago, and it is not hunger. Those who regard the neighboring people as human beings know this very well. It is true that the dimensions of the disaster are worsening, but that's been taking place over years, and the food index is not the only measure. The cessation of the flow of funding since the rise of Hamas might threaten to depress the economic situation even further, but the thought that if they only have enough food, their needs will be satisfied and our conscience can be clear, is outrageous.

>snip

But even if they have bags of flour and rice, the living conditions of the Palestinians are chilling. They live in prison. Their daily routine includes humiliation that is no less terrible than malnutrition. Anyone who has to beg for permission to leave his village, to spend hours crowded in line at a checkpoint just to reach his destination, anyone whose bedroom is brutally invaded in the middle of the night by the occupation army, whose time and life is considered valueless, and whose basic human dignity has been trampled into dust, cannot find any consolation in the fact that flour and rice is available. Those who think that all it takes is providing a quota of flour to be free of any responsibility for the fate of the people they occupy, are suffering from a serious case of moral blindness. Does the fact that a Palestinian youth is not hungry in any way blunt the fact that he cannot dream, cannot aspire to a career, an orderly education, a vacation or simple pleasures of life? Does the fact that his belly is not completely empty cover up for the miserable present and the hopeless future?

The departure of Israel from Gaza does not remove a speck of the responsibility it has for the fate of Gaza's imprisoned residents. Israel, which forbids Gazans from going to the West Bank - a violation of signed agreements - and prevents the provision of supplies from both Israel and Egypt, has never left Gaza, not even for a moment. The world and people of conscience in Israel do not need to wait for the first Palestinian child to die of hunger to raise the hue and cry. Enough Palestinian children have been killed because of too easy trigger fingers or disgraceful health services. The responsibility is not with the international relief agencies, but on Israel's shoulders. But Israel's conscience in recent years operates only according to one index, the index of protest from Washington. If Washington remains quiet, everything can be covered up.

More at;
Haaretz

It's a terrific article, and focuses on the vital issues.

n/t

"Our lives shall not be sweetened
From birth until life closes
Hearts starve as well as bodies
Give us bread, but give us roses"
Lyrics, Bread and Roses

I remember when i was in Ramallah.

a young Palestinian woman who was leading us around the deserted streets during curfew telling us about her life under occupation. It was broad daylight, but there were few people on the streets, knowing that being outside meant the possibility of arrest or even being shot. We depended on our white vests that declared us to be medical workers, and the fact that some of us were internationals (yes, we were naive to think the Israeli army would care about any of those things). We were on a simple errand to deliver medicine. Ramallah had already many days of curfew, though it did open for a few hours on most days... due to the benevolence of the Israeli Army.

So no one in Ramallah starved during those days. Because of the sharing among Palestinians, and the occasional opening of Ramallah for a few hours. It might not have been every day, but it was enough so people could go buy bread. The young woman who led us around told us her heartache for a better life. She declared that Palestinians were not like dogs, that they needed more than simple bread and water. she longed for an opportunity to go to a movie, to hang out with friends, without the oppressive occupation. She shared with me that once, when Ramallah was opened after a long period of curfew, while everyone else was out buying essentials, she went to a hairdresser. People long for beauty. People deserve roses.

yes, we were naive to think the Israeli army would care about any of those things

perhaps you would like to try that in tibet? chechniya....see what its really like to be targeted.....if we didnt care about those things.....my unit alone would have wiped out dozens of the "interationals".....palestenains in "suspicious" areas, not to mention those journalists that seem to be everywhere....

its pathetic lies as the above that keeps the intls and the ISM designated as hostile to us israelis