Additional humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians
In case anyone was thinking that the undefined mechanism to provide additional humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people was going to bring relief, the sole supplier of fuel to the Palestinians, an Israeli company, in Gaza has announced it will stop fuel shipments.
As the Associated Press reports, "The Israeli company that provides fuel to the Palestinian areas is cutting off supplies due to growing debts, Israeli and Palestinian officials said Wednesday, a move that could deepen a humanitarian crisis in the West and Gaza Strip' "
That's right, no fuel. Think about that for a while. No fuel to run cars, no fuel for taxis, no fuel for generators, no fuel for businesses or factories. Think about how dependent any economy is on fuel and what a fuel stoppage would mean in your life. Basically a return to pre-modern living. And that's on top of the closure of the only commercial crossing Gaza has with the outside world, during the hieght of the agricultural season.
This is not about a business dropping a customer because he can't pay its bills. According to the AP, the Israelis have so far paid the Israeli company that supplies Gaza out of the roughly $55 million in customs duties it has withheld from the Palestinian Authority in since Hamas was elected to power. But, "a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said Israel would "absolutely not" bail out the Palestinians this time."
This is not "bailing them out." This is paying the Israeli company with Palestinian money.
Is there any way that this move can be construed as aimed at Hamas, or the Palestinian Authority, and not the Palestinian people, who are now supposed to receive additional humanitarian assistance. Is that going to include firewood and matches?
There are so many simple steps that could advance a peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians. One of them is letting Palestinians have a chance to live. Is there really a wonder that so many are ready to die? The wonder is that so many more of them struggle daily to live.
As the Associated Press reports, "The Israeli company that provides fuel to the Palestinian areas is cutting off supplies due to growing debts, Israeli and Palestinian officials said Wednesday, a move that could deepen a humanitarian crisis in the West and Gaza Strip' "
That's right, no fuel. Think about that for a while. No fuel to run cars, no fuel for taxis, no fuel for generators, no fuel for businesses or factories. Think about how dependent any economy is on fuel and what a fuel stoppage would mean in your life. Basically a return to pre-modern living. And that's on top of the closure of the only commercial crossing Gaza has with the outside world, during the hieght of the agricultural season.
This is not about a business dropping a customer because he can't pay its bills. According to the AP, the Israelis have so far paid the Israeli company that supplies Gaza out of the roughly $55 million in customs duties it has withheld from the Palestinian Authority in since Hamas was elected to power. But, "a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said Israel would "absolutely not" bail out the Palestinians this time."
This is not "bailing them out." This is paying the Israeli company with Palestinian money.
Is there any way that this move can be construed as aimed at Hamas, or the Palestinian Authority, and not the Palestinian people, who are now supposed to receive additional humanitarian assistance. Is that going to include firewood and matches?
There are so many simple steps that could advance a peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians. One of them is letting Palestinians have a chance to live. Is there really a wonder that so many are ready to die? The wonder is that so many more of them struggle daily to live.
posted by Jason at 4:34 PM
3 Comments:
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