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Crisis in Palestine
international |
rights, freedoms and repression |
other press
Friday June 23, 2006 21:40 by Liam Mullen - Freelance Journalist

The new Palestinian Anti-Terrorist Act passed by the US House of Representatives last month is preventing aid agencies, like Mercy Corps, delivering assistance to Palestinians already burdened by poverty and hardship. Since the Hamas victory in the elections, Israel has punished the Palestinian people by withdrawing valuable tax breaks, freezing wages to teachers, healthcare employees, policemen and other municipal workers, and by limiting entry through checkpoints that Palestinians need to access in order to be able to go to work. The funding from the “quartet” of the International donors – the US, EU, UN, and Russia hasn’t been delivered to the Palestinian people most in need, even though these countries and institutions pledged to deliver relief directly to those most in need. According to Sarah Malian of Christian Aid, NGO’s are experiencing severe difficulties in delivering aid to partner NGO’s in the region, and Christian Aid is also concerned at certain “donors” using Palestinian NGO’s to effectively bypass the Palestinian Authority. She also adds that the EU have initiated a temporary aid mechanism to restore some support for Palestinian health services and has also guaranteed fuel supplies.
As of June 20th, 165,000 public service workers who depend on the Palestinian Authority for their wages have only received a fraction of their income, and this is having a knock-on effect on their purchasing power. In tandem with this the PA’a inability to deliver vital aid to healthcare and education bodies because of the tightening of aid relief, has led the World Health Organisation to declare that the public health system is in danger of collapse. The Augusta Victoria Hospital, a vital resource to Palestinians in East Jerusalem is dangerously close to collapse due to its inability to pay staff and its bills, and if it is forced to shut its doors, it will compound an already critical political and humanitarian crisis. Despite an offer from several Arab states to fund these salaries, the relief hasn’t been applied as yet.
Dov Weisglass, an advisor to Prime Minister Olmert has asserted ominously: “The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.” This statement was made in relation to the withholding by the Israeli state of approximately 48 million euros per month due to the PA in collected taxes, which equates to half the Authority’s revenue. With half of the Palestinian population reliant on food aid, the growth of poverty even among employed workers is likely to lead to further violence in the region. Within the Gaza Strip, the closure of the Karni border crossing, through which much of the commercialization flows, is creating huge difficulties in relation to freedom to markets, and is helping to create a situation where Palestinians have to join long lines to queue for bread.
According to Sarah Malian, the “stranglehold on the Palestinian economy is having a detrimental effect” on the Palestinian partner NGO’s that they support. Christian Aid recognises a number of recommendations: That neither Israel, nor indeed the PA have adhered to EU demands, but that “conditionality” only rests with the Palestinians, and that the wrong message will be allayed to the world community that only democratic elections by approved parties will be backed internationally, and it states that in order to alleviate the growing poverty aid should be administered immediately to those responsible for delivering it, particularly within healthcare and education, that “conditionality be applied impartially”, and that EU member states, including the UK and Ireland, insist that negotiations backed by UN laws and treaties and international law, and not measures adopted solely by the Israeli state, can bring meaningful peace to both camps.
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Comments (6 of 6)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6"Palestinians already burdened by poverty and hardship"
It's just terrible! Suha Arafat is forced to live in Paris. On only $22 million US per annum!
It is a terrible hardship. Why just last week she was burdened by the concierge of her hotel because he couldn't get a decent bottle of Cote du Rhone.
To make matters worse, the Pate Foie was served chilled but it wasn't chilled to the right temperature. It is a crime against humanity!!
It's not that Palestinians voted and elected Hamas.
The issue is Hamas' insistence on not recognising Israel.
With power comes responsibility.
Hamas appear to have concluded that not recognising Israel's right to exist comes before feeding it's voters.
The only reason the nutcases from Hamas were elected was because the bastard Israelis are still killing Palestinian kids. The only reason the bastard Israelis aren’t forced to resolve their differences with the occupied population is because the bastard usa is still supporting them. There will never be peace in the middle east while the Israelis child killers rule the region. Nutjobs like Bin Laden will always have an excuse to promoting their fundamentalism.
"It's not that Palestinians voted and elected Hamas.
The issue is Hamas' insistence on not recognising Israel."
Surely the problem is Israel not recognising Palestine? Shouldn't we get to the root of the problem?
Child Killers :: Tell me of an armed faction which has not killed children, purposely or otherwise.
Israel not recognising Palestine :: Israel does recognise Palestine, it recognises it as a place that up to 40 Qassam rockets take flight from per day, it recognises it as the place where brainwashed suicide bombers (some legally still children) commence their murderous journey to paradise and their 72 blushing virgins (or is it raisins?). It recognises it as the place they where the Israeli government sends free medical care, free energy, and free money, and it recognises it as the place where the Palestinian hatred for Jews still out weighs the Palestinian love of their own offspring.
The Israeli government may not be a host of angels and the IDF are no boy scouts but do please stop with the one sided support for the poor Palestinians all because of your hatred for the US. Israel is not the 51st state, it is a nation which has a right to exist in peace, at any cost.
fnord
so is "POW".
so are the words "hunger strike"
so are the words "suicide bomber"
so is the name "michael jackson"
so are most spam mail titles.
if you can't see the fnords in all this,
then you're cruising emotions & indignation without rational or critical thought. That much said, once you see the fnords, the apophenia diminishes. (you may need a very good dictionary for that. But do use it quickly, no bibliomancy & no staring at fnords) & ne'er forget fnords get deleted especially if non-linguistic & just illustrative as indeed fnordish books go out of print quicker than the others yet still end up top of the university reading lists.