One year has lapsed since the beginning of the 22-day military assault on the besieged Gaza Strip on 27 December 2008 but to the people of Gaza time had stood still for them. The assault left extensive destruction of factories, businesses, public service buildings, farms, mosques and schools. One year later and 20,000 people are still displaced, living with relatives, or in makeshift shacks. Many of them have almost resigned themselves to living in temporary accommodations permanently. Israel’s continuous tight restrictions on the movement of people or materials in or out of Gaza means that one year on, Gaza is yet to rebuild itself physically or psychologically. As such for the people of Gaza, frustration and despair reigns as time stood still.
The reported pledges of over 4 billion USD made at a donors' conference in Egypt in March last year for the reconstruction of Gaza remained unfulfilled, and the Israeli siege, supported by the US, the European Union, Arab states, and tacitly by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah, continues.
The reconstruction process would not only put the Strip on the road to recovery, but would also provide hundreds of thousands of jobs in a multitude of sectors, and assist in decreasing the unprecedented 60 per cent unemployment rate. But, the continued indefinite delay has created an overwhelming sense of frustration and despair among Gazans.
The reported pledges of over 4 billion USD made at a donors' conference in Egypt in March last year for the reconstruction of Gaza remained unfulfilled, and the Israeli siege, supported by the US, the European Union, Arab states, and tacitly by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah, continues.
The reconstruction process would not only put the Strip on the road to recovery, but would also provide hundreds of thousands of jobs in a multitude of sectors, and assist in decreasing the unprecedented 60 per cent unemployment rate. But, the continued indefinite delay has created an overwhelming sense of frustration and despair among Gazans.
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The reconstruction process would not only put the Strip on the road to recovery, but would also provide hundreds of thousands of jobs in a multitude of sectors, and assist in decreasing the unprecedented 60 per cent unemployment rate. But, the continued indefinite delay has created an overwhelming sense of frustration and despair among Gazans.
The tunnels that have been the lifeline of the Gazans in meeting their most daily basic needs is now even in question with the media reports of the US Army Corps of Engineers is assisting Egypt in building an underground wall on its border with Gaza to block the tunnels. During the past 12 months the amount and range of items brought in through the tunnels has increased significantly, a development resulting directly from Israel's tightening of the siege on the Strip. Today, 15 per cent of food requirements in the Gaza Strip are being met by items that come in through tunnels, and yet 76 per cent of the population has become food insecure, as opposed to 53 per cent before the war.
Where are the voices of the international community? Why does the UN condone such blatant disregard by Israel for human rights abuse against the Palestinians? It looks like our leaders are only good at grand standing their support at international conferences but remain contented at watching the besieged Palestinian being slowly “slaughtered”. It looks like the real international community – made up of people and movement – need to take a stand against Israel's collective punishment measures as our leaders have failed to take the leadership role. What Israel is really doing is hoodwinking the international community into justifying their action on the pretext of security, but the reality is that they are practicing the policy of ultimate destruction of the Palestinian society.
For all of these crimes, acts of State terrorism and systematic human rights violations committed against the Palestinian people, Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. The international community, including the Security Council, has clear responsibilities in this regard and must stand firm and take urgent measures to redress this grave situation and bring an end to Israeli violations of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law.
