Palestinians Brace for a Bleak Ramadan

[cali]

09-23) 12:50 PDT GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) --


Gaza's children used to light colorful lanterns to mark Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. But this year, many parents can't afford those small $1 toys as the coastal strip sinks deeper into poverty amid an aid cutoff to punish the Hamas-led government.


"These days, I just want to cry," said Umm Emad, a mother of six. The only lantern in her house is a paraffin lamp she keeps for Gaza's frequent power cuts.


Ramadan, which began Saturday in the West Bank and Gaza and other parts of the Muslim world, is a time of fasting from dawn to dusk, piety and giving to the poor. It's also a festive month, with large family meals after sundown, social get-togethers and new clothes for everyone.


But Gaza is poorer than ever, and many will not be able to observe all Ramadan traditions. The U.N. feeds some 1 million of Gaza's 1.4 million people. One of the U.N. agencies, the World Food Program, added some 60,000 needy people — for a total of 220,000 — to its roster in September alone.

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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/09/23/international/i121849D02.DTL

[Poppyseedman]

1. Maybe the Palestinian people should try peace and

force their elected government to recognize Israel right to exist and stop attacking Israel by rockets .

They have Gaza.

Prove to yourself and the world you can manage and build your own society. You proved you can elect a government, now prove you can make that government function

Just a thought.

In the past three months, Israeli incursions to stop rocket fire and find smuggling tunnels have killed more than 200 Palestinians, most of them militants. Electricity is rationed, in six-hour blocks, after Israel's military bombed Gaza's main power plant following the kidnapping of the soldier.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Hard to function when arable land and water sources are taken away from

you.

[Englander]

3. Or when a territory is under an economic blockade.

Or when half the Govt's been arrested, or when the infrastructure being destroyed by an occupying army.

[Englander]

4. Neocon nonsense. n/t

[cali]

5. It's certainly nonsense

but that it's flavor is neocon is assuredly debatable. Why even toss that in, except to make your insult more biting?

[cali]

6. How on earth are

they supposed to do that? Those living in Gaza are desperately trying merely to exist under circumstances largely caused by the Israelis. Gaza is, and has been for months not, under siege. Your lack of compassion is disturbing.

[nicoll]

7. It makes me feel sick

How can the world just sit and watch while Israel is allowed to colonize Palestinian refugee land and kill civilians on an industrial scale. It is just all wrong.