U.N. halts construction in impoverished Gaza, throwing 121,000 Palestinians out of work

[Purveyor]

JERUSALEM -- The U.N. relief agency halted all its building projects in Gaza, saying Monday that the shutdown of crossings into the coastal strip after the Hamas takeover has cut off its supply of construction materials.

The U.N. gives food aid to 80 percent of Gaza's 1.4 million residents and its construction projects employ some 121,000 Palestinians in Gaza -- vital jobs in an impoverished area with about 40 percent unemployment.

--
The repair of dilapidated and damaged shelters for 16,000 refugees, water and sanitation projects, and the construction of schools and health centers have all stopped, Ging said.

The agency has been warning of an impending humanitarian crisis ever since Hamas' bloody takeover of the impoverished strip a month ago prompted Israel and Egypt to shut down its crossings into Gaza.

Unless passages into Gaza resume full operations, Ging cautioned, "Gaza faces the prospect of a humanitarian and public health crisis."

---eoe---

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/world/BO56923/

[Tom Joad]

1. Israel asked Egypt to close its border-- with US backing

and we know what happens to MidEast nations that defy the US.

[azurnoir]

2. Link please

It is not that I don't believe you, I do.

More for the poster(s) here that seem to think that well the Palestinians are Arabs and the Egyptians are Arabs so they should take care of their own, after all poor tiny Israel has nothing to do with this and besides the Palestinians don't like us, where as they luv the Egyptians.:sarcasm:

[Tom Joad]

3. Link

mmediately after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, Israel asked Egypt to keep the crossing closed since the agreements that governed the operation of Kerem Shalom and other crossings had become defunct in view of the changed situation in the Strip.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/877732.html

[pelsar]

4. out of date, out of context....

hamas declared the agreement null and void

Egypt doesnt do Israels bidding, Israel doesnt control Egypts foreign policy. Egypt has its own reasons to keep rafah shut.

Israel has agreed to let palestenians go through kerem shalom to enter gaza...egypt wont open rafah, hamas wont accept the palestenains if they dont enter via rafah

conclusion: egypt had decided to keep rafah closed.

never read anything about the US pressuring egypt to keep rafah closed, i believe its wishful thinking...so certain facts about egyptian foreign policy doesnt have to be faced.

[Tom Joad]

6. Egypt is responsible, but it must be taken in context

Egypt is very much dependent on the US & Europe.

[pelsar]

10. so both europe and the US

want the palestenains to starve and its only israel that is now defying the western world and sending in food to the palestenains?

wow, that must really mess up ones mind, when israel is always the "bad guy"....now its israel that is saving the fanatical killers of hamas?

[richards1052]

20. Israel providing FOOD to Gaza???

its only israel that is now defying the western world and sending in food to the palestenains?

How 'bout a source verifying that Israel is providing food to Gaza. Israel is allowing medicine & certain other humanitarian materials into Gaza. The vast majority of whatever is sustaining Gazans by the skin of their teeth comes fr. international aid organizations & the UN, NOT Israel. In fact, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/world/middleeast/10mideast.html?ex=1341720000&en=6f437055dc464564&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss">this quotation pretty much defines the Israeli attitude toward sustaining Gaza:

There are people in Israel who oppose reopening Karni, says Shlomo Dror, spokesman for the Coordinator of Activities in the Territories, the Israeli military agency that deals with Palestinian civil affairs. “We are now discussing what constitutes humanitarian assistance,” he says. “Some people feel we should be allowing in water, electricity, and that’s it.”

A link to the blog post I wrote on this issue today, http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2007/07/09/gaza-the-noose-tightens/">Gaza: The Noose Tightens.

[pelsar]

21. grain is considered food...

http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/1ce874ab1832a53e852570bb006dfaf6/6ffbc8ef58148cfb8525730f006660de!OpenDocument

Karni crossing partially reopened on 28 -29 June and 2-4 July to allow the transfer of grain from Israel to Gaza's flour mills. A conveyer belt was opened during the last week, which has the capacity to ship hundreds of tons/day of bulk items. On 3 July a total of 1,600 tons of grain entered via the grain chutes at Karni crossing. The partial reopening of Karni is for grain supplies and no other produce has crossed into Gaza via this route in the five days that is has been open
---

and your blog post is rather humerous...ever see a map of gaza? there is the 20km border on gaza southern edge...it borders with egypt....israel does not run egyptian foreign policy, your blog, unless i missed something seems to have ignored the whole egyptian border....any reason why?

[pelsar]

22. just to update you..

and perhaps you might want to change your blogs article..its wrong

Hamas bans Israeli produce in Gaza

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183980036217&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

__

its getting harder and harder to blame israel isnt it?...seems hamas ruins the 'blame israel" thesis at everyturn.

[azurnoir]

12. Thank you

[Scurrilous]

5. EU halts aid to Gaza, closes border

<snip>

"Meanwhile, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, monitored by an EU mission since November 2005, has been closed since June 9 due to security concerns, an official said. The cargo crossing at Karni between Israel and the Gaza Strip has also been closed.

"I can't tell you when the border will next be open. Since 2005 we have been open only 20% of the time," Maria Telleria, spokeswoman for the EU mission at Rafah, said in a telephone interview.

"The situation is quite difficult. At this moment we're on standby," she said.

The mission monitors, verifies and evaluates the Palestinian Authority's border guards at the Rafah passenger terminal, which opened after Israel's 2005 pullout from Gaza to reassure an apprehensive Israel that Palestinian inspectors would prevent the smuggling of weapons and militants.

Results, however, have been mixed, amid frequent closings forced by Israel due to security concerns. Although the Palestinians run the crossing, Israel still has final say over whether it operates.

Telleria said the EU mission "has been under pressure in the last year from Israel."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-14-eu-gaza_N.htm

[pelsar]

8. JUNE?

its july...and things change quickly out here...

there no longer is a EU presence..they went home.....

[azurnoir]

14. again link?

the last I read about 9 days ago the EU forces were "discussing" assisting Israel with security at the Karni crossing, Israel does not want/need such assistance?

[Scurrilous]

16. The EU monitors haven't left...

...they've reduced their presence a bit but remain on standby in case they're needed.

EU to cut down mission at Gaza-Egypt border

<snip>

"The European Union's monitoring mission at the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt will be reduced because it is unclear when the crossing will be reopened, a mission spokeswoman said on Saturday.

Some 87 EU monitors and supervisors have been overseeing the Rafah crossing with Egypt under an agreement that took effect in November 2005 to help open up Gaza after Israel withdrew from the territory nearly two years ago.

The spokeswoman said the number of monitors based in Israel would be cut back because Rafah has been closed since June 9 and because of the uncertainty about the future of the crossing following Hamas's seizure of the Gaza Strip on June 14.

"We are not foreseeing a return to normalcy" in the near future, the spokeswoman said. She added that enough of the monitors would remain on standby to reopen the crossing on short notice if the situation allows.

"We are maintaining ... our full operational capabilities in case the border is reopened," she said. It is unclear how many of the European monitors will be sent home."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07364396.htm

[pelsar]

18. yes they've been reduced..

the rest are all in askelon waiting........at this point its their decision to decide what they want to do....not israels, not egypts, not hamas......

[Scurrilous]

15. More:

Economy in Gaza edges toward crisis

<snip>

"Ali al-Hayak, director of the Palestinian Federation of Industry, said that "Israel is not punishing the government; instead it is punishing the people."

At the heart of the issue is Hamas, the militant Islamic group classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union. They do not want to work with Hamas or see Hamas succeed in Gaza, and they are not in any hurry to reopen the Karni crossing to anything but emergency supplies.

That is also true of the Fatah leadership in Ramallah, where the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, whose Presidential Guards used to control the Karni checkpoint, is not eager to ease Hamas's problems.

It appears to some Israeli officials and Western diplomats that Fatah is continuing its efforts to squeeze Hamas by keeping Karni shut - just as Egypt has agreed with Israel to keep the Rafah crossing closed to limit the movement of individuals and money in and out of Gaza.

Some think that Abbas would rather see Karni stay shut for now.

"That is my understanding," said Representative Steven Israel, Democrat of New York, who recently spent time with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah, including the new prime minister, Salam Fayyad, and with Israeli leaders like Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He quoted one senior Israeli official who told him, "Let's see how Hamas feeds its children now."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/09/news/gaza.php

[azurnoir]

17. the people of Gaza are being punished for voting wrong

this quote: "All say they do not want ordinary Gazans to be punished for their leaders, but only Hamas seems eager to reopen Karni. Israel says it will work with the Palestinians once they organize themselves and come up with an internal solution. But there are those both in Israel and in Fatah who prefer to see Hamas try to cope with the pressures of its victory without helping a group that sees itself at war with both of them." so Abbas and Fayyad are willing to see Palestinian children starve to death to cement their power? These are the new Palestinian leaders? But they will recognize Israel so it's OK? Note that Abbas and Fayyad are working on a deal for for the development of natural gas within the first 10 days of becoming the "offcial" US/Israel approved government, must wonder how much of that money will go to the Palestinian people and how much will line the pockets of their leaders.

http://www.upi.com/Energy/Analysis/2007/06/25/analysis_gaza_gas_deal_may_proceed/5593/

[LeftishBrit]

7. Maybe people would be less inclined to think these things..

if the Arab countries didn't go around talking as though they were so pro-Palestinian. Anti-Israel many of them may be; but pro-Palestinian, no.

People on one side blame Israel; on the other side, people blame the Palestinians themselves; hardly anyone seems to suggest that the Arab countries might bear any blame or responsibility for what has happened over the years. The 'occupied territories' were not occupied by Israel till 1967, and yet there was no Palestinian state before that, and the Palestinians were generally living in bad conditions then. Makes one think.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[azurnoir]

13. There is no black and white here n/t

[Tom Joad]

23. But hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were dispossessed of their homes in '48

and Israel has continued this practice of dispossessing Palestinians of their homes since. No, it did not start in 1967.

[LeftishBrit]

24. So what do you recommend?

It sounds as though you don't just want Israel to change its policies; you want it to disappear. That is neither a just nor a practical solution.

To get back to my earlier point, the Arab states could have taken a lot more Palestinian refugees in, and given them far more assistance of all sorts. Or even organized a Palestinian state in what was NOT then the 'occupied territories' - or rather was occupied by Jordan.

[azurnoir]

11. dupe delete

[barb162]

19. Per the UN, the border problems lie with the Palestinians

Jul. 8, 2007 0:45 | Updated Jul. 8, 2007 7:07
UNRWA: Hamas must secure crossings
By TOVAH LAZAROFF

Hamas's failure to secure the passages into the Gaza Strip drew criticism from an unlikely source on Thursday, John Ging, who heads the United Nation's Relief and Works Agency's operations in the Strip.

"It is very clear the responsibility lies with the Palestinians," Ging told The Jerusalem Post by telephone from Gaza, on a day when Palestinians fired mortar shells at two of the three open passages into Gaza.

snip
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183459218093&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull