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Viewpoint - July 15, 2010
Israel Chokes Gaza Despite Announced Easing
By Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH - Israel has received international praise for
its decision to ease its crippling blockade on Gaza follow-
ing the country's deadly assault on a humanitarian flotilla
trying to bring desperately needed humanitarian aid to the
coastal territory. But according to the UN and human rights
organisations, the easing of the blockade is insufficient
in meeting Gaza's needs.
"Even if the blockade is eased it remains illegal under
international law as it is a collective form of punishment
on a civilian population," Chris Gunness from the UN
Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) told IPS.
"Eighty percent of Gaza's population is aid-dependent.
Allowing more aid in is perpetuating this dependency and
not addressing the issue of self- sufficiency or the root
causes of the crisis," added Gunness.
Israeli commandos shot dead nine activists aboard the Mavi
Marmara, one of the flotilla boats, when they raided it
in international waters at the end of May. The killings
sparked international outrage but also drew global attent-
ion to the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza as a result
of Israel's, and to a lesser degree Egypt's, hermetic
sealing of the territory.
Following international pressure Israel decided to ease
the closure. Towards the end of June the government of
Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu issued a six-point plan
to facilitate increased access for civilian goods entering
Gaza and to expand economic activity, reports the Israeli
human rights organisation Gisha.
The plan stated that all commercial products -- other than
a list of banned dual-purpose goods -- would be permitted
entry to the strip; 250 daily truckloads of goods would
enter; the entrance of construction materials would be
better facilitated; and the movement of humanitarian cases
and international NGOs would be streamlined.
Gisha reports that there has been a moderate rise in the
volume of trucks entering Gaza and an increase in imports
of consumer goods, but that this volume still falls way
below pre-embargo days, and isn't sufficient to meet the
daily needs of Gaza's 1.5 million civilians.
During the week after Jun. 20, 695 trucks of goods enter-
ed Gaza. This compares with 2,400 per week prior to the
closure, and meets only 30 percent of Palestinian needs.
Over the past three years 2,328 trucks entered Gaza on a
monthly basis compared with 10,400 trucks monthly prior
to the blockade.
Additionally, items which could be used for industry and
manufacturing and which present no security threat are
still being restricted. There appears to be "no change in
the policy of inflicting economic warfare or by preventing
entry of goods necessary for production," says the Gisha
report. "Textiles, industrial-sized buckets of margarine,
glucose, packaging boxes and other raw materials are still
banned.
"Permitting mayonnaise and potato chips into Gaza is really
irrelevant in dealing with the underlying issues," says
Maxwell Gaylard, UN Deputy Special and Humanitarian
Coordinator for the Middle East.
"What we need to see is an improvement in Gaza's water,
sanitation, power grid, educational and health sectors.
Gaza's economy is shot to pieces and its infrastructure
is extremely fragile," Gaylard told IPS.
"What have not been addressed by the easing of the closure
are the issues of exports as well as the limited number of
crossings open to facilitate the flow of goods," said
Gunness.
A major step towards helping to rehabilitate Gaza's economy
would be permitting exports on which Gaza's economy is
heavily reliant. A 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access,
signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in
2005, agreed to 400 daily truckloads of exports. In the
last three years 295 export trucks have exited Gaza.
Gisha reports that "critical manufacturing sectors such
as furniture, clothing and textile, and food production
are dependent upon revenues acquired by selling their
goods outside the strip."
The near collapse of these industries has been aggravated
by restrictions on Gaza's banking ties with the outside
world, making the legal transfer of money almost
impossible.
These industries have been further decimated by the ban
on the entrance of raw materials and spare parts.
"Operation Cast Lead destroyed at least 60,000 homes and
structures which need to be urgently repaired and rebuilt.
The easing of the blockade is not addressing this
adequately," Gunness told IPS.
One of the biggest humanitarian issues remains the
continued restrictions on movement, including Gazans
trying to leave for medical treatment, to continue
their studies, or to visit family in the West Bank.
In 2000, 26,000 Palestinian labourers travelled to Israel
on a daily basis to earn a living and support large
families. Revenue from Israel provided a major boost to
Gaza's economy. In the last few weeks a daily average of
95 people have been permitted to pass through Gaza's Erez
crossing into Israel. Students wishing to pursue their
studies in the West Bank have been repeatedly turned back.
Twenty-nine-year-old Fatma Sharif, a lawyer with the Gaza
human rights organisation Al-Mezan which is strongly
critical of Hamas, had her application to enter the West
Bank to study for her masters degree at Birzeit University
near Ramallah turned down by Israel's High Court of
Justice.
The decision of the judges was not based on Sharif being a
security threat but rather that her application did not
meet Israel's guidelines on travel restrictions imposed on
Gaza's residents under the blockades.
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