Struggling in Gaza: The New York Times Account

I read the following first-hand account from Philip Weiss, who runs the Mondoweiss website, just before reading the account by New York Times reporter Ethan Bronner — published separately on Enduring America — of his latest visit to Gaza. While both pieces consider the humanitarian situation, Bronner’s article is cloaked with political context and caveats such as “for many Israelis, Gaza is a symbol of all that is wrong with Palestinian sovereignty, which they view increasingly as an opportunity for anti-Israeli forces, notably Iran, to get within rocket range” and “[Gaza] is, of course, crowded and poor, but it is better off than nearly all of Africa as well as parts of Asia. There is no acute malnutrition, and infant mortality rates compare with those in Egypt and Jordan”. Weiss’s observations and personal reflections have none of this framing:

I asked her why she said Gaza is worse than the prison she worked in back in Pennsylvania

My group is leaving Gaza over the next couple of days. A few of us don’t want to leave. We feel connected to the place, and the people have been universally welcoming. They all say the same thing. They want to be part of the world, their cause has been cast away by the world.
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