“Do you know what it’s like living in Gaza?” a friend of mine asked. “It is like walking on broken glass tearing at your feet.”
On January 21, fifty-four House Democrats signed a letter to President Obama asking him to dramatically ease, if not end, the siege of Gaza. They wrote:
The people of Gaza have suffered enormously since the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt following Hamas’s coup, and particularly following Operation Cast Lead…. The unabated suffering of Gazan civilians highlights the urgency of reaching a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts…. Despite ad hoc easing of the blockade, there has been no significant improvement in the quantity and scope of goods allowed into Gaza…. The crisis has devastated livelihoods, entrenched a poverty rate of over 70%, increased dependence on erratic international aid, allowed the deterioration of public infrastructure, and led to the marked decline of the accessibility of essential services.
Days after the statement of John Ging, the UN Relief and Works Agency’s top official, that “the number of Gazans living in abject poverty has tripled this year to 300,000 – one in five residents”, a poignant scene:
The two zebras of the the Marah Land Zoo died from hunger earlier this year, neglected during Israel’s war in Gaza. As it was too expensive to bring in replacement zebras, the keepers decided to cover a pair of donkeys with black and white patterns.
Amidst signs that Israel-Palestine is even further away, we’re not sure whether to be reassured — as the BBC was with this “human interest” story — or unsettled that tragedy could be covered up, not by the keepers with a bit of paint, but by the media with “Isn’t It Sweet?”
On Thursday, John Ging, the UN Relief and Works Agency’s top official in Gaza, said that “the number of Gazans living in abject poverty has tripled this year to 300,000 – one in five residents”. He called the rise in poverty a “predictable consequence” of the border blockade and added, “The suffering, the impoverishment, the misery of the people here in Gaza continues to rise because of a man-made crisis, a political failure.”
Ging’s statement casts light on “the West Bank success story” being trumpeted by Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren:
Imagine an annual economic growth rate of 7%, declining unemployment, a thriving tourism industry, and a 24% hike in the average daily wage. Where in today’s gloomy global market could one find such gleaming forecasts? Singapore? Brazil? Guess again. The West Bank.
I’m not sure how many folks are still paying attention — the Gaza War is so yesterday — but a United Nations Board of Inquiry has found that the Israeli military deliberately fired on UN schools, which were being used as civilian shelters, during the conflict.
The 184-page is being kept confidential as it is sent to the UN Security Council, but a 27-page summary was released yesterday. (It’s proving quite difficult to find a summary on the Internet, so any assistance would be appreciated.) News accounts, however, say Israel is held responsible for:
• The deaths of three young men killed by a single IDF missile strike at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Asma school in Gaza City on 5 January;
• The firing of heavy IDF mortar rounds into the UNRWA Jabalia school on 6 January, injuring seven people sheltering in the school and killing up to 40 people in the immediate vicinity; Read the rest of this entry »
In February Rose Mishaan visited Gaza as a member of a National Lawyer’s Guild delegation. She later sent an e-mail to friends and subsequently gave permission for its publication by Mondoweiss:
It took me a month to write this email. In that month, I’ve been through a whirlwind of emotions, trying to find away to process the things that I saw. I still haven’t figured it out. Read the rest of this entry »
In the first meeting of its kind, two French senators travelled to Damascus two weeks ago to meet the leader of the Palestinian Islamist faction, Khaled Meshal (pictured)….Two British MPs met three weeks ago in Beirut with the Hamas representative in Lebanon, Usamah Hamdan.
Evening Update (9 p.m.): Hamas has written a letter to President Obama and attempted to send it to Washington via Senator John Kerry (pictured), one of three US Congressmen visiting Gaza.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency confirmed that it had received the letter from Hamas but did not say whether Mr Kerry had then accepted it. (cross-posted from Is US Now Talking to Hamas? thread)
Evening Update (11:30 p.m.): Tonight brings another Hamas report that gaps between Israel and the Gazan leadership are narrowing and a cease-fire agreement could be arranged within days. The specifics on border crossings and a prisoner swap are still unclear, although it is now reported that there would be a 300-meter “buffer zone” on either side of the border from which “militants” would be excluded.
6:45 p.m. Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk has told The Daily Telegraph that the situation in Gaza “can only be dealt with by period of calm between the two sides”. According to the Telegraph, Hamas is offering Israel a Tahdia, a period of non-aggression, while the cease-fire of a Hudna, or ceasefire, awaits an agreement in which Israel withdraws from Palestinian territory.
Sara Roy writes for The Nation:
Days after 
On Thursday, John Ging, the UN Relief and Works Agency’s top official in Gaza, said that “
I’m not sure how many folks are still paying attention — the Gaza War is so yesterday — but 
In February Rose Mishaan visited Gaza as a member of a National Lawyer’s Guild delegation. She later sent an e-mail to friends and subsequently gave permission for 
Update (9 p.m.): 
Evening Update (9 p.m.): 
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