Salute the Palestinian Resistance

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Salute the Palestinian Resistance

Palestinians Blow up Border Wall

End the Siege on Gaza

"Tightened Siege on Gaza Reaches Unprecedented Levels and Endangers the Life of 1.5 Million Civilians"

Gaza Siege Intensified after Collapse of Natural Gas Deal

After 60 years of annexation and oppression, the Palestinian people heroically persist in constantly resisting the occupation of their country and waging struggle against their oppressors. Part of the struggle of the last seven months has been to resist an illegal blockade imposed upon Gaza by the Israeli aggressors.

            The Mediterranean coastal enclave of the Gaza Strip is home to more than 1.5 million people subject to Israeli military occupation since June 1967. It has come to be described as "the world's largest open air prison". It has been subject to a massive financial embargo and other sanctions designed to "put the Palestinians on a diet", that is, starve them into submission, as the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert infamously boasted.

            In the siege of Gaza, Israel blocked fuel oil supplies to the Gaza Strip leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power. Hospitals were forced to rely on diesel generators. Bakeries and petrol stations closed. The Palestinians, many of whom are refugees having been driven out of other parts of Palestine when Israel was created in 1948, were left without food and supplies. This is a genocidal policy which is part of the whole fascist policy towards the Palestinians.

            Last week, Israel tightened the blockade, sealing off Gaza, supposedly because of Palestinian attacks by the military wing of Hamas. Yet, on December 23, 2007, Israel rejected Hamas call for ceasefire negotiations. Since then, Israeli air and ground attacks have killed dozens of Palestinians and wounded hundreds more in Gaza, most of them civilians. In 2007, 373 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and the West Bank, compared to just 13 Israeli deaths.

            Hamas wanted Egypt to open its borders so that food, medicine and fuel could be brought in. This was denied. Yesterday a wall dividing Egypt from the Gaza strip was blown up by Palestinian militants who left 15 openings in the wall and then Palestinian bulldozers demolished it and thousands of Palestinians, some 350,000 according to reports, made their way through. Abdullah al-Najar who runs a taxi company in the northern town of Jabalya reflected, “I don’t know who did it. But this is an agreement between two peoples, not between governments.”

            This was a victory for the Palestinians who continue to fight back, and state their ownership of their country, that they themselves have the power to resist this blockade, stop the occupation of their country and take control over their own affairs once the obstacles to their doing so are overcome. The Israeli Zionists have been unable to liquidate the Palestinian people's resistance to Israeli occupation within the Gaza Strip. This heroic struggle proves that the Zionist project will never succeed. Support from other peoples for their right to be and for their struggle against the elimination of their existence as a people, such as that shown by the Egyptian people, is also highly important.

            The apartheid that the Palestinians are being subjected to is supported by the big powers, particularly US and Europe. Britain supplies arms to Israel and aim to maintain the status quo that keeps the Palestinians at the receiving end of the most aggressive occupation. The working class and people of Britain have a responsibility to hold their government to account and demand an end to the support of Israel, and an end to Anglo-US war crimes and interference throughout the Middle East. WDIE calls on the working class and all justice-loving people to raise their voices every stronger in support of the just cause of the Palestinian people and their resistance struggle. The working class must fight for an anti-war government that condemns such actions as the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and holds the sovereignty of nations as inviolable.

Nidal al-Mughrabi, January 23, 2008

Palestinian militants blew up part of the wall between Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday, and tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into Egypt to stock up on food and fuel in short supply due to an Israeli blockade.

            Residents of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah said a group of militants, including members of Hamas, set off a series of explosions overnight, demolishing about 200 meters of the border wall. Hamas denied involvement.

            Tens of thousands of Palestinians thronged into Egyptian territory, some on donkey carts and carrying luggage to bring consumer goods and fuel back into the Hamas-run territory.

            "I have bought everything I need for the house for months. I have bought food, cigarettes and even two gallons of diesel for my car," said Mohammed Saeed, who was pushing a trolley.

            Egyptian riot police sent to reinforce the border mainly stood aside and let the Palestinians through, witnesses said.

            "Palestinian gunmen created at least 15 openings in the wall between Egypt and Gaza, and a Palestinian bulldozer was demolishing large parts of it and is still working to destroy the rest of the wall," an Egyptian security source said.

            Israel closed its borders with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip last week, cutting fuel supplies to the territory's main power plant and petrol stations and stopping aid shipments that include food and other humanitarian supplies.

            Israel said the blockade was aimed to make Palestinian militants stop firing rockets into southern Israel. The Israeli army says about 250 rockets and mortars have pounded Israel since last week, amid an escalation of violence in which Israeli troops killed more than 30 Palestinians.

            The European Union and international agencies have called the closure collective punishment on Gaza's 1.5 million people.

            Israel resumed fuel supplies to Gaza's main power plant on Tuesday, offering limited respite from the blockade that had plunged much of the Hamas-ruled territory into darkness.

            Gaza has been largely cut off since Hamas Islamists routed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah forces to take over the territory in June.

            Residents in Rafah said members of Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees were among gunmen who blew up the wall.

            Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri denied Hamas was involved, but said: "It was impossible to prevent the bombing of the border".

            Many of the Palestinians, some travelling from the northern Gaza Strip, found transport towards the Egyptian coastal town of El Arish, about 40 km away.

            Others stayed in the Egyptian side of Rafah and clamoured to buy petrol, cigarettes, olive oil and other foodstuffs, which have been in short supply in Gaza – emptying some shops.

            "The bakeries are not working and there are difficulties in getting the things we need," said a 42-year-old housewife who gave her name as Umm Raid and crossed the border with two of her children. "I came to buy milk for my children and to get medicine for diabetes."

            Witnesses said Egypt's Central Security force, which deals with crowd control, had about 50 trucks in the Rafah area but had not intervened to stop the Palestinians.

            The Egyptian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Egyptian police were trying to stop Palestinians from leaving Rafah for other parts of Egypt.

            Adel Salman, an Egyptian resident of Rafah on the Egyptian side of the border, said: "I saw hundreds of Palestinians carrying jerrycans and heading to petrol stations to get petrol and diesel."

International Day of Action

 

Saturday 26^th January

4-6pm

Parliament, London

 

 

“The human catastrophe deliberately inflicted on Gaza by western policies over the past two years is one of the great crimes of the century so far.” Jonathan Steele, Guardian, 11 January.

            Call on the British government to end its collusion with these policies, which are imprisoning Gazans and attempting to destroy their lives by limiting access to food, electricity, clean water supplies and medical treatment.

            January 26 has been declared a day of international solidarity.

            Details: www.palestinecampaign.org ; www.endgazasiege.net ;

 

DEMONSTRATIONS TO BREAK THE SILENCE ON GAZA!

Edinburgh, Scotland : Wednesday January 23, 5:30 PM at the foot of the Mound, Princes Street.

Glasgow, Scotland : Friday January 25, 5:30 PM, George Square.

London, England : Thursday January 24, 6 PM and Saturday January 26, 4 PM opposite 10 Downing Street, Whitehall.

 

Press Statement, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, January 22, 2008

Israel has imposed a severe siege on the Gaza Strip since Hamas' winning of the parliamentary elections in January, 2006. Furthermore, Israel has tightened this siege following Hamas military domination over the Gaza Strip in June, 2007 when Israel declared that the Gaza Strip is an enemy entity.

            Two weeks ago, Israel has tightened the siege and embargo imposed on the Gaza Strip reaching unprecedented levels. This action included various sanctions such as: cut-off fuel and electricity provisions to Gaza as well as all other energy resources. Israel has also imposed strict closure on all Gaza Strip border crossings, preventing movement of civilians including patients' for medical services. Such procedures led to entire shut-down of the sole energy producing station in the Gaza Strip, two days ago. As a consequence, Gaza is drowning in darkness whereas electricity from all homes, industrial, and health facilities in the Gaza Strip was cut-off entirely.

            The electricity cut-off, therefore, has paralysed all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip as water supply couldn't reach the homes of Palestinians; elevators in the high-rise towers have not functioned properly; and household electrical instruments have been shut down completely. Nonetheless, what is more critical is the water and sewage systems are about to shut down in addition to electricity generators in major hospitals and sanitation vehicles. All such matters warn of a humanitarian, health and environmental crisis.

            Due to the denial of deliveries of vital supplies of food, fuel and humanitarian aids to the Gaza Strip, there has been a crisis in obtaining necessary food supplies for the people in Gaza. This situation added to the already existing crisis due to the fact that 85% of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip depends mainly on the humanitarian aids for securing their basic needs of survival. Furthermore, the stoppage of electricity and fuel as well as flour cut-off have caused even more paralysis in the bakeries in the Gaza Strip, thus preventing the Palestinians from receiving their necessary needs of bread.

            All forms and consequences of the siege imposed by Israel aggravate the Palestinians' sufferings in Gaza Strip, coinciding with the economic crisis and high rate of poverty and unemployment. The new procedures of siege have led to significant rise of burdens on the Palestinian civilians and families, as well as an emergence of a new wave of feelings of panic, anger, suppression and helplessness. As a result, the psychological sufferings of people are intensifying in the presence of the economic hardships.

            Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) is gravely concerned over the continuation of the tightened siege and isolating Gaza from the outside world. Further, GCMHP warns against the critical humanitarian, health and mental ramifications of this siege on the civilians which threaten their life and significantly deepen their suffering. Such consequences are becoming more apparent as reports warning of the death of patients in intensive care units and deterioration of the health conditions of chronic disease patients including cancer and kidney failure.

            In this critical time, GCMHP calls upon the international community, human rights organisations and all peace activists around the world to hold their moral and legal responsibilities to end the Israeli inhumane siege and its repercussions that reach the levels of war crimes. Additionally, GCMHP demands the international community not to remain silent towards the Israeli crimes and to immediately intervene and pressure Israel to end its siege and collective punishment imposed on the Gaza Strip that threatens the life of 1.5 million innocent civilians.

Mark Turner, The Electronic Intifada, January 23, 2008

Israel has dramatically intensified its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, stepping up air strikes and shelling of the beleaguered coastal strip. UN officials and human rights advocates warn that Gazans now face a humanitarian disaster of unprecedented magnitude with widespread disease and famine rapidly becoming reality as electricity generation, water supply, sewage treatment, food supplies and medical services grind to a halt as a consequence of the ever tighter Israeli blockade.

            Israel claims its recent moves are retaliation for continued rocket attacks originating in Gaza that despite their consistency cause scant damage and few actual casualties. But the reasons may include motivations with roots back in 2000, when the British firm British Gas Group (BG) discovered proven natural gas reserves of at least 1.3 trillion cubic meters beneath Gazan territorial waters worth nearly $4 billion.

            The Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF), a financial holdings company owned primarily by independent Palestinian shareholders, is investing in the project and heads the negotiations in coordination with Mahmoud Abbas' government in the West Bank. BG won a majority stake in the concession to develop the Gaza Marine Field and originally targeted Egypt for the sale of the natural gas. But pressure from then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair led the company to redirect its efforts toward Israel and develop plans for an underwater pipeline that would transport the gas to an Israeli refinery at Ashkelon. That deal could have eventually provided Israel with approximately 10 percent of its annual energy requirement, and would have generated approximately $1 billion for the PIF. The Hamas election victory in 2006 put all that in jeopardy.

            The Palestine Investment Fund was set up by Salam Fayyad, a World Bank veteran lauded by the United States as a practical thinker and fiscal reformist who would deliver transparency to the Palestinian Authority's financial dealings. In 2003, then PA Finance Minister Fayyad consolidated a varied collection of Palestinian Authority holdings into the fund audited by Standard & Poor's and now valued at an estimated $1.3 billion. The fund's portfolio includes Palestine's most profitable company, Paltel, and serves as the primary vehicle for private investment in Palestinian sustainable infrastructure.

            The PIF is ostensibly overseen by the Palestinian Authority; revenue generated by the fund could potentially be available to a Hamas-led government. Through the deal structured with the PIF, BG owns 90 percent of the Gaza Marine license. Consolidated Contractors Company, a Palestinian owned construction firm, owns the remaining 10 percent. The Palestinian Authority retains an option to take a stake in the concession once production is sanctioned. After the 2006 Palestinian election results, Israel began stalling in its negotiations with BG. Any deal that could result in funds reaching Gaza would seriously undermine official Israeli policy toward Hamas. For its part, Hamas assured it would not interrupt development of the project, but reserved its right to restructure parts of the deal it deemed harmful to Palestinian interests. In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Minister of Economy Ziad al-Zaza reiterated Hamas opposition to any sale of fuel to Israel.

            After the Hamas election victory, Israel embarked on an intense campaign to eliminate the movement as a viable political entity in Gaza while at the same time attempting to rehabilitate the defeated Fatah as the dominant political player in the West Bank. By leveraging political tensions between the two parties, arming forces loyal to Abbas and the selective resumption of financial aid, Israel and the United States effectively re-installed Fatah in the West Bank, projected the party back onto the international stage and revived the possibility of concluding the energy deal.

            With Hamas isolated geographically in Gaza, Israeli policy focused on isolating it politically as well. Israel has made significant progress toward this goal. Fayyad was appointed Prime Minister of the new unelected West Bank government recognised by the West, and by April 2007 the Israeli Cabinet had reversed an earlier decision to prohibit the purchase of natural gas from the Palestinian Authority. But with 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip, Hamas retains significant influence in the Palestinian political arena. Israel will have to eliminate the party completely in order to create a political climate suited to accommodate the BG deal. Time is running out.

            In January, BG announced it was pulling the plug on negotiations with Israel due to the long impasse, and was again considering Egypt as a buyer. The Egyptian option includes liquefying up to a third of the gas for export to the US and Europe. BG announced plans to close its office near Tel Aviv at the end of January and sell its share in Israel's offshore Med Yavne natural gas field. Since the announcement, Israel has radically expanded its sanctions, cut fuel shipments entirely and stepped up its military campaign. Increased air strikes and use of internationally proscribed tank shell ammunition has led to a drastic increase in civilian deaths and injuries in hopes of eroding support for Hamas in Gaza. Combined with dangerous shortages of food, water and basic supplies, the coastal region has fallen into catastrophe. Israel and the United States refuse to acknowledge the growing chorus of international condemnation. Appeals from Ramallah lack the popular mobilisation needed to effectively advocate an end to the Israeli siege. Regardless of the future of the Gaza Marine Field, Gazans can be sure they will be denied any relief it might once have afforded them.

            International human rights activist Mark Turner recently returned from a nine-month stay in Balata Refugee Camp in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Turner is currently touring the US, presenting his experiences and analysis of the developing situation in occupied Palestine and can be reached at Mark.Turner[@]ResearchJournalismInitiative.net.