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National
Prayer Network
ISRAEL'S BIG LIE: GAZA NOT SUFFERING
By Rev. Ted Pike
21 June 10
With incredible audacity, the government of Israel (as well as the
hugely popular “We
Con the World” video) claims there is
no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This falsehood, promoted worldwide
by Israel’s PR arm, the Anti-Defamation League, is obediently
repeated by Christian conservative media and leadership.
Yet over the past several weeks, three human rights organizations—Amnesty
International, the International Red Cross, and Israel’s B’Tselem—have
released reports rebutting Israel.
Amnesty International, the world's preeminent human rights advocacy
group says:
- “From 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009, Gaza was subjected
to a devastating Israeli military offensive—Operation ‘Cast
Lead’…More than 1,380 Palestinians were killed, including
more than 300 children and other civilians and thousands were injured.
Many thousands of homes were destroyed or severely damaged, as were
the electricity and water systems. Civilian buildings, including
hospitals and schools, were also damaged or destroyed by Israeli
attacks. Operation "Cast Lead" pushed the humanitarian
crisis in Gaza to catastrophic levels. Since it concluded, the blockade
has severely hampered or prevented reconstruction efforts. With many
construction materials barred or limited by Israel, Gaza’s
inhabitants are unable to rebuild their shattered lives.”
- “Mass unemployment, extreme poverty and food price rises
caused by shortages have left four in five Gazans dependent on humanitarian
aid. As a form of collective punishment, Israel’s continuing
blockade of Gaza is a flagrant violation of international law.”
- “Rather than targeting armed groups, the blockade mainly
hits the most vulnerable, such as children (who make up more than
half of the population in Gaza), the elderly, the sick and the Gaza
Strip's large refugee population. According to the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency, the number of refugees living in
abject poverty in the Gaza Strip has tripled since the blockade began.
These families lack the means to purchase even the most basic items,
including soap, school materials and clean drinking water. According
to the UN, more than 60 per cent of households are currently "food
insecure."
- “Gaza's health sector has been plagued by shortages in equipment
and medical supplies during the blockade. Following the Israeli closure
of crossings, people with medical conditions that cannot be treated
in Gaza have been required to apply for permits to leave the territory
to receive treatment…The Israeli authorities frequently delay
or refuse these permits; some Gazans have died while waiting to obtain
permits to leave the territory for medical treatment elsewhere. World
Health Organization (WHO) trucks of medical equipment bound for Gazan
hospitals have repeatedly been turned away, without explanation,
by Israeli border officials.”
- “Israeli soldiers also continue to shoot at Palestinian farmers,
fishermen and other civilians when they venture near Gaza’s
perimeter or approach the three nautical mile limit that Israel imposes
on Gaza’s coastline causing deaths and injuries. The Israeli
authorities have put forth a range of justifications for the blockade… But
whatever its stated justification, the blockade is collectively punishing
the entire population of Gaza, the majority of whom are children,
rather than targeting the Hamas administration or armed groups.” ("Suffocating
Gaza- The Israeli Blockade's Effects on Palestinians," Amnesty.org,
June 1, 2010)
The Red Cross, usually very reluctant to propose recommendations in
politicized arenas, clearly felt morally bound to contradict the government
of Israel:
- “The hardship faced by Gaza’s 1.5 million people cannot
be addressed by providing humanitarian aid. The only sustainable
solution is to lift the closure.”
- “ The closure imposed on the Gaza Strip is about to enter
its fourth year, choking off any real possibility of economic development.
Gazans continue to suffer from unemployment, poverty and warfare… The
whole of Gaza's civilian population is being punished for acts for
which they bear no responsibility. The closure therefore constitutes
a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations
under international humanitarian law.”
- “Fertile farmland [comprising nearly a third of Gaza’s
farmland and sustaining a large share of its livestock]…has
been turned into a wasteland… nearly 90% of Gaza's 4000 fishermen
are now considered either poor (with a monthly income of between
100 and 190 US dollars) or very poor (earning less than 100 dollars
a month ), up from 50% in 2008. In their struggle to survive, the
fishermen have little choice but to sail into no-go zones, at the
risk of being shot by the Israeli navy.”
- “Gaza is suffering from an acute electricity crisis. The
power supply in Gaza is interrupted for seven hours a day on average.
The consequences for public services, especially the primary health-care
system, are devastating…fuel reserves for hospital generators
keep drying up.”
- “Stocks of essential medical supplies have reached an all-time
low…"The state of the health-care system has never been
worse."”
- “The lack of proper sanitation and certain agricultural practices
are polluting Gaza’s aquifer. Only about 60% of the territory’s
1.4
million inhabitants are connected to a sewage collection system….
Because the aquifer is over-exploited, drinking water in most of
Gaza contains high levels of nitrate, chloride and salt. The water
is unfit for consumption and the risk of contracting an infectious
disease is high.”
- The Red Cross concludes, “The closure must be lifted so that
the 4.5 billion U.S. dollars pledged by donor countries over a year
ago can be put to use.” ("Red
Cross: Israel's Blockade of Gaza is Illegal," Israel-palestinenews.org,
June 14, 2010)
Israel’s B’Tselem, a highly respected human rights watchdog
even in Israel, says:
- “ The almost total prohibition on the import of raw materials
and on exports has led to the collapse of the economy and the closing
of most of the factories in Gaza. The restrictions on import of building
materials have prevented the reconstruction of buildings that Israel
destroyed during Operation Cast Lead. Poverty and deprivation, which
were widespread before the operation, have worsened still further.
Absurdly, Israel’s decision to prevent imports and exports
has encouraged the development of the tunnels economy between the
Gaza Strip and Egypt, which is controlled by Hamas and increases
its power."
- “The siege thus constitutes collective punishment of the
civilian population, and as such it is unlawful… The quantity
of goods that Israel allows into the area is less than one quarter
of what entered before the siege, and far below the amount required
for the population’s needs. The range of goods that Israel
allows is limited: some 150 products compared with 4,000 before the
siege. Israel refuses to publish the list of products permitted into
the Gaza Strip, or the rules used in determining the list. Israel
prohibits the importing of building materials, including iron and
cement. The prohibition has remained in place even after Operation
Cast Lead, during which 3,500 houses were completely destroyed…”
- “Israel has reduced the supply of industrial fuel, which
is needed to operate the power station in Gaza… As a result
of Israel’s policy, 98 percent of Gaza residents suffer from
planned blackouts lasting up to ten hours a day. The other two percent
of the population do not receive any electricity at all…The
frequent power cuts and shortage of spare parts prevent the proper
operation of wells and desalination plants.”
- “Waste treatment has also been affected: every day, some
100,000 cubic meters of untreated, or partially untreated, wastewater
flow into the sea.”
- “Prior to the siege, seventy trucks with goods intended for
export, such as furniture, clothes, and agricultural produce, left
the Gaza Strip daily. Israel currently prohibits almost all exports… Agriculture
has been hit hard by the siege and thousands of persons have lost
their source of livelihood. This is due, in part, to the prohibition
on the entry of basic items such as pesticides and spare parts for
irrigation systems, as well as the prohibition on exports. In addition,
farmers in areas near the Israeli border are unable to reach their
land because Israel has declared extensive sections of land a “security
strip” to which access is forbidden or restricted. Moreover,
Israel has adopted open fire regulations that permit the shooting
of any person who enters these areas, even if the person does not
pose any danger."
- "Israel’s policy has led to economic collapse in Gaza.
The prohibition on bringing in raw material and on exports has led
to the closing of 95 percent of the factories and workshops. Tens
of thousands of persons have lost their livelihood, and unemployment
now exceeds 40 percent. As a result, over 70 percent of the population
depends on aid from international organizations."
- Speaking generally about conditions in the occupied territories,
B’Tselem comments: "Over the years, B'Tselem and other
human rights organizations have documented hundreds of cases in which
soldiers and police have slapped and kicked Palestinians, insulted
and degraded them, and delayed them at checkpoints for no reason.
On occasion, more serious violence has also been exposed. Israeli
officials evade responsibility for these cases by condemning these
incidents and claiming that the perpetrators are “a few rotten
apples” that do not reflect military policy… The implicit
message to security forces is that even if the system does not support
or accept these acts, offenders will not be held accountable(pg 19).… accountability
for harming Palestinian citizens is the exception rather than the
rule. (pg 4)” ("Human
Rights Review" 1 January 2009
- 30 April 2010, Btselem.org)
Bringing Justice to the Mideast
Israel (and most evangelicals) now asserts that efforts by nearly
700 activists aboard the Free Gaza flotilla to deliver much needed
supplies to the Gazans, primarily concrete, building materials and
medical supplies banned by Israel, constituted an act of “provocation.” The
activists, they say, knew very well there was no crisis in Gaza and
were only making use of such imaginary suffering to further their real
goal — destruction of the state of Israel. Israel, they contend,
was justified in violently assaulting their sham “humanitarian” mission.
Evangelicals, will you continue to believe ADL/Israel or accept the
extensive, on-the-scene recent testimony of these reputable human rights
groups? Acknowledgment of the fact that Israel is lying does not mean,
of course, that you are now pro-Hamas. Amnesty International has also
produced a blistering report on the many human rights violations by
Hamas. They disapprove (as I do) of its terroristic, self-defeating
record.
What is so wrong about the forces that trouble the Middle East?
Answer: Both Talmudic Judaism and Islam are darkened "hit back" religions.
Israel is proud that it never forgets the wrongs of past centuries
against Jews; claiming forgetfulness of past atrocities ensures they
will happen again. Hamas not only hits back against Israel but also
against the Muslim factions in Gaza which vie for control. This struggle
for dominance of Jihad exists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Pakistan.
The history of Islam, as clearly revealed in the centuries of bloody
Shiite/Sunni rivalry as well as the interminably violent and vindictive
Iraq/Iran war, suggests that perhaps no religion equals Islam for strife
and cruelty within its ranks.
What evangelicals must consider is the big picture of what primarily
motivates the Turkish militants to launch their flotillas by sea, or
their Gaza-bound compatriots their offensives by land. It is a fact
that Israel in 1948 violently drove half of their Palestinian brethren
from their lands and businesses, herding them into concentration camps,
and continues to treat them despicably (as in Gaza) to this very moment.
(See, "To
Gaza, World More Merciful than Church") (Watch the NPN Video
"Gaza
Made Simple for Christians" '09)
Will ending the embargo allow Israel's enemies to smuggle arms into
Israel? Of course. Should Israel's chokehold on the Gazan people be
continued perpetually so that such cannot happen? No. Israel has created
Arab rage by its historic magnitude-10 mistreatment of the Palestinians.
It must reap what it has sown. Meanwhile, the 1.5 million people of
Gaza must be given an opportunity to experience normal existence -
something Israel has denied them out of its own desire to guarantee
normalcy to its own 5 million citizens.
Both the evangelical church and the international community have tried
over the decades to save Israel from the retributive consequences of
what it has sown. The world has tried peace arbitration. The church
has spiritualized away Israel's wrongdoing. But only Israel can pacify
those it has offended.
If Israel had stolen the lands, businesses, orchards, and farms of
800,000 Palestinians yet treated them kindly, compensating and favoring
them culturally and economically in the occupied territories, Israel
could have allayed 90% of present Arab rage. Instead, for more than
60 years, Israel has persisted in mistreating and collectively punishing
them. The result is Arab anger that will continue to marshal Jihadist
flotillas and anti-Semitic vituperation against Israel. Having been
the victim of centuries of oppression under the Ottoman Turks, followed
by much worse oppression and dispossession by the Jews, they will never
rest until Israel is pushed back and the lands which their forefathers
nurtured for more than a millennium are again in their possession.
Israel describes as "terrorism" this desire to regain what
Israel stole in 1948. It says those who understand the Palestinian
perspective and sympathize with it are “terrorist-sympathizers.”
Yet, despite the injustices and even terrorist outrages which Palestinian
radicals have perpetrated, of the two adversaries in this conflict,
it is the Palestinian people who have been most wronged, by far.
Rev. Ted Pike is director of the National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative
watchdog organization.
TALK SHOW HOSTS: Interview Rev. Ted Pike on this subject.
Call (503) 631-3808.
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