Israel, Haiti and Gaza

Israel airdrops 'aid' to Gaza





The media is giving Israel positive reviews on their humanitarian aid to Haiti but is silent about their continued blockade of aid to Gaza.

Leave it to Haaretz to even mention the disconnect.

Israel's aid to Haiti won't save Gaza 

The Israeli newspaper reader knows about the baby pulled from the wreckage in Port-au-Prince. Few have heard about the infants who sleep in the ruins of their families' homes in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces prohibition of reporters entering the Gaza Strip is an excellent excuse for burying our heads in the sand of Tel Aviv's beaches; on a good day, the sobering reports compiled by human rights organizations such as B'Tselem, Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel on the situation in Gaza are pushed to the newspapers' back pages. To get an idea of what life is like in the world's largest prison, one must forgo "Big Brother" and switch to one of the foreign networks. 

The disaster in Haiti is a natural one; the one in Gaza is the unproud handiwork of man. Our handiwork. The IDF does not send cargo planes stuffed with medicines and medical equipment to Gaza. The missiles that Israel Air Force combat aircraft fired there a year ago hit nearly 60,000 homes and factories, turning 3,500 of them into rubble. Since then, 10,000 people have been living without running water, 40,000 without electricity. Ninety-seven percent of Gaza's factories are idle due to Israeli government restrictions on the import of raw materials for industry. Soon it will be one year since the international community pledged, at the emergency conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, to donate $4.5 billion for Gaza's reconstruction. Israel's ban on bringing in building materials is causing that money to lose its value.{more}

The alternative media does have a few folks with something to say about the hypocrisy.

Where is the media, the donations, the outrage & support for the people if Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq? Why are we giving the US & Israel applause for helping in Haiti while they are continuing to destroy, occupy and murder millions half a world away? Why are we applauding George W. Bush and putting his name on a donation fund to help Haiti when he should be arrested for war crimes related to torture, invasion of a sovereign nation, use of white phosphorous & targeting civilians in two occupied lands? {more - Political Theatrics}

Two weeks ago, almost 2,000 internationals came to Egypt and Gaza in a massive show of civil society support for the people of Gaza.  1,362 persons representing 44 countries in the Gaza Freedom March and over 500 persons with the Viva Palestina Convoy let the people of Gaza know of their concern for the tragic consequences of the actions of their governments in support of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade.

Yet, two weeks later, with the apparent approval of governments (United States, European Community and Canada) who support the quarantine, blockade and siege of Gaza, Israel and Egypt have tightened the squeeze to wring the lifeblood out of the people of Gaza. {more - Ann Wright}

The US and Israel start wars based on lies, kill and displace millions while stealing resources and profiteering but give us a 'natural' disaster and we'll show the world the great humanitarians we are.