This May, thousands of activists on a convoy of ships, one of which is named after the extreme left-wing American activist, Rachel Corrie, killed in the Gaza Strip in 2003, plan to sail to the coastal territory in the context of breaking the widely popularized myth of the Gaza siege.
On March 18th, just three days after a man was killed by a Gaza rocket in the Negev, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip and told the people of Gaza: "We stand with you." Ban called for an end to the so-called Israeli siege of the terrorist-controlled territory, saying it was causing "unacceptable suffering of human beings."
Without questioning the apparent Gaza suffering, one has to ask what siege Ban is referring to, when, in 2009 the IDF Spokesperson reported that 738,576 tons of humanitarian aid was transferred into the Strip.
The UN claims there is a siege when it has given $200 million to Gaza following a military operation that left 1,300 dead and wounded among a population of less than 1.5 million, and yet has only given $10 million to Haiti after the natural disaster there claimed the lives of an estimated 230,000. Of course, that is without noting that Haitians have not been attacking an innocent nearby civilian population for nine years.
International humanitarian aid has been flowing freely into the Strip for years, and in no way stopped after Operation Cast Lead, as 30,576 aid trucks entered the territory in 2009 while in the same period, 4,883 tons of medical equipment was also transferred to it. This past month during the week of April 11-17th 500 trucks of over 17,000 tons of humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip.
The Strip has been called "the world's largest open-air prison" allegedly because its residents are not able to leave the territory. But in 2009, 10,544 Gazans and their companions left for medical treatment in Israel. This past month during the week of April 11-17th nearly 500 patients and companions crossed from Gaza into Israel for medical treatment, while another over 100 Gaza residents crossed into Israel for other reasons, and roughly 200 internationals crossed in and out of the Gaza Strip.
The UN continues to promote the myth of a siege while failing to promote it has pumped $200 million into the Strip following last winter's operation.
In an UNRWA report titled, "An assessment of needs six months after the war", it became clear that of the $300 million it planned to give Gaza, it had already transferred close to $200 million.
Some US politicians as well, such as Congressmen Keith Ellison and Brian Baird, both of whom visited Sderot with the Sderot Media Center in February 2009 to see the impact of the rocket fire on the civilian population, have both promoted this myth by publicly calling for Israel to end its siege on Gaza and in this effort Ellison visited Gaza through the Egyptian border earlier this month.
They must be ignoring the fact that in Sharm el-Sheikh last year US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton allocated $900 million in aid to the Gaza Strip following Operation Cast Lead. At the same time, a USAID and Department of Defense report calculating the aid sent to Haiti as of last month put the figure at just over $700 million - nearly $200 million less than the Hamas-controlled territory.
Tragically, the international community has bought this media myth about some Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip while ignoring the facts and most of all equivocating this supposed siege to the obvious humanitarian crisis.
In a press conference April 23rd, UNRWA President John Ging reiterated Ban's message that the current aid to Gaza is just "a drop in the bucket" to what is needed. However, the UN gave the grossly disproportionate $200 million in aid, their 2010 Emergency Appeal report estimates that over 60% of people in Gaza are "food insecure" with the World Food Programme reporting that over 90% of households are receiving food assistance. Proven by the UN statistics there is no siege on Gaza, therefore the world should be asking where all the aid money is going because there is clearly still a humanitarian crisis.
Over a year has passed since Operation Cast Lead, and more than 340 rockets and mortars have hit Israel from Gaza in that period. Five minutes away from the Erez crossing, Ban and the thousands of international activists sailing to the Gaza Strip should visit southern Israel and Kibbutz Netiv Ha'asara, where a foreign worker was killed by a Kassam rocket this March, or Kibbutz Nirim to see where a rocket destroyed a building the week before, instead of working to promote this media myth of a Gaza siege.
Follow Jacob Shrybman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SderotMedia
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Perhaps “MS St. Louis” would have been a better choice?
Please re-direct your clichés to him.
FYI: http://en.
Rachel Corrie a 23 year old American college student was crushed to death deliberate
You are merely repeating Hamas propaganda that is deceptive if not outright lies.
During this so-called assault, while Israeli forces tried extremely hard not to harm civilians, phoning them and dropping leaflets in advance of operations to arrest extremists and rocket launchers, Hamas thugs were entering hospitals and killing PLO loyalists in their beds. Hamas were cowering in schools and mosques next to ammunition piles.
Hamas is nothing but a gang of thugs who won an election and are proceeding to do what Arabs seem to do best--oppr
If indeed a flotilla of activists heads to Gaza to break the so-called siege, I hope every one of them hits a Hamas floating mine and sinks to the bottom of the Mediterran
Israel can only survive by being strong and true to its principles
The IDF is AFRAID of video camera's because of what they may show, they STEAL them !
A United Nations fact-findi
Israel is a terrorist state. It targets children and believes in collective punishment
Israel is a racist state. Israelis enforce separate and unequal laws for non-Jews.
Israel is a welfare state. If the U.S. were not filling Israeli’s coffers with dollars it would be an unarmed, dirty, dusty poor place like Gaza.
Israel is neo-Nazi state. From the concentrat
Help break the Siege of Gaza
Remember during Israel’s massive onslaught in December/J
Call Congress, cut off all aid to right wing Israel !
We, people, (Christian
I think both sides are guilty of committing crimes, and it needs to stop. I can't help but wonder how I would react if someone took away all my rights, controlled my every move, decided my life for me, and cornered me. Would I still be nice? I left Romania in '89 because of the communist regime, but as bad as it was to live there, do you think we were happy when we left? Your home is your home - it's where you are supposed to grow up and feel safe. It's where you can build a strong foundation for your kids, and protect them from the ugly world. I think that Palestinia
There is so much crime being committed against innocent people on both sides. It would be ignorant to think that every Palestinia
Some of the points brought up in the article mention how the US has provided food assistance to 90% of households
Or maybe like the IDF you only want one side told, and so you STEAL video camera's to prevent the world from seeing your repression
First of all "extreme" conjures the image of someone violent and Rachel didn't have a violent bone in her body. Secondly you state she was killed but fail to mention BY AN ISRAELI BULLDOZER which was in the process of demolishin
1- Death as a result of an earthquake is not the same as death by the criminal, indiscrimi
2- A natural disaster is not the same as a deliberate 3-year policy of complete blockade of 1.5 million Palestinia
3- A trickle of humanitari
4- The suffering of the people in Gaza is not just “apparent”
5- Rachel Korrie was a brave humanitari
6- The pain and suffering of 1.5 million people cannot be quantified by few statistics about how much food stuff those people are allowed to consume.
7- You know that a dog in your Israeli city of Sderot lives better than Palestinia
8- You can only be right if you think Palestinia
9- I challenge you to go live in Gaza for one week and debunk the “siege myth” there.
10- You would never use such disgracefu
Fanned and favorited.
You do know that these officers of non-profit
Sometimes, the Palestinia
How do you feel about supporting the lives of gay Palestinia
You may be interested to read about Queers Against Israeli Apartheid: http://que
"...extrem
He neglects to mention that she was run over by an Israeli bulldozer.
I wonder how many find it ironic that Jacob denies the seige of Gaza, while at the same time he is Assistant Director of the Sderot Media Center? Sderot is built upon the bulldozed ruins of the ethnically cleansed Arab village of Najd.
Besides, if the Israelis were the monsters you imply, they wouldn't merely knock down terrorists
The palestinia
http://www
If Oxfam wanted people not to be hungry--th
How can you even start considerin
Haiti may be sitting on a dangerous zone, but it is not subjected to a strangulat
Also Haiti did receive almost 10 billion dollars in aid pledges in the UN conference in March; and the cement and other goods they'll receive will smoothly get through to rebuild the destroyed cities; whereas in Gaza cement (and thousands of other goods) are either not allowed, or only permitted through in the smallest of quantities
http://www
And the Haitians are victims of a natural disaster, while Palestinia
And supported Hamas in the coup against PA.
They chose the ONLY action possible to make their cause for their state weaker. In a truly astonishin
Gazans MUST be held accountabl
http://www