Traveling The Polar Extremes Of The Middle East

(For the full post with photos, read the original post at NedLamont.com.)

Earlier this month, I put on my journalistic hat and traveled the polar extremes of the Middle East, from Dubai to Gaza City. I had not worked in the Middle East for almost twenty years, and I spent much of last year in a Senate campaign debating America's role in this volatile region. The vast disparity of wealth and opportunity is chilling.

The Gulf Emirate of Dubai is over the top - "Dubai-est" is the phrase. It contains the world's fastest growing city (strategically located between the old Western countries and the new Asian tigers), the world's tallest building (soon to be 151 stories), the world's biggest indoor ski mountain (with chair lift and Indian ski porters dressed as downhill racers), and the world's best hotel (not five but seven stars, featuring an underwater restaurant which is accessed by submarine.)

Dubai is the most capitalist of societies, not only embracing immigration but paying top dollar for the best draft choices from around the world. "Take a Ride into the Future," reads the large billboard along the 12-lane highway. Dubai does not have oil, but they do have access to billions in petro-dollars which they are investing around the world (remember the Dubai port deal from last year?). Politically, they pay lip service to the pro-Palestinian/ anti-Israeli line, but if you follow the money - as Deep Throat once counseled - not one dime is invested with the Palestinians struggling in Gaza.

If Dubai is wide open and welcoming, Gaza is closed for business. Israel and Egypt have shut down their borders with Gaza, which is walled in and may be accessed by a few NGOs at the Erez check point. It's a perversion of the Great Wall of China, winding its way around an area twice the size of Washington DC. The wall around Gaza prevents arms (and almost everything else) from getting in, and suicide bombers (and almost everybody else) from getting out. I was with an NGO for the day, and after a couple of hours and many warnings, we walked through the final steel gate into the bombed out Gazan landscape.

Do you remember Kurt Russell in Escape from L.A. after Los Angeles has been turned into a vast open-air prison? This is Gaza in October 2007. Ever since Hamas was elected early last year and Fatah was later expelled, the residents of Gaza, most of whom are too young to vote, have been walled in and unable to escape. Sewage is overflowing in the streets, hospitals are running out of medicine, and the UN-supplied food is being rationed. "The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet," the Guardian newspaper quoted an Israeli official as explaining, "but not to make them die of hunger."

The strategy is to undermine Hamas, which continues to call for the destruction of Israel. And while Hamas has had a ceasefire in place for almost two years, an occasional man-made Qassam rocket lands in Israel, resulting in twelve deaths and many injuries over the last couple of years. The American sponsored peace talks will disregard Gaza, since Fatah will not talk to Hamas, which is boycotting the negotiations. Large piles of sand were poised on street corners in Gaza City in preparation for the Israeli tanks.

Whistling by the sand piles, the students I met at the Mercy Corps "Save the Youth Future Society" mission in Gaza City were remarkably upbeat. They good naturedly blamed everybody - Egypt and the other Arab countries, Israel and the US, and, in particular, Hamas and Fatah. They were not angry but they were old enough to be worried, since last year was better than this year, and they know that next year will be worse.

Republicans believe that there is no problem that can not be solved with a tax cut, and Democrats believe that more education will solve just about anything. Well, there are no taxes in Gaza, and the Palestinians have one of the highest education levels in the world. Gaza could be a land of opportunity, a stable and peaceful neighbor to Israel, a Dubai on the Mediterranean, and instead it is a living hell. How long will those students keep their upbeat optimism?

People cope. A UN advisory about a "Threat to Internationals" forced us to cut our visit short, and as we sped out of the city, some raw sewage splashed into our car's open window. Without taking his foot off the accelerator, our driver handed over some spray-on perfume; "Smells better... plus the alcohol," he said with a smile. While Egypt has shut the door and thrown away the key to the Egypt-Gaza checkpoint, Dubai pays lip service to the plight of the Palestinians as it adds another floor to its world's tallest building.

Since I am writing a piece on Arab media for Rolling Stone, I had to ask the students what they watch on TV. With 1.4 million people all dressed up and no place to go, Gazans watch a lot of it - favorites include Oprah ("she says things we only think") and Friends ("not like here but I wish it was"). One boy I talked to loved Prison Break: "every night I go to sleep dreaming that I am the star, escaping from prison, but every morning I wake up and I am still in Gaza."

(Learn more about Mercy Corps' programs in the West Bank and Gaza and around the world, and how you can support them.)

Comments

[nefertiti]

egypt is under pressure to stop Hamas , while they support Fatah which lost the vote. egypt hates the Muslim brotherhood , which is more popular in egypt than Mubarak . hamas is a branch of a the brotherhood , the muslim brotherhood in Jordan is also more popular than the King of Jordan , those dictators hate democracy if they have honest free elections we know who is going to win in large numbers. If egypt has relations with hamas, it will automatically lose the US millions it receives from America . there is a 1000 Palestinians stuck between egypt border and rafah and have been stuck for more than 3 months and are suffering some died, some were born there on the sand , and being homeless , some had to sell their clothes to eat . the world does not care about them. and egypt is also involved in this war crime too. gaza is not only a prison but israelis target palestinians daily and wont allow them to fish nor sell their produce or allow the gates to open , they certainly learnt a lot from the ghettos .

[avergejoe]

Thank You Ned,

for reminding me that there are a couple of people in politics with some humanity.

p.s. did you know that the House Human Rights Caucas does not even have Palestine/Gaza/West Bank on its agenda?

[Javani]

Interesting article, but I don't see how contextualizing the dispute helps you in the future. Showing that Arab nations don't give money to Hamas or admitting the geographic reality that Gaza is not only bordered by Israel disallows crypto-anti-semites a comfortable space to rant about hobgoblins like "AIPAC!"

[nefertiti]

Occupation Must end First , before resistance isnt it fair ? AMericans did fight the British Monarchy with courage , right ??

[Seral]

This is a nice article. I wish the people at the governing level would also go and see the real conditions in Middle East with their own eyes, instead of hearing they are still ok, based on words like what the Israeli officer is saying "The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.". Actually, those words show the current state of mind at the governing level of Israel, and sadly, they do not fit to the expected mindset of a person who may have parents, close relatives, or friends suffered or died in the Nazi camps.

It is really strange how Israel and US cannot see the importance of a peace between both countries (if you consider Palestine a state, even though in reality it is not).

[MagisterLudi]

Did you all miss the line that Egypt also closed the border to Gaza.
let me repeat Egypt closed the border crossing with Gaza

Egypt also does not want ANY part of the Hamas extremists, they got plenty of their own terrorists. Let me also list a number of "Zionist supporters (?) who want no part of Hamas: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon ( not counting Syrian/Iranian mercenaries Helboallah), European Union, USA or ANYONE ELSE.
As usual, Palestinians never miss the opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Meanwhile the innocent children suffer on BOTH sides.

[MagisterLudi]

Looking forward to reading your forthcoming piece on Arabic media.
Obviously it needs considerably more research.

[EspressoAtNoon]

Ned,
If only Connecticut residents hadn't been bamboozled by AIPAC mouthpiece, Lieberman, you'd now be a U.S. Senator and the Palestinian peoples' future would be so much brighter.

[WFB]

Don't forget Saudi Arabia. That's where the real action is:

www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com

[smui2004]

Great article! We need more people like you describing to the rest of the world the desperate plight of the Palestinians.

Keep up the good work Ned!

[AbbieX]

Not doubting your "2 thousand" number, but I think the writer was talking about specifically being fired from Gaza...I could be wrong.

[pointedly]

Kassam rockets, by definition, are fired from Gaza into Israel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qassam_rocket

[RedRooster]

Excellent post.

Thanks for the insight!

[pointedly]

I particularly loved this line: "an occasional man-made Qassam rocket lands in Israel".

pssssssst.... hey, in the last two years more than two thousand man-made Qassam rockets have landed in Israel!

[nomoredead]

...aaaand who has been counting the number of rockets?

[avergejoe]

and did the total damage of one blackhawk missile

[EspressoAtNoon]

Well when you invade a neigboring country (Lebanon) you're bound to get a bunch of rockets landing at your doormat.

[1will]

I believe the rockets preceded the invasion. If not the rockets then the cross border terrorist attacks and kidnappings.

[monstabunny]

Hamas has to understand that violence has run its course and will not win the day. Unfortunately, and per usual, innocent citizens are dragged into the insurgency's learning curve.

[EspressoAtNoon]

If only Likud could just learn that same thing.