Dov Weissglass, an adviser to Israel’s prime minister, summing up its strategy after the Hamas election win, said the Palestinians should be ‘put on a diet but not starved to death’. They will be punished for practising democracy, and both the United States and the European Union endorse that punishment. Western double-talk about democracy and justice has provoked outrage in Muslim countries and encouraged resistance to foreign intervention.
By Georges Corm
Completely controlled by Israeli military forces, the borders of the Gaza Strip resemble prison walls and gates around this crowded and undernourished strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. The coastlines themselves are also tightly controlled, so that in most parts of Gaza, children spend their entire lives growing up within view of the sea, but unable to access it.
Israeli authorities appeared unconcerned about the severe shortage of food in the Gaza Strip. Top advisor to the Israeli prime minister, Dov Weisglass, said recently that Palestinians should be `put on a diet`, referring to the imposition of sanctions on the population as punishment for voting for the Hamas party in January`s democratic election. Despite the fact that the United Nations has condemned the closure, and noted that 40% of children in the Gaza Strip suffer from malnutrition, Israeli politicians seem entirely unconcerned with the fate of the 1.2 million Gaza Palestinians -- a fate that is, at this point, entirely in their hands.
Top Photo: Prime Minister Olmert
2nd and 3rd Photos: Dov Weissglass
// posted by needingsugar @ 10:57 PM
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