Many good people around the world, and in Israel itself, are extremely concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. I am too.
When I think about Gaza, what comes to my mind, first and foremost, is the hundreds of thousands of children living there. As a Mom, I cannot imagine what raising your children in Gaza must be like. I recently read that it is estimated that half of the children in the Israeli town of Sderot suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. That’s from being under constant bombardment of rockets from Gaza for almost a decade. It breaks my heart, and it also makes me think about the children on the other side of the border. I can only guess that with the tonnage of explosives experienced over there, close to 100% of them suffer from PTSS.
So, call me soft-hearted, but it’s entirely the humanitarian issue that bothers me. Not just the constant exposure to war, which is bad enough, but the reported shortage of food, medicine etc. Which brings us to the infamous blockade. Following both sides’ claims in the media, the argument goes something like this:
Gaza: We have a humanitarian crisis – open the border so we can bring in food and medicine.
Israel: But if we do, you will bring in weapons and explosives to further your attacks on Israeli civilians. Instead, you will get the current limited transfer of food and medicine only. No free open passage of goods.
So, I guess the big question is – if the borders are opened and the blockade lifted, left to their own devices, what will the Palestinians bring into Gaza?
Well, being as there are current lines of import into Gaza, fully controlled by the Palestinians, I went and did some reading on the network of tunnels in place, along the border between Egypt and Gaza. I went for a mix of sources, including Al Jazeera and various European and American newspapers, so this is hardly Israeli propaganda 
Here are some of the facts I found -
- There is an extensive network of tunnels bringing in a large amount of goods.
- The tunnels are privately owned and operated, making their owners – Gazans – rich people, at the expense of their compatriots.
- There’s a well oiled mechanism of taxes or bribery, depending how you wish to look at it, where both Hamas and people in Egypt, are making a lot of money off the trafficking.
- Most importantly, for me, these tunnels have been used to smuggle an enormous among of arms and weapons into Gaza. So much so, that “The operators of the “commercial tunnels” plied by Abu Mutassem and his colleagues say that the market for small arms is drying up after a glut of weapons.“
- When not smuggling arms… the smugglers vary their cargo to meet demand: sometimes drugs, often cigarettes, perfumes, fugitives (going rate $2,000 a trip) and, very occasionally, even African snakes or wild animals to stock a zoo. Umm, wait, didn’t you say there was a humanitarian crisis in Gaza? starving children in need of food and medicine?
So, essentially, this is what we have. The Hamas makes money from importing a variety of goods into Gaza on a regular basis. Instead of putting that money into bringing those needed medicine and food for the children of Gaza, they let the smugglers bring in drugs, cigarettes and exotic luxuries. I thought the people voted for Hamas because they were supposed to be not as corrupt as the PLO?
I’m sorry, but I can’t say it’s a very encouraging when it comes to lifting the blockade and letting those people run the passages between Gaza and the world. Sure, there is the easy solution, which the Hamas seems to adopt faithfully: blame Israel for all your troubles and do nothing for your own people. Blaming Israel is always popular and is a good way to solidify your control over the people.
So… My conclusion is:
If you’re fighting for the very real and concrete plight of the people in Gaza push harder towards getting rid of the Hamas, instead of focusing entirely on Israel. Continue the political struggle against Israel, if you will, but if you truly care about the people in Gaza, I think you should focus just as much energy in denouncing the Hamas regime.
How would that be done? I don’t know. No Israeli soldiers inside Gaza, and obviously plenty of weapons. The Palestinians have shown in the past that they can run their own internal revolutions – maybe make one that is actually in favor of the people, and not of the elites, religious or financial.
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 6:35 am
you want them to point and blame hamas? they already voted for it, helloooooo, they like and support hamas so what you gonna do now? let me guess, sending them roses and telling them that peace is good c’mon stop being naive
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Whew, my first bashing comes from the right. Now, who’s going to take a swing from the left? :p
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Hi there,
I will not swing, but I will point out that there are hundreds of articles out there outlining that these tunnels do ALSO supply Gaza with food, clothing, oil/propane/gasoline, potable water, school supplies, some building materials (probably for tunnels AND houses, both of which are important to sustaining Gazan people at the moment). I think your post points out an important (and overlooked) potentially negative role the tunnels are playing right now. However, I also believe that if they blockade were lift, the seige ended, and Palestinians empowered to control their own lives for ONCE that the weapon trade would decrease. The blockade is the cause for the weapons being taken in. There was not a single day that Gaza was not under seige from 1948 until today. The guns are the symptom and the occupation disease.
There are many reasons to criticize Hamas, but I would argue the weapons smuggling (and the rockets for that matter) are a) not only Hamas, but a whole smattering of random militants from all sorts of groups and non-groups and b) directly derived from Israeli military occupations and social persecution. End the occupation, give Palestinians justice and equality and you will have no more rockets.
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 8:36 am
TrnsplantdtoPal, can’t they see that weapons will not win the struggle though? I really don’t get that part of the resistance, really.
Thing is, Hamas has always clearly declared that it is opposed to the very existence of Israel, before, during and after being elected. See the problem? The intent is there, by their own admittance, so personally, being on the side THEY say they want to destroy, I can understand the arguments against giving them full opportunity to carry out their declared intent.
Israel isn’t very large, so given free passages, Iran can pretty easily send in arm supplies with a range that will cover much more than the south of Israel. It’s a risk Israel can’t really take at this point.
Hence my problem with the current arms smuggling through the tunnels. Of course other things are smuggled in (thankfully, I may add), but the fact that so much explosives and weapons are being sent in makes me wonder what would happen with free passages? what will happen when you combine the Hamas’ clearly states goals of destroying Israel along with the ability to smuggle in long-range missiles?
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 8:54 am
First, I agree that Palestinians using weapons inside the 1967 borders is less than effective. I could be pushed to say that using weapons at all is ineffective. I 100% believe that violence against civilians is a war crime and totally immoral.
That being said, Israel justifies its violence against civilians daily, both in Gaza and the West Bank. I’m not saying that in turn Palestinians are justified in justifying, but we must look at proportions, here. Can you blame people who have no way of doing anything when they choose to do something?
Finally, Hamas’ leadership are among the most articulate, organized, and thoughtful Palestinian leaders, at times. Meshal and Haniyeh have both, REPEATEDLY stated that Hamas will accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, even following the Dec/Jan slaughter in Gaza: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1083183.html I firmly believe Palestinians shouldn’t even be forced into saying this until Israel can define what it envisions as its own borders, but that’s another story.
Yes, there are some people in Palestine who act in ways that are irrational, counter-productive, and harm civilian populations. Even if a few Palestinians get some bullets and some concrete, they are no threat to the 4th biggest army in the world. Let the rest of the population live!
I learned a few days ago about a West Bank village called Azzoun ‘Atme. They have 5 water wells, 4 of which have already been confiscated by the wall. Now their village is completely surrounded with a wall and no one who is not from that village and does not have a permit can enter, including relatives. Within that wall, there is another wall cutting off 80 people from the rest of the village with their own checkpoint and their own permits. Those 80 people have to go through two gates and have two permits to get to their homes. They are, on top of that, under a severe ration system: 2 kilos of sugar, 5 sheep/goats, 3 kilos of meat per family at a time. Be careful, they might make sugar and meat rockets!
Please, look at the whole picture here. It’s about power, control, land and water confiscation, and ultimately making life unlivable so the population will leave (or die).
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Of course I totally disagree with things such as you describe in Azzoun Atme – and yes, I can see the whole wide picture. I hope more Palestinians can see the Israeli perspective as well.
I think a lot of what Israel does is indeed the result of narrow minded racists and fascists in power positions. A lot of the unnecessary hassling of Palestinian civilians is just that – one stupid jerk heading a checkpoint is all it takes to make life difficult for thousands of people. This is not an excuse for Israel as a country, btw – I’m just describing things as I see them.
Please do not underestimate the rockets fired from Gaza into Israel. We’re talking over 8,000 rockets. A lot of defensive measures on the Israeli side managed to prevent more casualties. Doesn’t mean those rockets are harmless (and enough people have been injured and died of them to prove that).
I honestly never understood the point of the Kassams. If you realize it’s militarily ineffective, which it is, of course, why fire them? What do you achieve other than giving Israel reasons to keep the blockade and further “punish” Gaza? I never got the “it’s frustration” excuse either, unless it’s just a form of banging one’s head against a wall. If it is, then I guess it’s got to hurt in the end to the person doing the banging…
I’d still like to believe that the majority of Palestinians and the majority of Israelis would prefer a peaceful two-state solution. Problem is, those pragmatic sane people are overruled by extremists, on both sides. I think it’s up to us (hope you’re ok with being labeled as a sane peace lover!), to denounce our own fanatics, in the name of promoting a dialogue of the sane.
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Sarah, thanks for the link to Meshal’s statement. I remember hearing this on the radio news and lamenting to my husband on the stupidity of our government. I thought, and still think, that Israel should have grasped the opportunity with both hands and push towards a dialogue with Hamas. Despite what many say here, I always support dialogue over shooting, myself.
Of course, this bit in Meshal’s statements is a bit confusing:
“Meshal vowed Hamas would not recognize Israel’s right to exist, arguing that this was an error committed in negotiations held by Fatah leaders with Jerusalem over the course of the Oslo Accords. ”
Would help if he could be kind enough to allow us to exist :p
on Jul 12th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
“End the occupation, give Palestinians justice and equality and you will have no more rockets.” –TrnsplantdtoPal
1- r u kidding?? may be Israeli mom are eager to buy your talk cuz she naive, desperate and terrorized but this never mean you decieve her this cheap way taking advantage of her thirst to safety.
Israelis left gaza for Palestinians, they end the occupition and what the israelis got for that? more rockets…
2- was it a kind of a blackmailing like “we will keep fire rockets on you till you do as we wish??”
on Jul 20th, 2009 at 3:44 am
I don’t understand why you’re pretending that Israel’s only options are the current blockade or open borders. Israel keeps the amount of goods entering Gaza to a bare minimum in order to maximize the pressure on Hamas, not because they’re afraid Iran will hide Grad rockets in boxes of pasta. Israel could double the amount of food going into Gaza tomorrow and it would have no effect on Hamas’s arsenal.