16-May-11: On humanitarian aid, prisons and deprivation

A representative of the Hamas regime (the gentleman with the club)
exchanges views with the Gazan public, 15-May-11 [Source: AP]

There is no shortage of good reasons why living in Gaza under Hamas rule is something most of us strongly prefer to not do. The place is a nightmare of religious intolerance and tyranny, political persecution and sovereign malfeasance.

Starvation however is not one of its major problems notwithstanding that we were told the exact opposite by people who knew exactly how much they were bending the truth. In fact, many of the claims that have been made about the alleged suffering of the people living in Gaza are either wrong, or mostly wrong, or hopelessly-spun politically and therefore completely distorted. For instance, when the Islamist political elite of Gaza famously posed in the almost-dark of their parliament building [photograph here] blaming Israel for the gloom, daylight could clearly be seen shining in through the curtained windows as anyone unblinkered by  malice could see in the photos.

A year ago, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron called Gaza "a prison camp" (while visiting Turkey, which makes sense if you understand how some politicians think). Well, it is - if you are kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. He is imprisoned in a black and unvisited hole, far from the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross or anyone else, a prime example of the illegalities and atrocities a failed, rogue state-let is capable of executing when it knows no one is going to call it to account.

Presenting Gaza as a pathetic and helpless victim is central to the myth of the aid convoys and their 'humanitarian' aid. And the latest of the 'humanitarian' ships arrived in the area this morning. An Associated Press report says:

Israel blocks Moldovan-flagged ship from Gaza  The Israeli military says it has blocked a Moldovan-flagged vessel leased by a Malaysian anti-war group from reaching the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israel maintains a naval blockade of Gaza and restricts goods transferred overland to the Palestinian territory, citing concerns they would be used to attack Israel. The military said Monday that it ordered the ship to return to an Egyptian port where it had been anchored for several days. But it said the vessel disregarded the order, prompting it to fire warning shots into the air. The ship then changed course to return to Egypt. The Malaysian group, the Perdana Global Peace Foundation, says its ship was fired at when it tried to reach Gaza. The military denied firing at the ship. Perdana said no one was injured.

It's a major story in Malaysia at this hour. We wonder whether the 'anti-war' 'peace' activists there know that, largely thanks to the access they had for several decades to high-quality Israeli health care, life expectancy in the Gaza Strip (2010 figures) stands at 73.9 years, which is better than Malaysia's. Not that we expect the 'activists' to be so interested in statistics. Ideological fury is so much more satisfying.

We compiled some additional facts about life in Gaza that are not normally publicized and posted them in an earlier blog entry of ours ["3-Jun-10: So how urgent was the need for humanitarian aid for the Gazans?"] We will be surprised if you don't find at least some of them surprising. Also keep in mind that at least since June 2010, Israel has permitted practically all non-military or dual-use items to enter the Gaza Strip. Whatever.

Which brings us to a unique window in the suffering of Gaza. The video below is made in Gaza by Gazans. View it if for no other reason than it may help reveal what really stands behind the rising tide of 'aid' and 'humanitarian' vessels being prepared to sail on Gaza - and Israel.