De Israelische Terreur 194

'Audio: Interview with journalist Jonathan Cook

On 1 May 2007, The Electronic Intifada's Maureen Clare Murphy and Ali Abunimah sat down with Jonathan Cook, EI contributor and author of the new book Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State. Cook, who resides in Nazareth, discussed the implications of the Israeli Winograd report which faulted the state's handling of last summer's Lebanon war; the probe and resignation of former member of Knesset and Palestinian citizen of Israel Azmi Bishara; as well as his book.'

Luister: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6865.shtml

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'Bleak reality in Gaza gives rise to dreams of emigration
Yousef Alhelou writing from the Gaza Strip,

The Palestinian Authority has been starved of funds since Hamas was elected in January 2006. Israel has also been withholding the millions of US dollars it owes the Palestinian Authority in tax revenues. This has led to a breakdown of public services and law and order in the occupied Palestinian territories. Government ministries, hospitals, schools and the courts have all faced closure over the last year and are functioning at minimum capacity, with staff salaries withheld. Poverty is rising in the West Bank and Gaza because of international sanctions, compounded by Israeli restrictions on the movement of Palestinian goods and labour related to security concerns. The Palestinian Authority (PA) cannot pay its civil servants because the international community has refused to fund the PA unless the Palestinian government, which includes Hamas, recognises Israel.Poverty in 'the biggest jail on earth'According to the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 84 percent of Gazans and 60 percent of West Bankers have reduced their spending; some households have already sold their assets such as land, jewelry, electrical devices and furniture.Thousands of laborers have not been able to find reliable long-term work inside Gaza to replace the construction or agricultural jobs they had in Israel. A small number earn food from the WFP by working on community projects in Gaza, such as road cleaning. According to the UN, one-third of Palestinians are 'food insecure' More than 80 percent of Palestinians live under the poverty line; most of those Palestinians who have been affected due to the siege imposed up on the government and the ordinary Palestinian people as a form of collective punishment live in the Gaza Strip. While the disengagement of Israel from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005 was thought to represent new hope for the Gazan civilians, it has practically turned Gaza into the biggest jail on earth; the Strip has become isolated from the rest of the world because Israel still controls Gaza's airspace, territorial water and the borders, including cargo and commercial crossings, in addition to the Rafah pedestrian terminal in the southern Gaza Strip which is the only gate for Gazans to the outside world.The Gaza 'pressure cooker'Since Gaza is a prison for 1.4 million people and they are locked inside, it has become a pressure cooker. As result of these circumstances, falatan, the Arabic word which means security chaos, anarchy and lawlessness, has spread, especially in light of the security forces' inability to enforce the law despite the fact that there are more than 85,000 Palestinian security men. The Palestinian society, torn apart by internal feuding and infighting between the two major factions as they struggle for power, in addition to clan disputes and thugs running around with AK-47s, have became ordinary occurrences in our everyday life. On the other hand, the continued Israeli military practices in all its forms contribute to the suffering of the people.'

Lees verder: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6862.shtml