23 Prominent International NGOs Slam Governments for Failure to Help Gaza

Maan News, April 17, 2009 - Twenty-three high-profile international NGOs accused much of the world of “standing by” as “Gazans sift through the rubble,” noting that thousands “are still homeless and without basic services such as piped drinking water three months after the 18 January ceasefire.”

Released three months after the end of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, the statement, signed by CARE, Oxfam, Defense for Children International and more than a dozen other organizations, the statement offered scathing criticism to the international community.

More than “lip service to the needs of the people of Gaza” is required, the statement said. IT had particularly harsh words for the European Union, set to review its trade and economic relations with Israel in the coming weeks.

“If the EU does not put the brakes on the process to strengthen ties with Israel, it will be sending a dangerous signal to the world that maintaining a destructive policy of closure is acceptable,” said Martha Myers, country director of CARE West Bank and Gaza.

“Gaza’s industry, including the agricultural sector, has almost completely collapsed and reconstruction has proved a near impossible task. Operation Cast Lead destroyed Gaza’s economy which was already severely weakened after months of blockade. It makes no sense to continue depriving ordinary people the opportunity to earn a living and support their families. The crossings must be opened now to allow the normal flow of commerce. If they are not, the people of Gaza simply will not recover,” added Myers.

Reconstruction in Gaza is severely constrained. Materials such as cement and reinforced steel rods are still being denied entry by Israel, the statement said.

Highlighting the ramifications of the decision the joint statement said, “This means that the 20,000 families – or at least 140,000 people – whose homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable as a result of the conflict are unable to rebuild their lives. Many are living in tents and in makeshift shelters constructed with salvaged bricks and plastic sheeting, with no end in sight.”

Country Director for Oxfam Great Britain in Jerusalem John Prideaux-Brune said bluntly that “There has been zero progress in allowing construction materials in to help people rebuild their lives. This is unacceptable, full stop.”

He called on world leaders to “take practical steps to fully open the crossings and exert as much pressure on Israel and all parties to ensure that families can finally see a light at the end of what has been a very long and dark tunnel. A drip-feed of food aid and medicines is simply not enough.”

The NGO coalition responsible for the statement includes:

• CARE West Bank and Gaza 
  
• Oxfam International 
  
• War Child Holland 
  
• Medical Aid for Palestinians-UK 
  
• Action Against Hunger 
  
• Norwegian Refugee Council 
  
• Caritas Jerusalem 
  
• Lutheran World Federation 
  
• Diakonia 
  
• Austcare 
  
• Gruppo Volontariato Civile 
  
• The Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief 
  
• Defense for Children International/ Palestine Section 
  
• Norwegian Church Aid 
  
• ACSUR-Las Segovias 
  
• Medico International 
  
• Campaign for the Children of Palestine: CCP-JAPAN 
  
• Paz con Dignidad 
  
• Mennonite Central Committee 
  
• CISS - Cooperazione Internazionale Sud Sud 
  
• Japan International Volunteer Center 
  
• ACTED 
  
• MPDL: Movimiento por la Paz, el Desarme y la Libertad

Gaza Changed Everything, But Its People Still Suffer - Helena Cobban

Inter Press Service, April 17, 2009 - Three months after the end of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and nearly four months after former prime minister Ehud Olmert started it, the standoff between Israel and Hamas is as unresolved as ever.

Gaza’s 1.5 million residents, nearly all of them civilians, are still in a very tough situation, since Israel still prohibits the shipment into Gaza of many requirements for a decent life - including the building materials needed to repair or rebuild the thousands of homes and other structures the Israeli military destroyed during the war. 

But it is already clear that the war has changed many aspects of the complex political dynamics both between and inside the Israeli and Palestinian communities. 

Hamas, simply by surviving, has become stronger both within Palestinian politics and throughout the broader Middle East. 

In the Israeli elections of early February Olmert’s party was defeated - by representatives of an even more militarist trend in Israel whose rise was fueled, in good part, by the war-fever unleashed among Jewish Israelis by Olmert’s own war. 

Meanwhile, the ferocity with which Israel fought the war caused significant damage to the country’s image around the world. In the U.S., unprecedented numbers of civil society groups - including Jewish groups - expressed open criticism of Olmert’s decision to launch the war, even from the war’s very earliest days. 

All these developments have been evident during Sen. George Mitchell’s latest visit to the region, which started Wednesday. This was Mitchell’s third visit since he was named U.S. special envoy on Jan. 21. Some of the post-Gaza developments seem to make Mitchell’s peacemaking effort harder. But others, especially the new estrangement between the government of Israel and some of its former strong supporters around the world, open up new possibilities for his mission....

John Prideaux-Brune, Oxfam’s country director for the West Bank and Gaza, has described Israel’s policy toward Gaza as being one of "intentionally inflicted  de-development."

He told IPS recently, "Israel went on a rampage in Gaza during the war. You can see whole villages flattened, the cows and other livestock killed. They seem to have gone in and removed anything that could have been used for economic development - farms, factories, you name it." (Israeli sources have said that during the war, the military trucked in 100 heavy-duty bulldozers, especially to undertake this destruction.)

"It seems a mind-numbingly stupid thing for Israel to do," Prideaux-Brune said. "Where states have succeeded in suppressing terrorism, they have done so through negotiations and fostering economic development."

He said he hoped western governments would act quickly to persuade Israel to lift the siege. That, he said, would allow Gaza’s people to move back onto a path of economic development rather than continuing to live on handouts.

Many of the humanitarian aid organisations that have been providing ‘emergency’ aid to Gaza (and the West Bank) for many years are now, like Oxfam, becoming more vocal in arguing that the only thing that can really stabilise the very vulnerable situation of the Palestinians of these occupied areas is to find a speedy end to the Israel’s military occupation of their home territories.

Prideaux-Brune said that the Gaza Palestinians are currently suffering from a deliberately inflicted "dignity crisis."

"So long as Israel controls everything in these people’s lives, they will remain vulnerable," he said. "Emergency relief aid is no substitute for successful peacemaking, and that is the only way to get to real economic development."

Helena Cobban is a veteran Middle East analyst and author. She blogs at Just World News.

Big Powers Moving in on Gaza

Inter Press Service (Reporting from Cairo), April 3, 2009 - Nine NATO member states agreed last month to utilise naval, intelligence and diplomatic resources to combat the alleged flow of arms into the Gaza Strip. Some Egyptian commentators see the move as a surreptitious means of cementing foreign control over the region.

"These new protocols aren't really about halting arms smuggling," Tarek Fahmi, political science professor at Cairo University and head of the Israel desk at the Cairo-based National Centre for Middle East Studies, told IPS. "Rather, they aim to establish foreign control over the region's strategic border crossings and maritime ports."

On Mar. 13, a major conference was held in London aimed at "coordinating efforts" to stop alleged arms smuggling - by land or sea - into the Gaza Strip, governed by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas. Participants at the conference included high-level representatives from nine member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), including the U.S., Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy and Norway.

At the close of the event, participants signed an agreement "to develop an effective framework for international cooperation, supplementary to measures taken by regional states, to prevent and interdict the illicit flow of arms, ammunition and weapons components to Gaza."

According to a final statement, participant governments hope to accomplish these objectives with the use of a series of measures, including "maritime interception, information sharing and diplomatic pressure." The international community "has a responsibility to support prevention and interdiction efforts," the statement reads, noting that such efforts may involve "diplomatic, military, intelligence and law enforcement components."

The London conference follows an earlier meeting devoted to the same issue held in Denmark in early February. A third, follow-up meeting is expected to be held in Canada in April to "work out details" of the pact, according to diplomats close to the talks.

Although Egypt reportedly received an invitation to attend the London gathering, it disdained to send a delegate. Palestinian representation, too - from either Hamas or the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority - was conspicuously absent. Israeli officials, meanwhile, reportedly attended the meeting as "observers".

Shortly afterwards, Mark Regev, spokesman for outgoing Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, lauded the agreement. "The principle is clear - the international community will act to prevent the transfer of weapons," he was quoted as saying.

But Egyptian analysts say the agreement represents a furtive attempt to "internationalise" the longstanding siege of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip....

According to diplomats close to the talks, only "non-coercive" methods will be brought to bear against arms smuggling. Under the terms of the agreement, for example, maritime vessels suspected of carrying contraband can only be boarded for inspection with express permission from the vessel's captain.

Mazloum, however, was not reassured by the ostensibly "non-coercive" nature of the agreement. "These voluntary, supposedly non-coercive inspections will no doubt, over time, become compulsory," he said.

"The West, along with Israel, is attempting to establish regional domination on multiple fronts," said Fahmi. "The plan to redraw the map of the Middle East - from Sudan and Somalia to Palestine and Iraq - is progressing apace, and the hopelessly divided Arabs appear unable to do anything about it."

Seymour Hersh on Obama's Role in Ending Israeli Bombing of Gaza

Syria Calling: The Obama Administration’s chance to engage in a Middle East peace.
By Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, April 6, 2009

When the Israelis’ controversial twenty-two-day military campaign in Gaza ended, on January 18th, it also seemed to end the promising peace talks between Israel and Syria. The two countries had been engaged for almost a year in negotiations through intermediaries in Istanbul. Many complicated technical matters had been resolved, and there were agreements in principle on the normalization of diplomatic relations. The consensus, as an ambassador now serving in Tel Aviv put it, was that the two sides had been “a lot closer than you might think.”

At an Arab summit in Qatar in mid-January, however, Bashar Assad, the President of Syria, angrily declared that Israel’s bombing of Gaza and the resulting civilian deaths showed that the Israelis spoke only “the language of blood.” He called on the Arab world to boycott Israel, close any Israeli embassies in the region, and sever all “direct or indirect ties with Israel.” Syria, Assad said, had ended its talks over the Golan Heights.

Nonetheless, a few days after the Israeli ceasefire in Gaza, Assad said in an e-mail to me that although Israel was “doing everything possible to undermine the prospects for peace,” he was still very interested in closing the deal. “We have to wait a little while to see how things will evolve and how the situation will change,” Assad said. “We still believe that we need to conclude a serious dialogue to lead us to peace.”

...

The Obama transition team also helped persuade Israel to end the bombing of Gaza and to withdraw its ground troops before the Inauguration. According to the former senior intelligence official, who has access to sensitive information, “Cheney began getting messages from the Israelis about pressure from Obama” when he was President-elect. Cheney, who worked closely with the Israeli leadership in the lead-up to the Gaza war, portrayed Obama to the Israelis as a “pro-Palestinian,” who would not support their efforts (and, in private, disparaged Obama, referring to him at one point as someone who would “never make it in the major leagues”). But the Obama team let it be known that it would not object to the planned resupply of “smart bombs” and other high-tech ordnance that was already flowing to Israel. “It was Jones”—retired Marine General James Jones, at the time designated to be the President’s national-security adviser—“who came up with the solution and told Obama, ‘You just can’t tell the Israelis to get out.’ ” (General Jones said that he could not verify this account; Cheney’s office declined to comment.)

Boston Globe: Gaza conference chides US policy

By James F. Smith, Boston Globe, March 30, 2009

CAMBRIDGE -- Several academics at a Harvard-MIT symposium on Gaza today were fiercely critical of US policy -- including that of the Obama Administration -- for not putting serious pressure on Israel to respect the rights of Palestinians in Gaza.

The two-day event includes a number of academics who have long criticized the United States for coddling Israel. Several cited the recent Israeli invasion into the Gaza Strip, which left an estimated 1,300 people dead, as fresh evidence of what they described as Israel's willingness to punish all Gazans to achieve its strategic objectives. Israel contends it had no choice but to act militarily to stop constant barrages of rockets from Hamas fighters within Gaza aimed at civilians in Sderot and other Israeli communities.

Congressman Brian Baird, a Democrat from Washington state, described the widespread destruction he saw in Gaza in February when he visited there with two other legislators, including Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry and Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat. Baird said that while he absolutely condemned the rocket attacks from Gaza, they did not justify the full-scale Israeli military response. He called it "collective punishment" of Gazans.

He said that while walking through Gaza, little children came up and said, "Barack Obama, Barack Obama," suggesting the hopes people are placing in Obama. He said the new administration needs to move urgently to pressure Israel as well as the Palestinians for concessions to unlock the negotiating process.

Baird also said that Obama's message to the new Israeli government, expected to be led by right-wing politician Benjamin Netanyahu, should push Israel to start meeting longstanding conditions on settlements and other issues. If it doesn't, he said, then the US should consider imposing constraints on US military support of some $3 billion per year.

Other speakers, including some who have long track records of attacking Israel and US policy toward Israel, were less conciliatory.

Irene Gendzier, a Boston University professor, said of the Obama administration's response to Israel's incursion into Gaza: "The silence has been overwhelming." She said the new administration is preoccupied with Pakistan and Afghanistan, and is considering openings to Syria and Iran only with an eye toward undermining Hezollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank.

Gabriel Piterburg, a history professor at UCLA, described Israelis as settler-colonialists who set out to destroy the indigenous people in their way. He said what distinguished Palestinians from native peoples in countries such as his native Argentina, Australia and the United States was that the Palestinians escaped political extinction.

The resulting frustration of Israelis, he said, prompts exponential levels of violence. "They cannot resign themselves to accept [Palestinians] as an equal partner. Somehow there needs to be a recognition of the indigenous population as equal partners," he said, whether that be in a single state, in two states side by side or some other negotiated solution.

The conference concludes on Tuesday with a session at Austin Hall at Harvard Law School, with sessions on human rights and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israel's choke-hold in America loosens - Rami Khouri

By Rami G. Khouri, The Daily Star, April 1, 2009

One of the important, even historic, changes taking place in the United States these days is the slow but steady erosion of the once absolute taboo to speak about the excessive influence of pro-Israeli groups in the United States. Pro-Israeli forces in politics and the mass media can still destroy a public career, especially for a politician, but the stranglehold on discussing this phenomenon is slowly loosening.

I witnessed one example of this earlier this week when I participated in the second annual symposium on Gaza, jointly organized by and hosted at two outstanding universities, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Equally noteworthy was that it was sponsored by mainstream units at the universities, including MIT's Center for International Studies and the Program on Human Rights and Justice, and Harvard's Middle East Initiative at the Kennedy School, the Center for Middle East Studies, and the Human Rights Program at the Harvard Law School.

A respected member of Congress who had recently visited Gaza, Brian Baird from Washington State, made the opening comments, which were strongly critical of Israeli actions in Gaza - especially the excessive and disproportionate use of force - and of the American position supporting Israel.

Most of the speakers criticized Israel and supported Palestinian rights, pointing out the importance of the "resistance" of the Palestinians in Gaza who refused to be removed from history or from their land by the force of Israeli settler-colonialist violence. Boston University Political Science professor Irene Grendzier suggested that two phenomena have defined events in the Middle East in recent years - the problem of weapons of mass destruction, but also the problem of "weapons of mass deception" in the United States public arena.

The deliberate deception of the American people about realities on the ground in Israel and Palestine was one reason the US government and public could take a position of "overwhelming silence" on the recent Israeli assault on Gaza, and its continuing strangulation of that society.

"The deception is breaking down slowly, however" she said, because of the availability of alternative sources of news available to anyone who sought it out on the internet or non-American television services. This meant that "we are witnessing the public beheading of Israeli myths on events in Palestine."

Other speakers - Arabs, Americans, Israelis, Europeans - made similar points that emphasized how the gravity and often the criminality of Israeli actions in Gaza were at once facilitated and exacerbated by American and other foreign policies. Oxford University lecturer Karma Nabulsi said that a consistent aim of American-Israeli policies was to deny the Palestinians the right to represent themselves, and then also to deny them the right to resist when faced with occupation and assault.

New Poll of US Jews: Although 75% Supported Gaza Op, 69% Thought Response was "Disproportionate" - Richard Silverstein

The Guardian, March 29, 2009 - J Street has just released its latest poll (full results, analysis) about American Jewish attitudes toward the Israeli-Arab conflict. As usual, it contains some heartening results and some worrisome ones. Perhaps the most important trend noted is that American Jews support a muscular US policy that actively encourages the warring parties to resolve their differences through negotiation....

Sixty-nine percent would support Israeli and American engagement with a Palestinian unity government, even if it included Hamas. This is an especially important finding – both because Palestinians are right now earnestly negotiating towards this goal in Egypt, and because the recent budget bill passed by Congress contains some truly bizarre, draconian provisions that would outlaw any US involvement with a Palestinian government that did include Hamas....What is important to note here is how completely off the reservation congressional Democrats have gone in accommodating the Aipac holy warriors.

Sixty-nine percent of Jews reject Avigdor Lieberman's call for loyalty oaths for Israeli Arabs, as well as his more bellicose anti-Arab positions like support for killing Knesset members who back Hamas. But surprisingly only 29% had an unfavourable view of him, while 27% had a favourable view.

American Jews reject the contention of many pro-Israel hard-liners that public disagreement with Israeli policy is not acceptable for Jews. Fifty-eight percent disagree....

Seventy-five percent of Jews supported Israel and its invasion of Gaza. An earlier Pew study found that 55% of Democrats opposed the Gaza war – which means there is a real split between Jews and Americans when it comes to such matters. The difference in levels of Israeli and diaspora war support is significant, though I am disappointed there wasn't more opposition here and in Israel....

Forty-one percent of Jews believe the Gaza war did nothing to increase Israel's security and 18% believe it harmed it. Forty-one percent believe it made Israel more secure....

Despite my disappointment at the numbers supporting the Gaza war, 69% believe Israel's response to Hamas rockets was "disproportionate". Fifty-six percent believe Israeli military actions that involve killing civilians "create more terrorism". Sixty-five percent believe that Israel's siege against Gaza and the notion of collective punishment is wrong....

Richard Silverstein writes Tikun Olam, a blog dedicated to resolution of the Israeli-Arab conflict. He also contributed to the Independent Jewish Voices essay collection A Time to Speak Out.

NYTimes reports on Bipartisan Statement for U.S. Middle East Peacemaking

New York Times, March 26, 2009 - Pressure on President Obama to recast the failed American approach to Israel-Palestine is building from former senior officials whose counsel he respects.

Following up on a letter dated Nov. 6, 2008, that was handed to Obama late last year by Paul Volcker, now a senior economic adviser to the president, these foreign policy mandarins have concluded a “Bipartisan Statement on U.S. Middle East Peacemaking” that should become an essential template.

Deploring “seven years of absenteeism” under the Bush administration, they call for intense American mediation in pursuit of a two-state solution, “a more pragmatic approach toward Hamas,” and eventual U.S. leadership of a multinational force to police transitional security between Israel and Palestine.

The 10 signatories — of both the four-page letter and the report — include Volcker himself, former national security advisers Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, former Senator Chuck Hagel, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills, former Congressman Lee Hamilton and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Thomas Pickering.

My understanding is their thinking coincides in significant degree with that of both George Mitchell, Obama’s Middle East envoy, and Gen. James Jones, Obama’s national security adviser who worked on security issues with Israelis and Palestinians in the last year of the Bush administration, an often frustrating experience.

This overlap gives the report particular significance.

Of Hamas, the target of Israel’s futile pounding of Gaza, the eminent Group of 10 writes that, “Shutting out the movement and isolating Gaza has only made it stronger and Fatah weaker.” They urge a fundamental change: “Shift the U.S. objective from ousting Hamas to modifying its behavior, offer it inducements that will enable its more moderate elements to prevail, and cease discouraging third parties from engaging with Hamas in ways that might clarify the movement’s view and test its behavior.”

Although this falls short of my own recommendation that the United States itself — rather than European allies — engage with moderate elements of Hamas, such a shift is critical. Without Hamas’s involvement, there can be no Middle East peace. Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader and president of the Palestinian Authority, is a beleaguered figure.

The report goes further: “Cease discouraging Palestinian national reconciliation and make clear that a government that agrees to a cease-fire with Israel, accepts President Mahmoud Abbas as the chief negotiator and commits to abiding by the results of a national referendum on a future peace agreement would not be boycotted or sanctioned.” In other words, stop being hung up on prior Hamas recognition of Israel and watch what it does rather than what it says. If Hamas is part of, and remains part of, a Palestinian unity government that makes a peace deal with Israel, that’s workable.

Henry Siegman, the president of the U.S./Middle East Project, whose chairman is Scowcroft and board includes all 10 signatories, told me that he met recently with Khaled Meshal, the political director of Hamas in Damascus. Meshal told him, and put in writing, that although Hamas would not recognize Israel, it would remain in a Palestinian national unity government that reached a referendum-endorsed peace settlement with Israel. De facto, rather than de jure, recognition can be a basis for a constructive relationship, as Israel knows from the mutual benefits of its shah-era dealings with Iran.

Israeli governments have negotiated a two-state solution although they included religious parties that do not recognize Palestinians’ right to statehood. “But,” Siegman said, “if moderates within Hamas are to prevail, a payoff is needed for their moderation. And until the U.S. provides one, there will be no Palestinian unity government.”

Author Alice Walker Marked Women's Day by Touring Gaza with CodePink

Photos: AP/Hatem Moussa

Associated Press, March 11, 2009 - Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker says a catastrophe has befallen the Gaza Strip and that she hopes she and others can help President Barack Obama "see what we see."

Walker, the U.S. author best known for her novel The Color Purple, toured Gaza this week, including an area destroyed in Israel's recent war on the territory's Islamic militant Hamas rulers....

Walker, 65, said in an interview Tuesday that she saw widespread devastation.

"Lots and lots and lots of houses of just ordinary people have been completely and utterly destroyed, and people are living in the rubble," she said, speaking in the garden cafe of her Gaza City hotel. "Some of them are struggling in tents, and some are just sitting in what remains of their homes."

Walker said her decision to visit Gaza, along with members of the U.S. anti-war group Code Pink, was spurred by the recent death of an older sister. She said she felt a connection to Gazans who lost loved ones in the war.

"I wanted very much to be with them and to bear witness to what is happening to them, this horrible, catastrophic, terrible thing," she said....

Walker said she believes Americans have mostly been exposed to the Israeli narrative since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948 and know little about the plight of the Palestinians. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled their homes at the time.

"We were indoctrinated to the song in that film Exodus, you know, `This land belongs to us, this land is our land,' meaning the Israelis, the Jews, and for so long, we were told that nobody lived here, that it was a land without people, for a people without land," she said.

Walker said she hopes she and others can make Obama more aware of the plight of Gaza.

"Believing that he (Obama) is a decent person, and I do believe this, our job then is to help him see what we see, and then he can decide how he will behave and it's on his soul, it's not on my soul."....

Cash Crisis Forces PA Employees in Gaza Into Poverty

Maan News, March 14, 2009 - Until recently, 70,000 Palestinian Authority (PA) civil servants were among the only people who still received a steady income in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli-led blockade has forced most industries to shut down.

However, due to an Israeli ban on cash transfers to the Strip, PA employees may soon have to start selling their belongings, as they have not been able to withdraw their salaries from banks. Two weeks into March, the civil servants still have not been paid.

Ma’an spoke to many workers who still receive their income from the PA in Ramallah, who said that the current crisis is beginning to remind of the days when due to an international boycott of the elected Hamas government, no one received their salaries.

In other words, the boycott of Hamas, which currently holds power in Gaza is also undercutting the world’s efforts to bolster the Fatah-led PA based in the West Bank....

Rebuilding Gaza: World Faces Daunting Challenges

Egypt News (reporting from Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip), March 1, 2009 - The seven foul-smelling lagoons of sewage near Gaza's coast were supposed to be replaced by a globally funded waste treatment plant. Instead, they epitomize the nightmare faced by foreign donors as they seek to rebuild the territory and open a pathway to peace.

The multimillion dollar project has been delayed by violence and a 20-month-old border closure that have made it difficult to bring supplies into Gaza. Now, after Israel's devastating military offensive, clearing the lagoons is just one part of a much bigger challenge.

On Monday, some 80 donor countries meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh will be asked to pledge at least $2.8 billion in aid to Gaza.

There's plenty of good will — Saudi Arabia has already promised $1 billion and the US $900 million — and the level of representation will be stellar, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

But for reconstruction to move forward smoothly, toward pacifying Gaza and opening new horizons for Mideast peace efforts, a series of improbable events would need to happen....

Report: US to Offer $900 million in Gaza Aid at Next Week's Donor Conference

Al Jazeera English News, February 24, 2009 - The US is set to offer more than $900m to help rebuild Gaza following Israel's military assault on the Palestinian territory, officials say.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, is to formally announce the funding at a donor conference in Egypt next week, one US official told the Reuters news agency on Monday.

The money, which would need to be approved by the US congress, is to be distributed through the UN and other bodies and not via Hamas, the Palestinian group which governs Gaza, said one of the officials, who asked to remain anonymous.

The same official said the pledge was a mix of money already earmarked for the Palestinians and some new funding.

Rob Reynolds, Al Jazeera's senior Washington correspondent, said the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, had not moved towards engaging directly with Hamas but had modified some of its language towards dealing with Palestinians in Gaza.

It was prepared to mention Palestinian suffering without directly linking it to the actions of Hamas, our correspondent said.

The US has repeatedly said it will not hold talks with Hamas unless it recognises Israel, renounces violence and recognises previous Palestinian peace agreements.

In December, the administration of George Bush, Obama's predecessor, said it would give $85m to the UN agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria....

US Congressmen Baird and Ellison: "Israel Must Change Counterproductive Gaza Policies"

The Jerusalem Post, February 21, 2009 - Banning lentils and pasta from Gaza does not help the cause of peace, two visiting congressmen told The Jerusalem Post on Friday morning, after making a rare visit to Gaza the previous day.

When have lentil bombs been going off lately? Is someone going to kill you with a piece of macaroni?" asked Rep. Brian Baird (D-Washington).

He and Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) called on Israel to end the economic isolation of Gaza and to open the crossings into the area, which have been closed since Hamas's coup there in June 2007.

Their call came two days after the cabinet agreed to link the full opening of the crossings to the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit, who has been held in Gaza since June 2006.

Ellison said he had taken the efforts to free Schalit to heart and had a copy of his dog tags in his office.

"I have met with his family and prayed for his release. But you know he is not going to get out any faster by inflicting pain and punishment on 1.5 million Palestinians [in Gaza]. It is not going to happen that way," he said.Israel's policy toward Gaza "is not designed for success or to win the release of Gilad Schalit."....

Maj. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, told the Post that lentils and pasta would be allowed into Gaza as of Sunday.

Some 100,000 tons of supplies had been allowed into Gaza since the end of Operation Cast Lead, but the list of items deemed to be essential had not included lentils and pasta, he said.

Baird told the Post already on Friday that even if the IDF changed its stance on those two items, the issue was much larger.

"Let's not get hung upon lentils and macaroni," he said...

Statement from U.S. Congressmen Baird and Ellison Following Their Visit to Gaza

Office of Congressman Brian Baird, Washington's 3rd Congressional District, press release, February 19, 2009 - Washington, D.C. – Two members of Congress, Brian Baird (D-WA-03), and Keith Ellison, (D-MN-05), visited Gaza on Thursday to view firsthand the destruction from recent Israeli air and ground attacks and to meet with international and local relief agencies. This visit, which did not have the official sanction of the Obama Administration, is the first time anyone from the U.S. government has entered Gaza in more than three years.

Prior to Gaza, both Congressmen met with the chief negotiator of the Palestinian Authority, Dr. Saeb Erekat, as well as with Dr. Riad Malki Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority. On Friday, Baird and Ellison will tour the Israeli towns of Sderot and Ashkelon, which have been the target of numerous rockets before and throughout the recent attacks launched from within the Gaza strip.

“Staff from the U.S. State Department advised us of security concerns for our own safety, and we are well aware of the sensitive political issues involved in this visit,” said both Congressmen in an official release.

“We believe it is important to be here to see what happened for ourselves, to meet with people who have been affected, and to express our concern and support,” said Congressman Baird.

“We also want to better understand what can and must be done to recover from the destruction, address the underlying issues, and work toward a lasting, just and peaceful resolution,” added Congressman Ellison.

After spending the day visiting various locations within Gaza and meeting with civilians and relief workers, Baird and Ellison were deeply affected by what they had seen and heard.

“The stories about the children affected me the most,” said Ellison. “No parent, or anyone who cares for kids, can remain unmoved by what Brian and I saw here.”

“The amount of physical destruction and the depth of human suffering here is staggering” said Baird, “Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, schools completely leveled, fundamental water, sewer, and electricity facilities hit and relief agencies heavily damaged. The personal stories of children being killed in their homes or schools, entire families wiped out, and relief workers prevented from evacuating the wounded are heart wrenching – what went on here, and what is continuing to go on, is shocking and troubling beyond words.”

Inquiring about the status of relief efforts, the Congressmen learned that some aid material has been allowed in since the intensity of the attacks lessened a month ago, but much is still being blocked by the Israeli defense forces. Examples of aid that has been banned by the Israeli Government include: lentils, macaroni, tomato paste, lentils and other food. Basic building materials, generator fuel and parts to repair damaged water treatment equipment have also been kept out.

“If this had happened in our own country, there would be national outrage and an appeal for urgent assistance. We are glad that the Obama administration acted quickly to send much needed funding for this effort but the arbitrary and unreasonable Israeli limitations on food and repair essentials is unacceptable and indefensible. People, innocent children, women and non-combatants, are going without water, food and sanitation, while the things they so desperately need are sitting in trucks at the border, being denied permission to go in” said Baird and Ellison.

The Congressmen’s concerns about treatment of Palestinians were not limited to Gaza. They also visited Palestinian hospitals that treat patients from East Jerusalem and the West Bank. There they met with doctors, nurses and hospital directors who described how official Israeli policies and restricted border checkpoints make it exceedingly difficult and expensive for patients, nurses, medical technicians, and other essential personnel to reach the hospital to receive or provide care.

“It’s hard for anyone in our country to imagine how it must feel to have a sick child who needs urgent care or is receiving chemotherapy or dialysis, then be forced to take a needlessly lengthy route, walk rather than drive, and wait in lines as long as two hours simply to get to the hospital. As a health care professional myself, I found this profoundly troubling, no, actually it’s beyond that, it is outrageous,” said Baird.

Responding to this and other issues the Congressman emphasized that fundamental changes and solutions are needed beyond the immediate challenges in Gaza.

“The first and most urgent priority must be helping the people in Gaza. At the same time, the rocket attacks against Israeli cities must stop immediately. Just as the people of Gaza should not be subject to what they have experienced the Israeli civilians should not have to live in fear of constant and indiscriminate rocketing. The entire region and the international community must recommit itself to making the difficult but necessary changes to bring about lasting and just peace and security for the region. President Obama has made important and encouraging initiatives, now it is up to leaders and citizens here to move forward toward that shared goal.”

Kerry and 2 U.S. Representatives Visit Gaza

The New York Times, February 19, 2009 - Three congressional Democrats, including Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, visited Gaza on Thursday, saying they wanted to see for themselves the destruction caused by Israel’s war last month and assess the area’s needs.

They were the first American government officials to visit this Palestinian coastal strip run by Hamas in more than three years and the first American legislators to come here since 2000, according to a spokeswoman for the American Consulate in Jerusalem.

Mr. Kerry, who is on a tour of the region, entered Gaza after seeing the remains of Palestinian rockets fired at the Israeli city of Sderot. He was accompanied in Sderot by the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, who is engaged in coalition negotiations in the wake of elections more than a week ago.

Mr. Kerry said that his visit indicated no change in American policy toward Hamas, which is labeled a terrorist group by the United States, and that he would not be meeting with Hamas leaders.

“Hamas has to change its policies,” Mr. Kerry said while visiting the ruins of the American International School in Gaza, which was destroyed by an Israeli air attack in early January. “There is no change in our policy.”

Separately, two other congressmen visited Gaza — Representative Brian Baird, Democrat of Washington, and Representative Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota. Their trip was arranged independently of Mr. Kerry’s but included similar tours of destroyed areas and meetings with United Nations officials.

Although none of the Americans saw Hamas officials, a senior Hamas leader said he was pleased by their visit.

“This is a very good step reflecting the seriousness of this administration to follow up and get information about what is happening on the ground,” said Ahmed Youssef, the deputy foreign minister in the Hamas government. “We know that we are still on the terrorist list and we know their position about not engaging with Hamas. But we are still happy that they are the ones evaluating the scale of the Israeli crimes and the destruction caused by Israel. By seeing for themselves, they can get a more balanced view than that of the previous administration.”

Mr. Kerry seemed intent on learning what Gaza needed. He spent some time talking with Sharhabeel al-Zaeem, a Gaza lawyer who is on the board of the American school, and asked him what Gaza most needed now.

Read more in the full article online

Opinion: This U.S. Aid Offer Is Disgraceful - Moon of Alabama blog

Moon of Alabama blog, January 31, 2009 -

The United States will make an emergency contribution of 20.3 million U.S. dollars for humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip, the White House announced on Friday.

Consider:

WASHINGTON, September 9, 2008 – The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Israel of GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $77 million.

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In 2007, the United States increased its military aid to Israel by over 25%, to an average of $3 billion per year for the following ten year period (starting at $2.550 billion for 2008, growing by $150 million each year)

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The Israel Air Force used a new bunker-buster missile that it received recently from the United States in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday

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Israel destroyed 41 mosques in Gaza, says ministry
According to official reports, Israel has also destroyed 35 UNRWA and governmental schools.
Israelis destroyed 25,000 homes in Gaza, Palestinians say
Estimates put Gaza damage at $1.5-2 billion.

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On the 29th January the United Nations launched an appeal for $613 million to help people affected by Israel’s three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which killed some 1,300 Palestinians, injured more than 5,300, 34 per cent of them children, and caused widespread damage and destruction

And the U.S. offers a pathetic $20 million.

Have they no shame?

60 US Lawmakers Urge Clinton to Aid Gaza, Request Israel to Allow Transport of Wounded

Middle East Online, January 30, 2009 - Sixty US lawmakers have urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to give emergency funds to the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees to help rebuild the Gaza Strip after its bombardment by Israel.

In a letter dated Tuesday, the House Democrats also said Israel should allow critically ill patients to be transported out of Gaza and into Israel, the West Bank and Jordan for treatment.

"We therefore urge you to express this concern directly to Israeli government officials," they said in the letter.

CBS 60 Minutes: Is Peace Out of Reach?

CBS News, January 25, 2009 - Has peace in the Middle East become nothing more than a pipe dream? As Bob Simon reports, a growing number of Israelis and Palestinians feel that a two-state solution is no longer possible.

Watch CBS Videos Online

CNN Reports: Why did Israel Destroy the American International School in Gaza?

The American International School in the northern part of Gaza City opened in September 2000. Its first class of 5 seniors graduated in 2004. The school's language of instruction was English and it was geared towards preparing students for admission to American universities. The diploma they received upon graduation was an American high school diploma. The library housed 10,000 volumes.

According to the school's web site, its mission was to develop the following in each student:

• The ability to think rationally, solve problems, follow principles of logic, employ various modes of inquiry, use and evaluate knowledge and develop positive attitudes toward intellectual activity
• Moral integrity and the sound judgment to evaluate events and phenomena
  
• Productive and satisfying relationships with others based on respect, trust, and cooperation
• Self-control and the willingness to accept the responsibility for one's own decisions and their consequences
• The ability to engage in constructive self-criticism, yet promote and maintain a positive self-concept
• Decision-making skills in selecting personal, life long learning goals and the means to attain them
• Physical fitness, health habits, recreational skills,and effective use of leisure time
• An appreciation of the arts for on-going enjoyment and growth
• A concern and respect for the environment and the use of natural resources
• An awareness and understanding of one's culture heritage and to become familiar with the achievements of the past that inspired and influenced humanity
• An understanding and appreciation of global interrelationships to face the opportunities and challenges of a constantly changing world
  

Were these threats to Israel's security? CNN reports:

Time to Rethink Hamas; Isolation - Robert Malley

Agence France Presse, January 25, 2009 - A week after a fragile ceasefire began in Gaza, former US diplomat turned head of the International Crisis Group's Middle East programme Robert Malley looks at the 22-day conflict's impact on the region.

Malley, who was distanced from Barack Obama's US presidential campaign for his contacts with Hamas, says that the largely Western boycott of the Islamists is a failure and discusses Obama's future role in the region.

His comments have been translated from the French.

AFP: Was there a winner and a loser in the latest war on Gaza?

Malley: Israel can say that it has delivered a harsh blow to Gaza while sustaining minor losses itself and has reestablished its power of deterrence. For Hamas, it was about showing that they could stay in place without giving way, and from this point of view it has achieved its main objective.

And Hamas seems reinforced in Arab and Palestinian public opinion, and then there's the criticism of Israel's war conduct from around the world.

AFP: Should contact be made with Hamas while it has not recognised Israel or renounced violence, as demanded by the Middle East peace Quartet of the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States?

Malley: First of all, one point: Hamas exists and has survived. It's unrealistic to think that you can defeat it with an economic blockade, that you can defeat it with more 'moderate' forces (from the Palestinian Authority of president Mahmud Abbas) or that you can defeat it militarily. These paths have failed in a crushing way....

Robert Malley directs the Middle East and North Africa Program at the International Crisis Group. He has special expertise in the Israel-Palestine conflict. As Special Assistant to President Clinton, he was a member of the U.S. peace team and helped organize the 2000 Camp David Summit.