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Gaza: Flattened, occupied, sick and rootless

Whilst Israel continues to virtually imprison 1.5 million people in Gaza - having bombed them extensively during the recent Gaza war - it is hard to come by what is actually happening there. The Israelis have also effectively blocked journalists and others - yes, including aid workers - from entering Gaza.

Therefore crikey is to be commended for publishing a very up to date report from Gaza. It makes for sobering reading:

"The Gaza Strip, under siege for over three years by Israel and the Western powers, is utterly unlike anywhere I’ve ever visited. Over 70% unemployment, garbage strewn across many streets and in abandoned buildings, a thriving tunnel business from Egypt that brings in the essentials of life and Hamas gunmen on most street corners directing traffic and keeping cool in the searing heat.

The main image in the West of Gaza is of a fundamentalist Islamic regime bent on Israel’s destruction. Although there are worrying signs of an increasing intolerance of difference  — witness the news that sharia law and a kind of Muslim code of conduct may soon be implemented here — Hamas is a broad church. The reality on the ground is removed from virtually everything I read before crossing the border."

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