Gaza has pretty much slipped from the media's reporting radar, but some updates are relevant and important...
First, the UN Secretary General speaks:
"A week of harsh criticism of Israel by Ban Ki-moon culminated at the United Nations Thursday, with Ban launching a fusillade at Tel Aviv, recounting the destruction he saw during his week-long trip to the Middle East.
"I travelled to Gaza two days ago to survey the needs for myself," Ban said. "I saw whole communities destroyed, and an economy in ruins. I met with the parents of some of the more than 500 children killed in the fighting. I heard heartbreaking accounts of epic loss. So many people are homeless with winter approaching," Ban said.
"I fully understand the security threat from rockets above and tunnels below," Ban added, referring to the tunnels used by Hamas to attack Israel. "At the same time, the scale of the destruction in Gaza has left deep questions about proportionality."
The New York Times Editorial Board weighed in on Gaza:
"The recent 50-day war in Gaza killed over 2,000 Palestinians and 73 Israelis, and it destroyed or damaged more than 60,000 homes, 5,000 businesses, and essential public necessities like roads and power plants. Thousands of Gazans are now living in untenable conditions and desperately need help.
Still, as Secretary of State John Kerry and other officials convene in Cairo on Sunday for an international conference of prospective donors to discuss the reconstruction challenge, one question arises over and over: What is the point of raising and spending many millions of dollars (the Palestinians say $4 billion is required) to rebuild the Gaza Strip just so it can be destroyed in the next war? It’s a harsh question. Given the region’s tragic history, it is also inevitable."
And finally this from Alternet:
"The Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip has brought with it a depressingly familiar ritual: The Israeli military destroys large swaths of the ghettoized coastal enclave, leaving tens of thousands homeless, a trail of carnage and piles of rubble. Then, Western and Arab diplomats rush to some Middle Eastern capitol to play janitor to the Jewish state, pledging billions in aid to clean up Israel’s mess. And like clockwork, Israel destroys everything all over again just a year or two later, bombarding Gaza with unprecedented ferocity.
When Israel’s international janitorial crew gathered this week in Cairo with a pledge to raise $5 billion to help rebuild the $8 billion in damage Israel caused to Gaza’s civilian population, it was assured by Israeli Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz that its efforts were utterly futile. "The Gazans must decide what they want to be Singapore or Darfur,” Katz remarked, leveling the threat of genocide against the fantasy of economic prosperity. "They can pick between economic recovery and war and destruction. If they choose terror, the world should not waste its money. If one missile will be fired, everything will go down the drain."
First, the UN Secretary General speaks:
"A week of harsh criticism of Israel by Ban Ki-moon culminated at the United Nations Thursday, with Ban launching a fusillade at Tel Aviv, recounting the destruction he saw during his week-long trip to the Middle East.
"I travelled to Gaza two days ago to survey the needs for myself," Ban said. "I saw whole communities destroyed, and an economy in ruins. I met with the parents of some of the more than 500 children killed in the fighting. I heard heartbreaking accounts of epic loss. So many people are homeless with winter approaching," Ban said.
"I fully understand the security threat from rockets above and tunnels below," Ban added, referring to the tunnels used by Hamas to attack Israel. "At the same time, the scale of the destruction in Gaza has left deep questions about proportionality."
The New York Times Editorial Board weighed in on Gaza:
"The recent 50-day war in Gaza killed over 2,000 Palestinians and 73 Israelis, and it destroyed or damaged more than 60,000 homes, 5,000 businesses, and essential public necessities like roads and power plants. Thousands of Gazans are now living in untenable conditions and desperately need help.
Still, as Secretary of State John Kerry and other officials convene in Cairo on Sunday for an international conference of prospective donors to discuss the reconstruction challenge, one question arises over and over: What is the point of raising and spending many millions of dollars (the Palestinians say $4 billion is required) to rebuild the Gaza Strip just so it can be destroyed in the next war? It’s a harsh question. Given the region’s tragic history, it is also inevitable."
And finally this from Alternet:
"The Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip has brought with it a depressingly familiar ritual: The Israeli military destroys large swaths of the ghettoized coastal enclave, leaving tens of thousands homeless, a trail of carnage and piles of rubble. Then, Western and Arab diplomats rush to some Middle Eastern capitol to play janitor to the Jewish state, pledging billions in aid to clean up Israel’s mess. And like clockwork, Israel destroys everything all over again just a year or two later, bombarding Gaza with unprecedented ferocity.
When Israel’s international janitorial crew gathered this week in Cairo with a pledge to raise $5 billion to help rebuild the $8 billion in damage Israel caused to Gaza’s civilian population, it was assured by Israeli Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz that its efforts were utterly futile. "The Gazans must decide what they want to be Singapore or Darfur,” Katz remarked, leveling the threat of genocide against the fantasy of economic prosperity. "They can pick between economic recovery and war and destruction. If they choose terror, the world should not waste its money. If one missile will be fired, everything will go down the drain."
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