08 Jan 2009
I know from personal
involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have
been avoided.
After visiting Sderot
last April, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two
sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza,
and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.
We knew that the 1.5
million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur
on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same
scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of
all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.
Palestinian leaders
from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only
way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian
plight.
After 12 days of
"combat," the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000
targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international
efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen
mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the
basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been
destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and
sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical
volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by
light from diesel-powered generators.
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