What They're Up Against

The generally left-leaning Ha'aretz newspaper (the same one that Amira Hass works for), published this today:

In the war of versions between us and them - regarding the truth about the situation in the Gaza Strip - the balance is tipped this time in favor of the Israeli version. It is simply more reasonable and logical, so it should be adopted unless proven otherwise.

After all, Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular are by nature experts at displays of suffering; the only thing they do all their lives is demonstrate their distress. This time, in the past week, they outdid themselves. The production was truly perfect and succeeded in deceiving the entire world: the way they turned out the lights at one precise moment and sent the children to cry bitterly in front of the cameras, the way they organized long lines for bread and water - miraculous timing and orchestration.

Yossi Sarid actually claims that the suffering induced among Palestinians by the Israeli blockade in Gaza is a charade? It is not only an insult that someone could think such a thing, but even more that it was printed in a respectable Israeli publication.

The military forces are refusing to permit anything -- anything! -- from getting in. This includes fuel of all sorts -- the kind that keeps hospital generators running, the kind allows ambulances to ambulate, the kind that keeps electricity in schools running, and the kind that heats homes. (FYI, it gets down into the 40s, and sometimes colder, at night in Gaza). It also includes bread (and its ingredients), oil, eggs, milk, medical supplies, and all other basic necessities for survival. The UN has already said that without the humanitarian supplies stopped at the border, they cannot continue to support the nearly 1.4 million Gazans that rely on them for food aid. The UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) will run out of plastic bags (for rations) and fuel today, as it has been sharing their supply with hospitals. and the World Food Programme said that its supplies will run out by the end of the week. The medical consequences are staggering: many patients, including premature babies, are completely reliant on machines run by electricity to preserve their lives; but electricity has been cut, and generator fuel is almost gone.

The Egyptians recognized the humanitarian crisis, allowing tens of thousands of Palestinians to cross freely through its border with Gaza, blown open with explosives, to obtain necessities. And they said the border won't close until the Palestinians have completed their emergency shopping, despite Israeli pressure on Cairo to close the border.

It is difficult to imagine all of this being staged. Rather, what is "logical," is that a humanitarian crisis -- complete with crying children and long lines for bread -- will result when a blockade is imposed, preventing any and all goods from crossing into a territory that cannot possibly sustain itself.