But sometimes, these claims of poverty become absurd.
From Der Spiegel (part 2; part 1 here):
Samir Badr, 53, the head chef at Roots, isn't sure what to make of the Israeli recommendation. He is standing at the gas range in his kitchen, roasting eggplants. "If the Israelis knew how hard it is to get all the ingredients for beef stroganoff!" It starts with the meat, he says. The cattle come from Israel, but there is often no meat to be had, or cream, for that matter. It wouldn't survive the trip through the tunnels. Vegetables come from Gaza, but they are often contaminated, because of inadequate sewage treatment resulting from a lack of electricity. Besides, there are problems with cooking equipment, and plates, glasses and cutlery are in short supply.Ah yes, the Stroganoff. One can only hope that the customers at Roots won't suffer too much--
"The Israelis point to the few good things in Gaza, but they don't talk about the majority of people, who are not doing well," Basil Nasser, 44, one of the owners of Roots, says furiously. "Sure, there's enough to eat in Gaza, but poverty is more than that. Poverty is when the 15,000 people who graduate from the university each year have to beg for jobs as waiters, when an extended family lives in a single room and when the hospital lacks critical drugs. That's poverty."Someone should point out to the owner of Roots that the point of the aid that Israel provides on a daily basis is not to provide luxuries to Gaza. Better to hope for the day that Hamas stops the rockets and releases Gilad Shalit--who is held incommunicado, contrary to international law.
Lee Smith, author of The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations
, has responded to Nasser's complaint:There is not an Arab state where this is not true of college graduates - especially now after the financial crisis has affected the Gulf states and made it harder for Lebanese, Egyptians, Syrians, Moroccans etc to find work in the Gulf.Based on his assessment, we are being misled by the media--a serious problem that will continue for the foreseeable future.
However, this ignorance of what the Arab world looks like is a consistent problem you see in the Western press where reporters on Israeli-Palestinian issues generally have very little experience of the region outside of Israel and the West Bank and Gaza. So instead of comparing Gaza to a Cairo slum like Imbaba, or Ramallah to an Arab capital like Damascus, they are compared to Tel Aviv, West Jerusalem and Western cities.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad
Technorati Tag: Gaza.
It seems that Lee needs to be reminded that there are million human beings living on less than US$ 1.5 per day (i.e. a yearly spending of one person is less than the price of normal suit of yours). Needs to be reminded that in Gaza there is only one Israeli prisoner but in Israel there are around 10,000 Palestinian prisoners. Why should not the Gazans try to make it like Tel Aviv (The Gazans are the ones who built Tel Aviv by the Way. The siege strengthens extremism and it is apparent that Israel and Lee dreams to have all Gaza men with long beards and short Jalabias, and women with Nikab. This will not happen, because the Gazans love life, but they are seeking a descent and dignified life. They deserve it and will make it. By the way from your statement, people could believe that Israel is donating humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and this is funny, because Israel hardly approves the entry of humanitarian supports donated by others. Finally, if a state for the Palestinian is established, it would be like a buffer security zone for Israel, and even the little, fake, and ineffective so called rockets will stop, but there is no many Israelis look a the situation 10 years from now unfortunately or fortunately, I am not sure. Basil (Roots shareholder)
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Lee needs to be reminded that there are million human beings living on less than US$ 1.5 per day (i.e. a yearly spending of one person is less than the price of normal suit of yours).
ReplyDeleteSince there are 1.5 million Gazans, such a statement is obviously not true--but feel free to back up your statement with a source.
Needs to be reminded that in Gaza there is only one Israeli prisoner but in Israel there are around 10,000 Palestinian prisoners.
And how many women and children have these terrorists killed--worse, how many of these murderers have been released from those prisons due to pressure from countries with as poor a grasp of the facts as you have?
Why should not the Gazans try to make it like Tel Aviv (The Gazans are the ones who built Tel Aviv by the Way.)
Really. Then you obviously do not know your history--well maybe yours, but not the actual history of Tel Aviv, or of Israel. Arabs put now more work into Tel Aviv than into the rest of the desolate area surrounding it back when Jews came at the turn of the 20th century to join Jews who had been living in the country even after the Roman expulsion.
The siege strengthens extremism
Really? Read this post and see what your fellow Gazans actually think.
and it is apparent that Israel and Lee dreams to have all Gaza men with long beards and short Jalabias, and women with Nikab.
Can't comment on this--it makes no sense.
This will not happen, because the Gazans love life, but they are seeking a descent and dignified life.
I assume you are not including those Gazans who fire thousands of rockets at civilian--and not military--areas in Israel.
They deserve it and will make it.
Let's hope so--but it won't happen under Hamas, which your fellow Gazans are slowly realizing.
By the way from your statement, people could believe that Israel is donating humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and this is funny, because Israel hardly approves the entry of humanitarian supports donated by others.
The hundreds of trucks of aid that enter Gaza each day (not including from the flotilla, which Hamas refuses to let in) prove something very different.
Finally, if a state for the Palestinian is established, it would be like a buffer security zone for Israel,
Not likely.
and even the little, fake, and ineffective so called rockets will stop
The only reason why Israel has withstood the rockets is that they spend money on bunkers--while Hamas does not care about Gazans and spends it on more weapons. The only bunkers it builds are military ones, which it builds in the middle of civilian areas.
Basil (Roots shareholder)
So how is your fancy restaurant doing in Gaza, where you claim that 2/3's of the people live on $1.50 a day?