It was a very hot weekend for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. That is why thousands of them preferred to enjoy their time on the clean beaches, swimming, sunbathing, riding horses, sailing, smoking water pipes and barbequing.And you know that Hamas will take credit for that.
These photos were provided not by a Jewish photographer or some naïve Western reporter who happened to be in the Gaza Strip last week.
The photos were actually published by a Hamas-affiliated website in an attempt to show that the situation in the Gaza Strip under Hamas's rule is not as bad as many people think.
No one is saying that the situation in the Gaza Strip is very good. It was never good – not when Egypt was there, not when Israel captured it in 1967, not when the PLO assumed control over the area in 1994 and not under Hamas today.
There has always been poverty in the Gaza Strip, where more than 80 percent of the people rely on handouts from UNRWA and dozens of international aid organizations.
But the irony is that, in comparison with the past, the situation in the Gaza Strip these days is much better.
Here are some of the pictures Toameh is writing about:
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And there is a source indicating thing are improving in Gaza--among Gazans:
If pro-Palestinian activists unexpectedly manage to slip past Israel's naval blockade on the Gaza Strip in the coming days, they might be surprised by what they see in the Hamas-controlled enclave when they disembark.
Roads are being paved, houses are being built, new cars have taken to the busy streets and shops are full of myriad products. Even the longtime scourge of unemployment is easing marginally, boosting living standards for a lucky few.
"I have been without work since 2007. Now I can pick and choose," said construction worker Karem Hassoun. "Life has finally smiled on me and my seven children."
...The Hamas economy minister, Ala al-Rafati, estimates that up to 14,000 workers had returned to their jobs in the construction sector in recent months, and up to 1,000 factories, most of them small-scale family firms, had resumed operation.
Rafati thought the unemployment rate had fallen to around 25 percent, while the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) put the figure at 45.2 percent.
There are, of course, Gazans who are not impressed with the improvement, and hold Israel responsible--to which I can only say: start taking responsible for what is going on in Gaza, stop firing rockets at Israeli citizens.
Let's face the facts.
The blockade is in response to the government Gazans knowingly elected.
Hat tip: NB
Technorati Tag: Israel and Gaza and Hamas.
I find it strange that Israel and the US stand for democracy and freedom of the people then refuse to accept the Palestinians democractly elected leaders.
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence!
ReplyDeleteI find it strange that you would write about "Palestinian democratically elected leaders" when all of their terms have expired, yet there have still not been any reelections.
If these leaders were democratically re-elected leaders, you would have a point.
But they aren't.
And you don't.
Regardless of whether they have not held another election, when they WERE elected, it was done so democratically, and neither the US or Israel accepted them then. So the point still stands. Regardless of whether they are no longer legitimate, when they were Israel and the US would have none of it. But then the US rarely cares much for democratic goverments. It is always too busy putting dictators into power (often by overthrowing democratically elected leaders) and propping them up.
ReplyDeleteYou are merely repeating the same old stuff over and over--the exception this time being that the point itself is no longer relevant.
ReplyDeleteBut then the US rarely cares much for democratic goverments. It is always too busy putting dictators into power (often by overthrowing democratically elected leaders) and propping them up.
This might be relevant if you could actually cite a recent example of this, but again, you are resorting to old news.