Powerful Picture - the reality behind Palestinians' living conditions
ORIGINAL PHOTO: unknown newswire, found on the flickr of /ishmais, a young Paletsinian living in Khan Younis Refugee Camp, Israeli-Occupied Gaza Strip.
The picture almost brought tears to my eyes…
I saw the picture on anomalous’ flickr page, who altered the original image found here. The description under the photo went on to say:
“In Israeli-Occupied Palestine there is a human catastrophe underway. The level of malnutrition in Gaza is the same as that of the poorest sub-Saharan Countries. Let me quote some figures: 22% of children under five years old suffer malnutrition and 15.6% of them suffer from anemia, which for many of them will cause permanent physical and mental damage. The majority of families eat once a day and often only some tea and bread. Today the number of poor has tripled since 2000. 60% of the Palestinians – 75% in Gaza, 50% in the West Bank – live under a regimen of extreme poverty; the per capita income has halved in terms of two years ago; the survival of more than half of the Palestinian population depends exclusively on humanitarian aid. And it often happens that the aid cannot be distributed by the OGN because the delivery trucks are blocked by the Israeli army, tons of food supplies remain stationary for days until the food becomes unusable. It is because of the conflict in progress that these conditions prevail, certainly, but underneath there is a political design. By international legislation Israel, in that it is an occupying power, has the obligation to ensure the survival of the population. Instead the continuous closures, the curfew, the military incursions do not allow the people to receive the necessary sustenance. The hindrance of movement is not only a limitation of freedom, but the effective privation of the right to be nourished and the right to health. Because of the occupation of the Territories the Palestinian people are at starvation point.”
--UN Special rapporteur on the right to food Jean Ziegler
The picture almost brought tears to my eyes…
I saw the picture on anomalous’ flickr page, who altered the original image found here. The description under the photo went on to say:
“In Israeli-Occupied Palestine there is a human catastrophe underway. The level of malnutrition in Gaza is the same as that of the poorest sub-Saharan Countries. Let me quote some figures: 22% of children under five years old suffer malnutrition and 15.6% of them suffer from anemia, which for many of them will cause permanent physical and mental damage. The majority of families eat once a day and often only some tea and bread. Today the number of poor has tripled since 2000. 60% of the Palestinians – 75% in Gaza, 50% in the West Bank – live under a regimen of extreme poverty; the per capita income has halved in terms of two years ago; the survival of more than half of the Palestinian population depends exclusively on humanitarian aid. And it often happens that the aid cannot be distributed by the OGN because the delivery trucks are blocked by the Israeli army, tons of food supplies remain stationary for days until the food becomes unusable. It is because of the conflict in progress that these conditions prevail, certainly, but underneath there is a political design. By international legislation Israel, in that it is an occupying power, has the obligation to ensure the survival of the population. Instead the continuous closures, the curfew, the military incursions do not allow the people to receive the necessary sustenance. The hindrance of movement is not only a limitation of freedom, but the effective privation of the right to be nourished and the right to health. Because of the occupation of the Territories the Palestinian people are at starvation point.”
--UN Special rapporteur on the right to food Jean Ziegler
Technorati Tags: , Palestine, Palestinians, Children, UN, United Nations, Hunger, Poverty, Israel, Terrorism
posted by x @ 5:44 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
At 2/19/2006 6:49 PM,
Anonymous said…
OMAAAAR!! why'd u have to go post that pic? its so sad! :(
At 2/20/2006 2:46 AM,
Anonymous said…
I am so sick of Israel and its propaganda machine. If I hear another comment about "those poor Israelis," I am going to shout at someone.
Shukh 'alayhum kulhum
At 2/20/2006 7:09 AM,
Anonymous said…
My heart is saddened by pictures of children that are starving. The picture of the child in the rufugee camp should be a call for peace and understanding. I agree with Nadim Pasha on Israel's take on this. They have no business occupying Palestine. The picture is hard to take, but is reality that people need to see. I am lost for words it hurts to see this happening. Nobody wins here.
At 2/20/2006 5:02 PM,
Anonymous said…
u know what makes me mad? the DHS came into our Toledo-based charity organization and shut them down and froze their assets....they think they are supporting Hamas....whats even more upsetting is that they came and incestigated them after 9-11, but cleared them of all accounts. just because Hamas won the elections recently, they now want to come and say that they support terrorism....it makes me so mad. my friend now lost her job. i worked there for a while, and volunteered during Ramadan, and they did so much for the refugees in the caps over there...almost $6 million in aid for food and medicine per year.
At 2/20/2006 9:39 PM,
x said…
Nadim, I hear ya..
Chet, the worst thing about seeing such pictures is feeling powerless. Frankly, I don't seeany improvement in Palestinians' situation anytime soon. Jinan's comment is a prefect example of my cynicism.
Jinan, you read between the lines. Your anecdote comes as great proof how innocent Palestinians, such as the child shown in the picture, are suffering from democratically electing Hamas. Is this the price of democracy? 50 million dollars/month are now being withheld from Palestinian authority, an authority was democratically elected... go figure!
At 2/24/2006 11:19 AM,
Anonymous said…
Not only that, but they also are trying to make sure that NO aid is sent to Palestine...from the US or anywhere else. As you said, they are punishing the Palestinians for democratically electing Hamas...and now the people will suffer because of it.
Another problem has risen in my community....3 men were detained on the charges that they were planning on attacking US troops in Iraq and one threatened to kill the President...it just never seems to end!
At 2/26/2006 3:58 PM,
Anonymous said…
Omar I agree with you. I don't see anything getting better soon. I am very disappointed in my government. They praised the elections but refused to accept the outcome. When will all this madness stop?
At 3/02/2006 9:08 PM,
Louise said…
Excerpt from Mansour Ijaz, debating "Can Islam Reform Itself?"
"In 1996, I went to Israel to open private channels between Shimon Peres and the Pakistanis at the invitation of Shlomo "Chich" Lahat. Chich, who was a wonderful host, took me to the Holocaust Memorial at Yad Vashem--I could not imagine that magnitude of human cruelty until I saw it with my own eyes.
At the end of our visit, we were overlooking the West Bank with its pristine Israeli settlements,and there in the bottom of a bowl-shaped valley, he pointed to a Palestinian slum and said "our biggest mistake as Jews was not raising them [the disaffected Palestinians] up alongside us as Israel grew in wealth and power."
An extraordinary admission from an honest man--not a Jew, not a Palestinian sympathizer, but an honest man. To which I responded, "Chich, that was not the biggest mistake. The biggest mistake was and remains to this day, ours--that Muslims in Saudi Arabia and other oil-wealthy nations spend in a month at hotels and nightclubs throughout Europe more money than the Palestinians need in a year for food, clothing and the education of a thousand children."
Why is that, Omar? Why is introspection so difficult for Arabs?
At 3/02/2006 11:02 PM,
x said…
There are certainly moderate poeple on both sides of the table, there's no doubt in my mind. None of the Arabs I talk to compliment the Saudies in any way. I saddens me more to hear about Arabs not helping themselves than anything else. There's lots of ctitism pointed towards the Gulf countries coming from the Arab world.
But allow to say that this observation is irrelevant to this post. What I'm talking about here is money that belongs to Palestinians that's not given to them, all because they voted for Hamas!
Talk about double standards!
At 3/02/2006 11:59 PM,
Louise said…
Omar, why are there still starving Palestinian children? Why did Arafat have $300 million in a Swiss Bank account while his people are among the most underdeveloped group on the face of the planet? I'm not talking about the Saudi's only, my dear. The little boy in the picture is very useful for Arab dictators and potentates as a propaganda tool, and that, and that alone, is why he is starving.
Most people on the planet who have suffered injustice eventually cut their loses and get on with it. The Palestinians haven't. They remain fixated on a lost cause, consumed by hatred, unable to move forward.
The little boy is not Israel's latest victim. He is a pawn in the tired, old game played by Arab dictators and you too, my dear, have not only fallen for their propaganda but by posting his picture here, you have unwittingly become part of the problem.
Post a Comment
<< Home