Sunday, June 06, 2010

Humanitarian Imports to Gaza

Here are just a few charts detailing the list and volume of merchandise going into Gaza from just the Israeli crossings.

It does not include what is coming in through Egyptian crossings, and it does not include what is coming in through the tunnels (such as the luxury cars and missiles).

It certainly doesn't include what they produce themselves with their own industries, fishing boats, farms and livestock.

It also doesn't include the water or electricity we still provide.

These charts also don't list the fuel transfers of:
90,455,678 liters of Heavy-Duty Desel for the power station and 33,854 Tons of cooking gas in 2009.
28,772,620 liters of Heavy-Duty Desel for the power station and 15,757 Tons of cooking gas in 2010 (to June 3).

2009 Imports into Gaza

2010 Imports in Gaza (up to June 3)

And here are some pictures from a Gaza market...
(Notice the smiling shopkeepers and plentiful shoppers)
And a Gaza beach...
Burqua Babes on the beach

(The Burqua Babes don't look to happy, but I wouldn't either if forced to wear a Burqua on the beach).


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10 comments:

Yonatan said...

But, but, but - they don't all have fully funded 401k plans!

Commenter Abbi said...

What's the obsession with the fact that they can't get coriander and aniseed? I've seen that on a few leftist sites.

Anonymous said...

They can get it through the tunnels I'm sure. Perhaps they haven't asked for it from their various UN reps. Maybe they're just plain out lying.
(Like when they said that PALS aren't allowed to fly kites in Gaza).

Vox Populi said...

I don't understand what this proves, other than lots of trucks go into Gaza with humanitarian aid. It doesn't address the point of whether enough aid goes into Gaza. I have no idea how much aid needs to go into Gaza to stave off a humanitarian crisis, please post that as well.

Judging the depth of a humanitarian crisis by the number of smiling people in non-randomly selected pictures seems highly unscientific at best.

Here, however, is what I've heard:

In 2006, Israel carried out an attack on Gaza's only power station, and have not allowed it to be rebuilt to its full operational capacity. The majority of houses are without power for at least 8 hours a day, and some without for 12 hours. (Acc. to UN OCHA.)

Acc. to Amnesty International, 90-95% of drinking water in Gaza is contaminated and unfit for consumption.

Gaza's health sector has suffered numerous setbacks from Cast Lead, which damaged 15 of 27 hospitals, 43 of 110 primary care facilities and 29 of 148 ambulances. Since construction materials are not allowed in, the vast majority of this health care infrastructure has not been rebuilt. 1103 individuals applied for permits to use the Erez crossing for medical treatments n Israel in 2009, and 21% of those permits were delayed or denied, resulting in missed hospital appointments. Apparently, several people have died waiting to leave Gaza for treatment.

The WHO says that chronic malnutrition has now reached 10.2% in the Strip. Acc. to the UN OCHA, over 60% of households are food insecure.

A refutation of these facts would really put my mind at ease.

Vox Populi said...

I got those facts from this FP article:

http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/06/03/what_exactly_is_the_blockade_of_gaza

To make an additional point, I think all this justification of the Gaza blockade that rests on the assumption that people are not literally starving to death in Gaza really misses the point. Much of world opprobrium on this point seems to be that the people of Gaza are suffering pointlessly.

There is a general feeling that the purpose of the blockade is not just to prevent Hamas from importing weapons or the materials for its war-machine, but also to punish the civilian population (45% of whom are under the age of 15) for the rocket attacks, the abduction of Gilad Shalit and voting for Hamas in 2005.

Most people in the West think a blockade for such purposes is illegitimate. There's no need to deny the entry of fruits, vegetables, etc. even if you can prove to me that no one in Gaza will starve if these tomatoes are not allowed past the checkpoint. Drastically reducing the quality of life of 1.5 million people because you want the release of 1 person, or for the purpose of punishment is inhumane, if the vast majority of them had nothing to do with the events in question.

Right now, the two sides of the debate are talking past each other. One side is arguing that the blockade is causing people in Gaza to suffer without any valid military purpose, while you are arguing that x amount of trucks go into Gaza, and people are not dying of starvation - you're talking past each other. The debate would be more informative if you would address each other's points.

Bruce Krulwich said...

Can you post citations to original sources for the material you post? It's a much stronger statement to the public to post original sources than to post a pro-Israel blog, and I'm sure you want everyone to re-post this in as effective a manner as possible.

Shira said...

The real stats on humanitarian aid I want to see are a detailed listing of what was sent in this flotilla - the useful items on one column, and the junk and weaponry on the other.

(There were many, many useful items, and the Right wing blogs are downplaying that. Which makes the claims like "unidentified cough syrup" look like thrashing at windmills. But there's enough data to show the full shipment as a net attack rather than net aid.)

And while they're at it, the never-been-arrested peaceful protesters in one column, and the those with a militant-muslim-supporting past in the other.

JoeSettler said...

Shira, I have it somewhere, but don't have the time to prepare and upload it right now. Most was junk dumped into the hold.

Dov, it's from the COGAT's office. I'll ask Jameel to post it when he gets back from Milluim.

Holy Hyrax said...

>Most people in the West think a blockade for such purposes is illegitimate.

And their opinion is dully noted. Thank you. For now, Israel has to deal with a government (along with many of its citizens) that will not accept Israel and actively wars with it. In all wars civilians suffer.

>Drastically reducing the quality of life of 1.5 million people because you want the release of 1 person, or for the purpose of punishment is inhumane, if the vast majority of them had nothing to do with the events in question.

Checkpoints were their LONG before Shalit was taken and Israel needs it to allow good Palestinians in and the bad out. It can't have open borders that are unchecked. Its just common sense.

Vox Populi said...

>For now, Israel has to deal with a government (along with many of its citizens) that will not accept Israel and actively wars with it. In all wars civilians suffer.

Yes, but that's the point. Just because in all wars civilians suffer, doesn't mean that military powers have carte blanche to make civilians suffer pointlessly. If Israel wants to place an arms embargo on Hamas, why is it necessary to limit how much the Gazans eat, or how much electricity or water they get? Just search every incoming shipment for weapons.

>Checkpoints were their LONG before Shalit was taken and Israel needs it to allow good Palestinians in and the bad out. It can't have open borders that are unchecked. Its just common sense.

I didn't say get rid of the checkpoints or have an open border. I'm suggesting that you loosen the embargo to let in as much non-weapons goods as time allows.

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