{"id":9143,"date":"2008-04-28T09:51:32","date_gmt":"2008-04-28T07:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/2008\/04\/28\/berichten-uit-gaza-2\/"},"modified":"2008-04-28T10:59:50","modified_gmt":"2008-04-28T08:59:50","slug":"berichten-uit-gaza-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/2008\/04\/28\/berichten-uit-gaza-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Berichten uit Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

gazafebr29-14.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

Gaza gebeld, man aan de telefoon. Meestal is zijn eerste antwoord: we leven nog.
\nDit keer vroeg ik: hoe is het leven, en hij antwoordde: dit is geen leven.
\nIk ken hem, hij is geen klager.
\n
\nIedereen loopt, vertelt hij. Auto’s rijden vrijwel niet meer want er is geen benzine meer. De hoop is nog gevestigd op een nieuwe lading diesel, zodat de elektriciteit het tenminste nog even doet. Dus kinderen en studenten moeten soms kilometers lopen naar school of universiteit, of naar hun werk. Khaled heeft een poliobeen en kan dat niet. Omdat gehandicapten van de overheid nog een beetje benzine krijgt dat de overheid achterhoudt voor de ambulances en echte noodgevallen kan hij nog wel rijden, maar hij doet het het liefst niet want hij schaamt zich als hij de oude vrouwen langs de weg ziet die van vermoeidheid maar zijn gaan zitten en niet meer verder kunnen, of die smeken of ze mee mogen. Zijn zoons hebben nog mazzel, de internationale school kan nog een schoolbus laten rijden, maar veel kinderen gaan niet meer naar school.<\/p>\n

Nu is het de vraag of de UNWRA nog voldoende benzine krijgt om de voedseldistributie op gang te krijgen, want het merendeel van Gaza is afhankelijk van de voedselhulp. Een plastic fles gewone bakolie kost op dit moment zes dollar. Dat kunnen nog maar heel weinig mensen betalen. <\/p>\n

Gisteren was er opstand onder de vissers. Ook die krijgen geen benzine meer, en ze kunnen dus niet uitvaren. Die zitten dus zonder middelen van bestaan en de Gazanen zitten zonder vis, dat overigens voor gewone mensen ook al niet meer te betalen is. <\/p>\n

Er dreigen meer rampen. Het totaal verouderde rioleringssysteem dreigt het elk moment te begeven, en zonder benzine voor de pompen stroomt de rotzooi straks de straten over. Er was in 2006 al een keer een ramp toen een van die vieze opvangmeertjes waar rioleerwater in opgevangen wordt het begaf en een paar mensen in de smurrie verdronken. Zie de artikelen hieronder. <\/p>\n

Over twee weken gaan we weer, insha’Allah, als we er in komen. Ik vroeg mijn Palestijnse familie wat ik mee kan nemen. Niets, zegt Khaled. Het is principieel. Hij wil geen voorrechten als iedereen het zo slecht heeft. De kleren die ik een keer voor de kinderen had meegenomen heeft hij weggegeven. Er zijn mensen die het harder nodig hebben. Maar ik hoor Wassim, zijn jongste zoon op de achtergrond roepen: chocola! Zijn vader lacht. Okee, neem maar chocola mee voor de jongens. <\/p>\n

Dat zal ik doen.<\/p>\n

O en voor de kleine berichtjes die hier de krant niet halen: gisterochtend schoot het Israelische leger een granaat door het dak van een huis in Beit Hanoun, in het noorden, waar ze weer eens een invasie uitvoeren. De familie zat aan het ontbijt. Vier kinderen waren op slag dood, Rudina, Hana, Saleh en Mousab Abu Meatik, tussen de zes jaar en vijftien maanden oud. De moeder is in kritische conditie in het ziekenhuis opgenomen. Haaretz, vanochtend. Hier<\/a>.
\nPardon. Op het NOS radio nieuws werd het wel vermeld. Vier kinderen in \u00e9\u00e9n keer is kennelijk wel de kritische grens om er wat van te zeggen. <\/p>\n

En nog een bericht: buiten Gazastad sluiten de bakkerijen omdat ze geen gasflessen meer hebben om brood mee te bakken. Brood is het goedkoopste en meest noodzakelijke voedingsmiddel om van te leven. Rauw meel kun je niet eten. Houtvuurtjes zijn ook een zeldzaamheid, want er is in Gaza vrijwel geen hout. Huizen worden gebouwd van cement. Dat is trouwens ook op. Zie Haaretz, hier. <\/p>\n

Meer informatie hieronder.
\nEn dit is het ergste en onverdragelijkste: dit is geen natuurramp, geen tsunami, geen kwestie van een arm land dat onderontwikkeld is. Deze menselijke misere is met opzet veroorzaakt, en wij kijken toe.
\nWIJ KIJKEN TOE. <\/p>\n

These articles call attention to another crisis unfolding in Gaza, the
\nmassive amount of raw sewage that is contaminating the drinking water and
\nmaking people sick. The situation is desperately unstable – the sewage
\ntreatment facilities are old and in bad repair, and designed to serve a
\npopulation of less than 400,000 (Gaza now has 1.5 million people).
\nWhatever sewage does not get pumped into the Mediterranean (itself a
\nterrible solution) is held in large, open-air lakes by dykes that have
\nburst in the past and are liable to break again. And they leak: “sewage
\nis literally pouring into the streets,” says the head of CARE
\nInternational, quoted in the second piece below.<\/p>\n

Construction of a new plant and repair to the old is hampered by the
\noccupation, and particularly the fuel shortage – materials and contractors
\nsimply cannot get through.<\/p>\n

The first article, from the BBC, refers to the leaking sewage as a
\n’tsumami’. While this analogy highlights the severity of the problem, it
\nis deeply misleading to compare this to a natural disaster: it is a
\nhuman-made disaster. It is not a tragedy but rather a crime, the
\npredictable and culpable result of intentional policies undertaken by
\nIsrael and the international community.<\/p>\n

This is expressed quite well in a statement by the United Nations Relief
\nand Works Agency, “Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first
\nterritory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution,
\nwith the knowledge, acquiescence and – some would say – encouragement of
\nthe international community.”<\/p>\n

Judith Norman<\/p>\n

—————————-<\/p>\n

Gaza`s sewage `tsunami`
\nBy Jeremy Bowen
\nBBC Middle East editor
\nApril 22, 2008
\nhttp:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/programmes\/from_our_own_correspondent\/7354571.stm
\nFrom Occupation Magazine: http:\/\/www.kibush.co.il\/show_file.asp?num=26563<\/p>\n

A five-month-old baby lay on a blanket in the shade of a hut made of metal
\nsheets.<\/p>\n

Thin tree branches, with leaves and twigs intact, were laced around the
\nends of the hut to insulate it against the hot wind that blows into the
\nsand dunes, rolling away to the border fence and on to Israel.<\/p>\n

The baby`s mother sat with her legs tucked under her, hiding most of her
\nface behind her black head-scarf. It flapped slightly in the breeze, and
\nshe used it to wipe her tears and muffle her sobs.<\/p>\n

The woman`s name is Aziza Abu Otayek. She wept because she was remembering
\nthe death of another baby son, one morning in March last year, just after
\nthe older children had gone to school.<\/p>\n

Until that day their home was just downhill from a deep pond of sewage,
\npumped into a depression in the dunes and held there by earth walls
\nbecause the water authorities in the Gaza Strip had nowhere else to put
\nit.<\/p>\n

`Wall of human waste`<\/p>\n

On 27 March 2007, the walls gave way.<\/p>\n

Aziza heard someone shouting, telling her to run away. She got out of the
\nhut, then went back in because she had forgotten her head covering.<\/p>\n

The wall of raw human waste slammed into them. It knocked her down and
\ntore the baby from her arms.<\/p>\n

He drowned. They found his body against the wall of the mosque a hundred
\nmetres away. He was nine months old.<\/p>\n

His grandmother was also drowned.<\/p>\n

Aziza worried about her new baby until he was born at the end of last
\nyear, because when she was hit by the flood she swallowed some of the
\nsewage and she thought it might have harmed him.<\/p>\n

They named the new baby Mohammed, after his dead brother.<\/p>\n

While she talked, he gurgled happily, untroubled by the flies that buzzed
\naround his eyes and lips.<\/p>\n

Aziza has an older son, a four-year-old called Ramadan. His father said he
\nasks about his dead brother, and when he is cross he says he prefers the
\nfirst Mohammed to the second one.<\/p>\n

But Ramadan seems a cheery little soul, though he has nightmares about the
\nflood.<\/p>\n

He looks around the lakes of almost raw sewage that still lie near their
\nhome and asks his parents if another wave is going to come.<\/p>\n

One might. The pond that killed Ramadan`s brother and grandmother is not
\nthe only one near their home. The others are much bigger and full of
\nsewage.<\/p>\n

Growing population<\/p>\n

A Palestinian water engineer called Sadi Ali gave me a tour. He explained
\nthat the sewage lakes have grown so big because Gaza`s growing
\npopulation – 1.4 million, half of whom are under 16 – has overwhelmed what
\nwere anyway inadequate facilities for dealing with waste water.<\/p>\n

Even though, to his great regret, they pump tens of thousands of litres of
\nuntreated sewage into the Mediterranean every day, they have to do
\nsomething with the rest.<\/p>\n

Sadi said that the lakes are 11m (36ft) higher than the surrounding land,
\nand only the earth walls around them hold the muck in.<\/p>\n

In this single spot alone – and he said other parts of Gaza were as bad –
\nthe lakes were so big that if the dykes burst a tsunami of sewage 6m
\n(20ft) or 7m (23ft) high would swamp an area inhabited by 10,000 people.<\/p>\n

Conflict with Israel<\/p>\n

Sadi Ali worries that a stray bomb or missile could break a dyke.<\/p>\n

There is a \u00a340m ($80m) plan, funded by international donors, for a proper
\nsewage treatment system for north Gaza.<\/p>\n

Sadi Ali is trying to build it. But it is well behind schedule.<\/p>\n

The problem is the same one that dominates every part of life here – the
\nconflict with Israel.<\/p>\n

Gaza has been battered by years of fighting<\/p>\n

Restrictions imposed by the Israelis – which they say are vital to protect
\ntheir own people – have slowed down, and sometimes completely stopped the
\nimport of raw materials for construction like cement and piping.<\/p>\n

Contractors have not been able to move freely. The latest problem is the
\nlack of fuel.<\/p>\n

Try building a sewage system in a war.<\/p>\n

When we set up the television camera near the sewage lakes a little
\nbarefoot boy, barely more than a toddler, came up and asked if we were
\ngoing to attack the Israeli positions.<\/p>\n

He might have been asking if it was going to rain.<\/p>\n

For him, and several hundred thousand other Gazan children, explosions are
\npart of the soundtrack of their lives. The boy must have assumed the
\ncamera and its tripod looked like a weapon.<\/p>\n

After that we worked faster, in case the Israelis thought the same thing.<\/p>\n

From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Saturday 19 April, 2008 at
\n1130 BST on BBC Radio 4. Please check the programme schedules for World
\nService transmission times.<\/p>\n

———————-<\/p>\n

Counterpunch
\nMarch 29 \/ 30, 2008
\nhttp:\/\/www.counterpunch.com\/baroud03292008.html
\nA New Crisis in the Making
\nThe Great Lake of Gaza
\nBy SUZANNE BAROUD<\/p>\n

In a place just a few miles from sandy beaches and soaring sky-scrapers,
\nwhite stone villas and sky-blue swimming pools, it seems the epitome of
\nirony and injustice that over 1.5 million people would be subjected to
\ndrinking sewage-contaminated water. When there is such a fine line
\nbordering wealth and poverty, privilege and need, how unsettling to
\nrealize that just a stones throw away, mothers and fathers must nourish
\ntheir families with poison. As if the occupier could not find one more
\ncreative way to torment his victim.<\/p>\n

The greatest outrage is that such a reality is the decided policy of the
\nIsraeli government. It is decried by the most prominent human rights and
\nhumanitarian groups throughout the world, and yet it is increasingly
\nenhanced by Israel and shamelessly backed and justified by the US. It is
\nindisputable that the calamity of contaminated water in the Gaza Strip is
\na resolute policy of the Israeli government.<\/p>\n

The problem of sewage management in Gaza is not a new issue, and in fact
\ndates back to the direct Israeli occupation of Gaza in 1967. At that time,
\nIsrael built the sewage treatment facilities which are still in operation
\ntoday, built then to serve a population of 380,000 people, a number that
\nhas grown to 1.5 million.<\/p>\n

The depleted source of clean drinking water and the ever-growing sewage
\ncrisis in Gaza is leading to areas of overflow, the largest of them called
\n“the great lake” which occupies some 30 hectares of land and holds
\napproximately 2-3 million cubic meters of waste water.<\/p>\n

With archaic facilities to serve a group that has nearly tripled in
\nnumber, and with the lack of basic necessities such as fuel to power the
\npumps necessary to keep the facilities running, the result is the spillage
\nof toxic sewage into the ground and ground water and even directly into
\nthe sea.<\/p>\n

The United Nations publication, IRIN recently interviewed Rebhi al-Sheikh,
\nthe head of the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) in Gaza, who stated that
\nat present, 75 percent of Gaza’s drinking water is polluted.<\/p>\n

In January 2008, UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur, John Dugard
\ntravelled to Palestine and assessed the situation, one that he described
\nas “catastrophic” under Israel-imposed restrictions.<\/p>\n

I recently spoke with Dr. Suma Baroud about the range of problems and
\nhealth issues that result from the existence of run-off areas such as the
\ngreat lake. She explained, “As a medical practitioner working in the field
\nof primary health care in the Khan Younis region for the last 10 years, I
\nhave learned from my anecdotal observation that there are a myriad of
\noverwhelming problems and ailments inflicting the health of Gaza
\nresidents, especially children as a result of the ever-growing lakes of
\nsewage like that of the ‘great lake’ or the ‘Majari’ as we call it.<\/p>\n

Many children are treated in our health centers for illnesses induced by
\ninfestations of small organisms such as amoeba. These ailments progress
\nand lead to internal diseases which affect the small and large intestine
\nand hamper or impede their functions, such as abdominal colic, diarrhea
\nand constipation. Other complications include anemia, failure to thrive,
\nand mental disturbances. More, we have seen growing numbers of children
\nwho suffer from conditions such as insomnia, low self-esteem and
\nself-confidence.<\/p>\n

Add to this a big number of patients who are treated in our clinics in
\nsummer for skin infections resulting from insects bites. There is an
\noverwhelming problem with such insects which thrive in the conditions
\nunder which we suffer, with intense heat and standing sewage and water.<\/p>\n

There is tremendous pressure on the Ministry of Health due to
\nover-consumption of medications that fight these diseases and their
\nsubsequent complications.”<\/p>\n

An uncountable number of rights groups have brought the plight of Gaza to
\nthe fore in recent weeks, including the International Committee of the Red
\nCross who recently told IRIN that, “The environmental situation in Gaza is
\nbad and getting worse.”<\/p>\n

30,000-50,000 cubic metres of partially treated waste water and 20,000
\ncubic metres of raw sewage end up in rivers and the Mediterranean Sea.
\nSome 10,000-30,000 cubic metres of partially treated sewage end up in the
\nground, in some cases reaching the aquifer, polluting Gaza’s already poor
\ndrinking water supply.<\/p>\n

The International Crisis Group recently pressed Israel, Egypt, the PA and
\nthe Hamas Government to do everything possible to make necessary
\ncommodities available such as fuel, which is essential to the containing
\nof Gaza’s huge sewage problem.<\/p>\n

In an article recently published in the California based publication, the
\nCoastal Post, US Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader bashed Israel for its
\nmulti-faceted execution of institutionalized violence against the people
\nof Gaza, and called the US to account for its out-right complicity with
\nIsrael’s inhuman and illegal practices: “Israel’s siege has also caused
\nextensive loss of life in Gaza from crumbling health care facilities,
\nelectricity cut-offs, malnutrition and contaminated drinking water from
\nbroken public water systems. The victims here are mostly children and
\ncivilian adults who expire unnoticed by the West. The suffering of Gaza
\ncivilians is ignored by 98% of the US Congress, which gives billions of
\ntaxpayer dollars to Israel annually.”<\/p>\n

According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), “Gaza is
\non the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally
\nreduced to a state of abject destitution, with the knowledge, acquiescence
\nand – some would say – encouragement of the international community.”<\/p>\n

In early March of this year, a report drafted by eight British human
\nrights groups and humanitarian groups condemned Israel’s policies in a
\n“scathing” report which declared that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was
\nthe “worst since 1967”.<\/p>\n

“As we speak, sewage is literally pouring into the streets,” said Geoffrey
\nDennis, head of CARE International.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said Israel must protect its
\ncitizens, “but as the occupying power in Gaza it also has a legal duty to
\nensure that Gazans have access to food, clean water, electricity and
\nmedical care.”<\/p>\n

She added: “Punishing the entire Gazan population by denying them these
\nbasic human rights is utterly indefensible. The current situation is
\nman-made and must be reversed.”<\/p>\n

The 16-page report — sponsored by Amnesty, along with CARE International
\nUK, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Medecins du Monde UK, Oxfam, Save the Children
\nUK and Trocaire — calls on the British government to exert greater
\npressure on Israel and to reverse its policy on not negotiating with
\nGaza’s Hamas rulers.”<\/p>\n

As Amnesty’s Kate Allen pressed, the urgency of this issue cannot be
\nemphasized enough. Spillage so great that its masses are designated “the
\ngreat lake”, such abuse and mistreatment of a population regarded as
\n“protected persons” is nothing less than pure outrage. The international
\ncommunity must take action immediately to ensure the protection Gaza
\ndeserves, for as Allen declared, this abhorrent action is undeniably
\nman-made and must be reversed immediately.<\/p>\n

Suzanne Baroud is an American writer and editor of several books. She is
\nthe managing editor of PalestineChronicle.com.<\/p>\n

……………………………………………………….
\n——–
\nJewish Peace News editors:
\nJoel Beinin
\nRacheli Gai
\nRela Mazali
\nSarah Anne Minkin
\nJudith Norman
\nLincoln Shlensky
\nAlistair Welchman
\n——-
\nJewish Peace News blog: http:\/\/jewishpeacenews.blogspot.com
\n——-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gaza gebeld, man aan de telefoon. Meestal is zijn eerste antwoord: we leven nog. Dit keer vroeg ik: hoe is het leven, en hij antwoordde: dit is geen leven. Ik ken hem, hij is geen klager.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9143\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anjameulenbelt.nl\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}