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Palestinian prisoners families demonstrate close to the office
of the Egyptian Embassy in Gaza, however, the demonstration ended
by storming the car of the Egyptian ambassador as protest to release
their sons who are in the Egyptian jails. In Gaza also, tens of
thousands take the streets in Labor's day and carrying banners and
posters saying:" We want to work and get paid, but we don't
want begging". The demonstrations and other labor activities
went from allover Gaza Strip and ended up by giving speeches from
political and governmental leaders in the middle of Gaza City, close
to the Palestinian Legislative Council. How Long Must This Go On? And More Importantly, Why? The Longest Occupation in Modern History Continues With Further Fatalities: Four killed in the Gaza Strip; Palestinian President condemned; Palestinian factions call for Revenge.
The Gaza Strip as three Palestinians shot dead by Israeli troops, and a fourth wounded, according to Palestinian medical sources in Gaza City. Dr. Mawia Hasaneen, emergency medical services chief at Al Shifa hospital, Gaza City, reported that the shootings occured around 8:30 am in the northwest of Gaza City, close to the separation wall. The Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, identified 21 year old Said Bassam Helles and 27 year old Abdelhalim Al Fayyumi among the dead. Al Shifa hospital reported that the third man was 24 year old Mohammed Al Fiqi. As of Saturday, the number of deaths since the 2000 intifada began is at 5,673, the unreported majority of whom are Palestinians civilians. In a separate incident in southern Gaza, Palestinian civilian and farmer Shadi Abu Daher was killed Friday night by an Israeli tank shell, according to witnesses in the area. Medical sources said that the 19 year old's body arrived at the hospital in numerous pieces, flesh scattered everywhere, his body having been hit directly by a tank shell. The mutilation of his body made it very difficult for medical workers to identify him, instead initially just collecting the fragments of flesh scattered everywhere. Hamas’ spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, accused Israel of violating a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and said the resistance group has the right to respond by 'all means available.' Yesterday, Palestinian militants entered into clashes with the Palestinian national forces, with one Palestinian national forces member killed while on duty at the border. Still other Palestinians were injured when the fighting erupted at the border. The Gaza Strip is witnessing a new series of demonstrations, as employees who have not received their salaries for many months protest and appeal to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to release their salaries. Meanwhile, the PA and Palestinian government do not have the money and haven't had sufficient funds since the economic embargo was imposed on Palestinians following the January 2006 election of Hamas. Meanwhile still, Israeli tanks remain amassed along Gazan borders, posing the threat of further imminent incursions on the citizens of Gaza. As caged-in Palestinians strive for their freedom, let alone the salaries due to them, one continues to wonder just what it will take for the international community to realize they are causing the starvation of Palestinians and hindering the prospects for peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. How long must this go on and how many must perish before it is enough?
Stench of Life: A first-hand account of the garbage crisis It stinks here... literally, hazardously. The stench here is disgusting, overwhelming, dizzying, not fit for humans or animals. It is nearly impossible to concentrate, as I write this, with the vile odor intruding into my bedroom and thoughts. In the refugee camps and villages of Palestine, the streets have disintegrated into one massive, extended, festering garbage wasteland. Rubbish lines the streets, thrown any and everywhere: in the main streets, at street corners, and dangerouly close to supermarkets and restaurants...Everywhere you go, the foul odour of rotting rubbish permeates the air---rubbish which has not been collected and taken away for more than a week now. There is no place for it, uncontained, in residential areas. Yet here the garbage lies, growing, reeking. The offensive stink leaves you wholly unable to function; it rots your life, like the rotting of the overflowing garbage containers producing the stench. The rot, the stench, the accumulation of refuse increases by day, following the start of the municipal workers' strike. One of the workers on strike related: ”Of course I’m not pleased to see the garbage thrown everywhere. The putrid smell is harming everybody. But I have financial demands, and I want to live with my family. At the end of the day, I want to go back home to my children and wife with some food, money, and soap to wash my hands.” The worker, who preferred not to mention his name, insisted that his message needs to reach all decision-makers. He, like so many other Palestinians, has not received his salary for numerous months now, largely thanks to the over one year long international economic sanctions imposed on Palestinians following the January 2006 democratic election of Hamas. When he has no money, he can of course no longer function or live. “How am I going to live? Where will I get money from? I appeal to people around the world: I’m a garbage collector, and I just want to work and lead a simple life, and live like a citizen of any other country,” he said in a tone of sad exasperation and frustration. The Larger Picture It's not only the striking municipal workers who have been adversely affected by international sanctions; other Palestinian civil servants and citizens are strangled by the internationally-imposed restrictions. Restrictions? Does that term suffice to describe the limitations inflicted on civilians? They exist in a state of crisis: they can no longer afford basic municipal services, such as water and electricity. With other public and sanitation works---services which fall under the responsibility of the municipalities--crippled, their situation worsens daily. Along with the monetary sanctions imposed on Palestinians---sanctions which include witholding Palestinian tax money taken from Palestinians themselves---the employees who would previously have been paid by municipal authorities to perform such tasks as garbage removal now live un-paid, hand-to-mouth (both empty) in the same daily struggle to survive as other Palestinians. The striking municipal workers have taken sirens from the garbage trucks and protest, sirens wailing, throughout Gaza City. They carry posters and banners inviting an immediate solution to the workers' problems. Close to the Palestinian Legislative Council, thousands of people and workers crowd with their empty rubbish carts and close off the streets in protest against what’s going on. In the protest tent, near the Alan Johnston support tent, thousands of people gathered to protest, among whom included mayors and workers from all of the different municipalities. One of the workers was Saleh Abu Sleshel. ”Everything in my home is up for sale. I sell anything that I can sell in order to afford to buy some food for my children and to live in dignity---we appeal to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to look seriously at our situation. We need to live as well,” he said. In regards to Abu Sleshel's plea, I must counter that the PA has no money; since the Hamas party was elected early last year, the situation has gotten much worse. And now, it’s getting increasingly more serious, with still no money coming in. Although the Minister of Finance, Salam Fayyad, is working hard to break the siege and convince the west to allow money to Palestinians, it doesn’t seem promising. Thus far, even after the recent formation of the national unity government, PA employees have still not received their salaries. One worker mentioned that the combined salaries for all the Gaza Strip municipality employees working in sanitation---sewage and garbage clearing---do not amount to more than two million dollars a month. Considering the number of workers, this amount seems paltry. Yet for each individual employee, the missed salary means the difference between a life with basic necessities, including food, and one without--which is their current reality. Life for us is miserable. Life is getting more wretched and deplorable by the day. All I can see is garbage. All I can smell here, inside, is the revolting stench of the garbage. It leaves everthing with the same sour taste: a taste which is aggravating, persistent, and which harasses even when you are sitting inside your own room, on your own bed. The offensive, reeking stench adds to the curse of being a Palestinian in occupied Palestine today: no money, no food, no peace, and now no breathable air. Confronting Kidnapping and Chaos: a New Palestinian National Unity Government Initiative
'They are not Palestinians, no way,' declares Abu Ihab, 33, a Gaza-Rafah taxi driver. 'I seriously doubt that those causing chaos and kidnapping foreigners are Palestinians. Whoever is committing these acts have hidden agendas-- to scare away both journalists and those who would report the truth, ' he continues. The current internal unrest is, unsurprisingly, most definately not pleasing to Palestinians. With many who oppose the kidnappings, there have been numerous protests and demonstrations calling for an end to such acts and to the turmoil. The new unity government recently launched a 100-day plan, derived from the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is oriented towards increasing security in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Drafted by Interior Minister Hani Al Qawasmeh, the security plan focuses on using strategic means to overcome regional organized crime, and includes the use of thousands of troops to ensure success. Al Qawasmeh explained to the press that the PA plan, adopted by the unity government, would specifically focus on combating incidents of kidnapping and gunfire in the Gaza Strip and will aim at reducing the illicit use of religion to justify regional violence. Many appear optimistic about the matter. Samia Handi, a 23 year old Gazan university student relayed her optimism: 'I think this plan will succeed, but only if all Palestinian security forces join in the effort to confront these problems and conflicts in both Gaza and the West Bank.' 'The plan includes the rejection of using mosques to defame others, and as well standardizes religious sermons,' stated Minister Qawasmeh. 'Weapons in the hands of the Palestinians must be under control and must not be used against the national interest,' he added in a meeting. Yet, in that same context, in Rafah two Palestinians, both from Sheikh Al Eid family, were killed by gunmen in an inter-family attack. The gunfire began with members of both families shooting at each other in the main Al Awda square in Rafah. Will this plan succeed? An unpredictable yes or no. Yes, success and a step towards calm are viable if the international community supports the Palestinian unity government and empowers the security system with a resumption of financial aid. But it will be a resounding no if the world turns its back, leaving a Palestine drawn in the mud by those with the hidden agenda of destroying Palestine and Palestinians' image around the world. Palestinian prisoners families had also different demonstrations throughout Gaza Strip and West Bank, asking international community to interfere by putting pressure on Israel to release all Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails. The demonstration protests take place close to the main International Red Cross officer. Reporters Protest, Fishermen Targeted, Gazan Poverty Spirals
“I don’t know… Why was Alan Johnston kidnapped?” a Palestinian journalist asked on Gaza’s local radio program. The broadcast was live, during a protest organized by Palestinian journalists who took to the streets in masses, marching to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’ office. While teenage-guards shot at the demonstrators, Abbas came out to tell journalists that Palestinian Authority (PA) is working hard to identify the kidnappers and will do their best to resolve the matter. He further promised to find and jail the day’s bodyguards who shot at demonstrators. The journalists continue an on-air strike on the radio, expressing their anger over Johnston’s kidnapping. “This is very embarrassing for me; I’m live on my TV station, with the world watching me, and I don’t know how to answer questions about why Johnston was kidnapped” one journalist said. He added: “This is a time when we should stand together against those unknown militants who try to portray a negative image of the Palestinian struggle by kidnapping journalists. We should all work to stop these acts which are creating bad images around the world about Palestinians.” In addition to the ongoing journalists’ demonstrations occurring in the Gaza Strip, other protests are being organized in different places. The Children’s Youth Parliament recently held one, in which they expressed their disappointment and anger, demanding the kidnappers to release BBC correspondent Alan Johnston immediately. On the one side, an Israeli war helicopter fired into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing a militant squad that was clashing with Israeli forces in one of the most serious breaches of a 4month-old cease-fire, Palestinian medical sources said in the north of Gaza Strip. In other news, two Palestinian civilians were injured today by Israeli warships along a Rafah beach. The two Palestinian bodies were brought into Rafah’s Abu Yousef Al Najjar hospital after being wounded by the constantly patrolling Israeli occupation war vessels. The victims’ names were not identified, but according to eyewitnesses the targets were fishermen and their boats near Rafah beach. In a separate incident in northern Gaza, one Palestinian gunman was killed, another wounded, and a third evidently escaped when the Israeli Occupation Forces opened fire on them close to the security wall surrounding Gaza. Poverty is ever increasing, as a vast number of PA employees have still not received their salaries, after far too many months. Hopes have all but dwindled that the new national unity government will alleviate situation by getting the West to life the embargo. This new, politically diverse government seems unable to break the boycott, yet Palestinians remain under the desperate hope of ending the sanctions one day, hoping that day will be soon. |
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