UN: Palestinians increasingly unable to get enough food

[hedgetrimmer]

~SNIP~
By The Associated Press

ROME - After three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, 40 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip don't have regular access to the food they need, and another 30 percent are at risk of losing that access, a UN report has found.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said that while food is generally available in the Palestinian territories, residents have limited access to it because of their dwindling personal finances and Israeli security measures, such as curfews, closures and the creation of a security barrier in the West Bank.

In a report dated Thursday, the agency said the food security situation in the territories had "considerably deteriorated" over the past three years, with rising unemployment and increasing poverty levels eroding the ability of the 3.5 million Palestinians in the area to buy enough food.

After violence erupted in September 2000, Israel banned most Palestinians from working in Israel, cutting off a main source of income. Also, Israel imposed roadblocks and other travel restrictions, claiming the measures were necessary to stop Palestinian attackers.


... more ...

link: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/403879.html

[number6]

1. kick

..

[number6]

2. where's the in-depth story on this

in our "press" ?? hmmm :shrug:

[_Jumper_]

12. Amazing isn't it?

The Israeli press reports this but the American press doesn't. Perhaps if the Palestinians used skin whiteners the American people would be more concerned about a problem the US is responsible for...

[Muddleoftheroad]

3. The Palestinians have no right to work in Israel

They are not citizens of Israel. I have no right to work in the EU for example, because I am not a citizen there.

If the Palestinians wish the PRIVILIGE of working in Israel, then they must act against the terrorists.

[Proudlib]

4. What About The PA?

Can't Arafat spare a few million of his personal fortune and buy food for the people he is supposed to lead?

[GabysPoppy]

5. Rumor has it

He is bidding on a Costco franchise.

[lefty_mcduff]

7. Analogy a little wonky.

Lessay I live in Ireland. And lessay I want to work in Britian. I would fill out the neccessary paperwork. I wouldn't have to act against the IRA. See, that would get me killed.

[Muddleoftheroad]

10. No analogy needed really

Non-citizens don't have a right to work in other countries. Palestinians have no right to work in Israel.

[Violet_Crumble]

19. And excluding one specific group of non-citizens is racist...

Doesn't matter if they're citizens of another country, or stateless people like the Palestinians. To exclude only one group, while giving other non-citizens the right to work is racism...

Violet...

[Muddleoftheroad]

6. It does sound like

The Palestinians need help from their rich Arab friends.

[GabysPoppy]

8. Let's keep this discussion within the realm of reality

[lefty_mcduff]

9. I completely concur.

Other Arab counties use the Palestinians as political cannon fodder and would rather see them live in squalor and desperation, so that they can wail on about how nasty Israel is.

Where we part company - I see it as another reason to feel for the Palestinians.

[_Jumper_]

14. I agree as far as rich Arab states are concerned

However, most Arab countries are not wealthy. Moreover, none of them are democracies. Blaming "the Arabs" for this is like blaming "the Jews" for Israeli atrocities.

[_Jumper_]

13. Or from the USA

The USA can give Israel everything it wants but can't spend some cash to feed people that are suffering in large part due to the US?

[Violet_Crumble]

20. It's not a matter of injecting cash...

Which is why I found that other comment about 'rich Arab friends' pretty ridiculous. Assuming that we all agreed with the argument that the responsibility for people lies first and foremost with others of the same ethnicity, which is all the 'rich Arab friends' arguments are usually about, how is the Arab states (or even the US) injecting cash supposed to feed the Palestinian people? The article was very clear on where the problems lie:

"The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said that while food is generally available in the Palestinian territories, residents have limited access to it because of their dwindling personal finances and Israeli security measures, such as curfews, closures and the creation of a security barrier in the West Bank."

If the Arab states were to deal with the problem of dwindling personal finances, it's a safe bet that Israel would probably be carrying off a lot more bank-heists on the pretext the source of the funds are from terrorist supporting states, or that the accounts they're going into belong to terrorist groups. Funding from the US would go via the latter excuse. As it is, Israel has little respect for international humanitarian projects or funding when it comes to the Palestinians. I read recently that some homes that have been bulldozed were ones built by international groups with EU funding...

Curfews, closures and the barrier. I'm not sure what the Arab states are supposed to do about these things. My guess would be there's zero they could do, even if they wanted to. The ball's in Israel's court with those ones, though the US could, if it wanted to, exert a bit of pressure in the right places that would solve those problems pronto...

Violet...

[fiend]

11. Oh, my.

Palestinians support terror, but complain about Israel's security precautions. Boo hoo.

[_Jumper_]

15. Interesting logic

Palestinians support terrorism because they support Arafat. Using your logic, Israelis support terrorism because they have elected terrorists as their leaders multiple times. So much for the argument of moral superiority, eh?:)

[Kyuss rocks]

16. I think that post is supposed to be satire.

[_Jumper_]

17. Perhaps

However, there are many people here with that viewpoint. Often they have a low post count because they have been banned for crossing the line with anti-Palestinian sentiment.

[Kyuss rocks]

18. I'm not so sure about that.

Anti-Palestinian sentiment floats pretty well here. I think fiend's mocking some of it. In fact, I'm almost certain.