Wednesday 20 April 2011

kia ora gaza

yesterday i attended a kia ora gaza meeting in hamilton. there weren't a large group of people there, but we had two of the activists who were on the international convoy that broke the gaza seige last year come down from auckland. they took us through their experience via photographs, and it was quite moving.

the stories are particularly sad, as were the pictures of the devastation that is gaza. after the complete destruction of infrastructure a couple of years ago, as a result of israeli bombing a couple of years ago, the place still looks like a war zone. cement is not allowed into gaza, so the rebuilding is near to impossible. neither are any machine parts, so that machines which break down remain broken. the sole power station has not been repaired, and people can only get power from generators. fuel is extremely scarce & is generally brought in through tunnels, so it's difficult to even power those generators.

the infrastructure relating to water treatment & sewerage was destroyed and many of the drains remain blocked. sewerage is therefore going into the beaches without being treated and the beaches are not safe for swimming. what was a reasonable tourist industry centred on the beaches has been destroyed, along with many of the hotels. there is a 3km fishing limit for gaza citizens, and because of the water pollution, this means that there aren't so many fish to be had. the fish they have are pretty small in size.

the complicity of the egyptian regime in this siege is appalling, especially given the fact that the vast majority of egyptian citizens don't support. things have not improved with the fall of mr mubark, as the army continues to be extremely harsh in maintaing barriers. when trucks full of cement tried to cross the border after the fall of the regime, they were unable to get through.

the mosques were directly targetted and destroyed. living conditions in this, the most overcrowded piece of land in the world, are just heartbreaking. and yet these people continue on with an extraodinary resilience.

the convoy last year was restricted pretty much to medical supplies & equipment, as well as ambulances. things like clothing and blankets weren't allowed to go through.

what was really heartening was the positive response the convoy got as it travelled through europe. what would really be heartening though, is more international pressure from governments across the world, to achieve a resolution to this conflict. i was thinking back recently to the 3 areas of conflict that i used to feel so strongly about when i was a teenager: the situation in northern ireland, the apartheid regime of south africa, and the occupation of palestine. that 2 of these conflicts have been resolved shows that this third one can be as well. if there is enough popular pressure to force governments to act.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice article

Anonymous said...

I was looking for a KIA rig that I had liked when running into your blog. I like mine better, My blog, or blogs. They support the bible. The word of G-d states that Israel be where she is, according to G-d. This G-d of Israel is an actual Living, "chosen king." G-d chose this. He is known by himself to be Messiah Joshua/Yehoshua, that's Hebrew, from Israel. He also calls himself David, it is written, and he speaks it out of his own mouth. He does not say that I am allah, or Buddha ect. He says I am the G-d of Israel. G-d says this of himself. One can know him through Messiah, and the new and old testaments. They originated in Israel, from Torah. The bible of the Hebrews, Israel. G-d has another name that he calls himself, Israel. One can know him through water and spirit baptism at a church, or lake, whever, swimming pool, in his name. His true name is Joshua/Yehoshua. Christians know him as Jesus, but that is his fabled, and famed name. That is the one that the west chose for him, stemmed from the greek Iesous/Jesus. One can learn these things by digging deeper into the word of G-d, and the name and origins on the name of Messiah. He is heir to the throne of King David, and he is risen in heaven, but will come again as it is written to retake mt Zion, and build the third temple, according to the prophet Daniel. According to the word of prophecy in Daniel 8:14, this will be in 2370A.D.. The temple will be standing in 2370A.D.. YAH in Hebrew means G-d, YAH Bless, and Shalom to you.

stargazer said...

anon 2, you're perfectly entitled to your own beliefs. you certainly aren't entitled to force other people to give up their land because of them. what you believe to be the word of God is not shared by most others, but they are being made to suffer because of them.

anon 1, a belated thanx.