The siege on Gaza, the Arabs and the foreign countries

**Rashid Shahin

There is no doubt that the siege, which is currently imposed on the Gaza Strip is not only an Israeli siege. It is also a siege imposed by Arab countries, specifically Egypt.

Israel and Egypt are the two most visible parties that appear in the picture, but the fact is that there are many other countries involved in this inhuman siege. These include other Arab states and, of course, the European Union countries and the United States.

When I write about the siege of the Gaza Strip I immediately remember the siege, which was imposed on the Iraqi People after Saddam Hussein entered Kuwait in August 1990. The world rushed, without hesitation or reflection, to impose the worst embargo in history on the people of Iraq. The on embargo Iraq resulted in the death of more than one million Iraqis, mainly Iraqi women and children in addition to the weak and sick.

To be honest, I can say that the embargo on Iraq was enforced in a very severe manner by the so called brother countries - ''the Arab countries'' - neighboring Iraq. They were very strict in controlling their borders with Iraq, preventing anything, including medicine and foodstuffs, from entering the country.

When I compare what I have seen and experienced during the embargo on Iraq with what is going on now against the Gaza Strip, I believe that this siege is being carried out by the same so called Arab brother countries. Despite this, the number of the victims in Gaza is not comparable with the number of Iraqi victims, but there are so many reasons for this. First, the population of the Strip is not more than one million people while Iraq is home to more than 25 million individuals. Furthermore, the duration of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip is shorter- still shorter- than that of the embargo imposed on Iraq. There are other reasons, as well.

The reasons behind the Gaza and Iraq embargos are different. The Arab countries should not be involved in imposing the siege on the Gaza Strip. Particularly after the Arab League issued a decision stating that they will do their best to left the siege on the Strip. Unfortunately, but the League has done nothing to enforce this decision. For example, last week the Egyptian Embassy in Amman refused to accept a letter from activists calling for an end to the siege on Gaza and urging the Egyptian government to open Rafah Crossing

Israel decided to withdraw from Gaza three years ago in a move they called the ''Disengagement”. The intention of this “Disengagement” was never to completely end the occupation of the Strip. According to international law, the strip is still an occupied territory. This means that it is Israel’s responsibility to provide the people of Gaza with all necessities and services. The problem is that the Israeli government refuses to deal with Gaza as an occupied territory while at the same time, it refuses to deal with it as a liberated, independent territory.

Israel must decide if the Gaza Strip is an occupied area or not. If it is still under the Israeli occupation, then it is the Israel’s responsibility to pay for and supply the people of Gaza with all their needs. If not, Israel should leave the Gazans to decide what they want and give them freedom to deal with other states and to move freely into and out of the Strip. Additionally, Israel should stop putting pressure on Egypt if they decide that the Gaza Strip is a free territory.

I believe that the entire world is profoundly involved with the Israeli occupation. The world has been a partner of the Israeli occupation since 1994 when the Palestinian Authority – the PA- was established in that unfortunate year. The countries of the globe, especially western countries, began to, "support the PA with money and other donations'', or so they say. The fact is that the donations- money or any other thing- that they are giving to the PA are not donations. They are aid to Israel. These "donations", -money or anything else - should come out of the Israeli budget. When the world started to give ''donations,” or more accurately, underwrite the cost of the occupation they become -whether they like it or not- partners of the Israelis in this occupation.

It should be remembered that since the beginning of the occupation of the Palestinian lands in 1967 until 1994, Israel paid for these services- health, education, and other services in the occupied territories.

Since the establishment of the PA, nothing has changed. The Israelis still occupy Palestinian land. They are building the separation wall on Palestinian land, demolishing homes, confiscating land, building new and expanding old settlements, killing and assassinating Palestinians, launching arrest campaigns almost daily, and undertaking a myriad of other actions against Palestinians. What has happened is that instead of the money to support this coming from the Israeli treasury, the world has started paying for Israel’s occupation. This is why I contend that the world is a partner of the Israeli occupation.

The countries of the world, specifically aid-giving countries are not our partners. When the Palestinians refuse to comply with the Western conditions -even if these conditions are not fair- the aid-giving states stop paying what they describe as ''donations''. I think that they should feel ashamed of that. Before 1994, Israel used to cover the expenses for health and education and all other services, even though these services were of the lowest quality. But they used to pay "gladly,'' I could say, as they knew it was the price for their occupation of the Palestinian lands. 

** Palestinian writer and journalist based in Beit lahm