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Life for Palestinians in Gaza Improved, So Why Send Flotilla There?

(Hudson Institute-New York) Khaled Abu Toameh - Last weekend thousands of Palestinians in Gaza preferred to enjoy their time on the clean beaches, swimming, sunbathing, riding horses, sailing, smoking water pipes and barbequing. Photos of this were published by a Hamas-affiliated website in an attempt to show that the situation in Gaza under Hamas rule is not as bad as many people think. No one is saying that the situation in Gaza is very good. It was never good - not when Egypt was there, not when Israel captured it in 1967, not when the PLO assumed control in 1994 and not under Hamas today. There has always been poverty in Gaza, where more than 80% rely on handouts from UNRWA and international aid organizations. But the irony is that, in comparison with the past, the situation in Gaza these days is much better, and many Palestinians are saying they don't miss the anarchy, corruption and lawlessness that prevailed under the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority. Wouldn't it have been better if the flotilla organizers had planned a journey to the border between Turkey and Syria to help the thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled from their country in recent weeks? Those refugees cannot go to the beach or shopping malls and many of them are complaining about lack of basic foods and medicine.
2011-07-01 00:00:00
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