Behind the Blockade

I am quite busy at work, so I thought you should see what life is like behind the blockade in Gaza. There is a reason people are trying so hard to break the blockade.

According to the World Health Organization: (emphasis mine)

72% of the children and 42% of pregnant women suffer from anemia while 30% of children under 5 suffer from stunted growth which is most likely attributed to malnutrition. Over 80% of the population are reported to be food insecure (cannot afford a balanced meal) compared to 63% in 2006. Out of 9000 commodities (including food items) that were entering Gaza over two years ago, only 20 are ‘permitted’ today further exasperating an already catastrophic situation. 50 trucks a day are now allowed to enter Gaza compared to 200/300 per day. Malnutrition, needless to say, is increasing. The situation will certainly continue to deteriorate with Gaza experiencing a 24% electricity deficit coupled with rolling blackouts leaving children in the dark as long as 12 hours per day. Hospitals have reduced their services to only urgent care patients as their fuel supplies run dangerously low. Returning from Gaza, a member of the European Parliament stated, ". . .it is the civilians who suffer from the siege. Seeing the tiny premature babies in their incubators in Shifa Hospital brought that message home. Israel has been cutting electricity supplies to Gaza. If the generator this hospital was now dependent on was to break down, the 30 babies would die within half an hour."

No matter how many terrorists lurk in Gaza, none of them are under 5 years old, but that's who's being punished. I wonder how many of us, if faced with watching our children starve, would find pacifism so appealing.