Food Crisis Looms in Gaza

Months ago Israel "withdrew" from Gaza with much fanfare. Less reported is the fact that Israel maintains control of all passage into and out of the area.

Next came the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections. Gaza is now ostensibly under the control of an organization committed to the removal of the Jewish state from what it regards as the land given it by Allah until Judgment Day. Israel, of course, regards the land as given to it by Jehovah until forever.

Israel has reacted to the Hamas victory by closing down the main transit points into Gaza, freezing money it collects on behalf of the Palestinians ($50 million a month) and urging foreign donors to withhold support for the Palestinians until Hamas effectively renounces its charter. The United States (you, me) supports all these measures.

Now the fruit of these policies is beginning to ripen. The U.N. reports, via Reuters, that food stocks in Gaza are dwindling. Gaza wheat mills, suppliers of the bread that is the staple food of Gaza, which ordinarily carry 26,000 to 30,000 tons of wheat are down to 1200 tons, approximately a three day supply.

The U.N. says that the crisis is farther off than supplies in the mills would indicate because individual families have their own stockpiles.

What role, then, will our country play in this impending humanitarian crisis ? Can we side with Israel's hard line and watch as tens or hundreds of thousands die of starvation ? Can we side with Hamas against our staunch ally and apply pressure to Israel to allow food and money to flow ? Do our years of unquestioning support for Israel leave any possibility of our serving as an "honest broker" to find a negotiated solution ?

This is not pretty, Oh Best Beloved, and it will require far better behavior out of everybody involved than we have recently seen. The price of intransigence will be paid, at least at first, by the poorest of the Gaza poor. Then, perhaps, a Third Intifadah with death and blood and suffering for all.

So, if you find it at all possible, stay hopeful and

Stay Naked
JD