[WCUSP] Fw: Amira Hass: A Moment Before the Lights Go Out / Ha'artz

[Libby or Mort Frank]

What we need to add to this is a demand that the U.S. change its stance on 
Gaza, include Hamas in the upcoming "peace" conference in Annapolis and stop 
this inhuman behavior by the Israeli government.  WILPF has a long history 
of calling for negotiations between "all parties to the conflict."

Libby

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jewish Peace News " <jpn at jewishpeacenews.net>
To: <LMFrank1 at verizon.net>
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 9:47 AM
Subject: Amira Hass: A Moment Before the Lights Go Out / Ha'artz


>
> [Amira Hass provides chilling glimpse into acute shortages and dire 
> conditions in Gaza, even before "the Darkening" proposed by Barak.
> This is followed by a short UN report of the humanitarian crisis in 
> Gaza. - Racheli Gai]
>
> Last update - 10:00 07/11/2007
> Amira Hass: A moment before the lights go out
> http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/921140.html
>
>
>
> Alan Johnston, the BBC corresponded kidnapped in Gaza, related in an 
> interview that at a relatively early stage, he started suffering from all 
> kinds of aches because of the water he drank. This was the same water that 
> the kidnappers drank, but Johnston's unaccustomed body sent warning 
> signals: This is not water that is fit for drinking. And this is the water 
> that reaches most of the taps in the Gaza Strip. Salty, in a few places 
> brackish to contaminated, with an oily consistency. That is clearly felt 
> when bathing.
>
> The reason is an ancient one: overpumping because Gaza must make do with 
> the waters from its aquifer alone. It is as if we were to say to the 
> residents of Be'er Sheva: make do with the water that flows nearby. The 
> water sources in the rest of the country are not for you.
>
> Over the last few years, there have been some improvised private and 
> public solutions. Private water purification plants in homes and 
> commercial companies that sell purified water.
>
> The municipalities, for their part, set up large brackish water 
> desalination facilities and several central taps. Thousands of people go 
> there daily to fill up jerry-cans with water that will not taste like it 
> came from a puddle and will not cause diarrhea, infections, kidney 
> problems and who knows what else.
>
> The electricity and fuel supply to Gaza has already been reduced to below 
> the level of basic human needs. An additional reduction will affect the 
> above solutions to the water problem, and beyond. "To darken Gaza," as 
> some of the security experts among us have recently proposed, does not end 
> merely with darkened homes at night. You don't have to be an expert in 
> public health to realize that it would create an endless chain reaction of 
> public health problems and environmental blights.
>
> Today, around a year and a half after Israel bombed the transformer 
> station in Gaza, only 193 megawatts out of the 240 or so it needs is 
> supplied to the Strip.
>
> The water network is the biggest energy consumer in the Gaza Strip: it 
> requires approximately 25 megawatts of the 240 megawatts the Gaza Strip 
> needs.
>
> The 135 wells across the Gaza Strip that supply water, poor quality as it 
> may be, cannot function if the electricity and diesel fuel supply is cut 
> further. The same is true of sewage treatment plants.
>
> Already now, each day, no water is supplied to around 15 percent of the 
> Strip's residents. Each area receives water only every other day. The 
> water is pumped electrically and stored in home reservoirs on every 
> rooftop. Power outages are frequent.
>
> When a power outage in a given area occurs on a day when the 
> municipalities channel water to it, the houses are denied water for three, 
> and sometimes even four, days.
>
> The water network also needs around 150,000 liters of diesel fuel per 
> month. The sewage system needs around 100,000 liters.
>
> The Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, the supplier of sewage and water 
> services in the Gaza Strip obtained only 60,000 liters of diesel fuel in 
> October, because the quantity of fuels sold from Israel to the Gaza Strip 
> was reduced. And this is before "the darkening" proposed by Ehud Barak and 
> Matan Vilnai.
>
> The water company must choose to favor the sewage system over the water 
> system. As the deputy CEO of the company, Maher Najjar, explains: The 
> collapse of the sewage system entails a bigger humanitarian threat.
>
> Just imagine a huge flood of sewage. Hence, for example, the seven wells 
> in the northern Gaza Strip that are diesel operated were allocated only 
> 2,000 liters of diesel in early November, instead of the 10,500 liters 
> needed to operate them.
>
> Even before the lights go out, Israel is prohibiting the entry of raw 
> materials into the Gaza Strip.
>
> No one is talking any more about dozens of development projects that have 
> consequently been frozen, such as the one to desalinate well water that 
> serves the residents of the El Bureij refugee camp. Let them continue 
> drinking the water that endangers their health.
>
> Raw material is not the only thing Israel is barring entry of: Vital spare 
> parts are also being barred entry. In the Gaza City sewage treatment 
> facility there are several minor malfunctions.
>
> However, Israel is barring the entry of the spare parts needed to repair 
> them. Sewage undergoes only minimal treatment before it flows into the 
> sea. And the sea, of course, doesn't stop at the Erez or Rafiah 
> checkpoints.
> ?=====================
>
>
>
> http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/Gaza_Sitrep_2007_11_05.pdf
>
> Humanitarian Situation Report | 01-31 October 2007
> Karni crossing, the main crossing for commercial goods, remains closed 
> since 13 June. On 28 October,Israel announced the permanent closure of 
> Sufa crossing. Kerem Shalom is now the only crossing open for the movement 
> of goods into the Gaza Strip. Rafah crossing remains closed. The amount of 
> goods entering Gaza has decreased by 71% since before the Karni closure, 
> from an average of 253 truckloads per day in April to an average of 74 in 
> October.
>
>
>
> SUMMARY POINTS
>
> 1. Karni crossing, the main crossing for commercial goods, remains closed 
> since 13 June. On 28 October, Israel announced the permanent closure of 
> Sufa crossing. Kerem Shalom is now the only crossing open for the movement 
> of goods into the Gaza Strip, and its limited capacity is likely to result 
> in a further decrease in the import of goods and medicines into Gaza. The 
> continuing closure of Gaza's borders is leading to a continuing 
> contraction of the local economy, with private sector losses now reaching 
> $60 million in the last four months Source: Paltrade.
>
> 2. Rafah crossing, the principle entry/exit point for 1.48 million Gazans 
> from/to the rest of the world, remains closed. Except for a limited number 
> of medical cases, traders and aid workers, Gazans have been unable to 
> leave for nearly five months.
>
> 3. The amount of goods entering Gaza has decreased by 71% since before the 
> Karni closure, from an average of 253 truckloads per day in April to an 
> average of 74 in October. Prices of commodities in the Gaza Strip continue 
> to rise due to the limited quantity of imports and the associated decrease 
> in the availability of certain goods.
>
> 4. An escalation in IDF activity in the Gaza Strip in the month of October 
> resulted in an increase of conflict-related Palestinian casualties (28 
> deaths and 70 injuries).
>
> 5. The availability of drugs at central drug stores in the Gaza Strip has 
> decreased. The number of drug items with zero stocks has increased in 
> October to 91 drug items compared to 61 items in September. In local 
> Primary Health Care (PHC) clinics, WHO has reported zero stocks of 
> pediatric drugs, including antibiotics and Vitamin A and D supplements, 
> and a shortage of chronic disease drugs.
>
> 6. During the month of October, 27 Palestinian patients out of 789 who 
> previously received a permit from Israeli authorities for treatment in 
> Israel and/or the West Bank were denied access at the Erez crossing.
>
>
> ................................................................
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