Welcome to the Gaza Zoo

The Jerusalem Post stated that the Israeli army is considering parachuting food into Gaza since they will not interact with Hamas to coordinate border crossing coordination. If borders stay closed as this suggests, it means that food may fall from the sky but nothing will exit from Gaza, no fruit, vegetables, clothes, no furniture, no nothing, trade with the outside world would come to an end.

This prospect would mean a slow death for Palestinians. Today Gazans are becoming ever more like animals in a zoo, their cage remains closed, but enough food and water is provided to keep them alive and the many commentators, journalists and analysts coming visiting constantly. The UN has explained that if the main economic border crossing is not opened within 2-4 weeks a humanitarian crisis will break out in Gaza. I believe Israel will be forced to open the border somehow, because like animals in a zoo, you can’t let them starve.

In the past number of days, one of the most common headlines related to Gaza was something along the lines of a “desecrated church,” when in reality it was a case concerning the looting of a Christian school.

A friend of mine living near the school, himself a Fatah security member told me that members of the Preventative Security Force would often station themselves on the roof of the school building during attacks on their headquarters just behind the school. This was the case last week as well, as Hamas forces carried out an attack on the building from three directions.

Like many buildings that were used as strongholds the doors were blown open with an RPG to secure no resistance coming from inside it. Succeeding the attack the building was then vandalized, crosses were broken and much was stolen. It is highly unlikely that Hamas carried out this vandalism; they were after all fighting a war.

Within days Hamas had identified some of the thieves and returned six stolen computers. Gaza’s Catholic priest, Emanuel Mussalam was interviewed on Hamas radio yesterday calling for the man to be put on trial who had ordered the forced entry into the school.