News from and about Gaza has hardly ever been as grim as now.

[Thinking Man's Idiot]

Salvation in a broadcast


RAMZY BAROUD


News inspires both hope and despair for Gazans. RAMZY BAROUD explains why.

WHEN Gaza's electricity is in working order, most Palestinians in the impoverished and overcrowded Strip huddle around their television screens. It's neither American Idol nor Dancing With The Stars that brings them together. It's the news.

Gazans' relationship with news media is both complex and unique. They intently watch and listen to news broadcasts with the hope that salvation will arrive in the form of a news bulletin. Evidently, salvation has yet to be aired.


Palestinians care deeply about what the rest of the world is saying about their plight and struggle. Most importantly, they wonder if anyone out there really cares.


During the first uprising's long and harsh Israeli military curfews in Gaza, my family would gather around a small radio, always nervous that the batteries would die, leaving us with a total news blackout - a horrible scenario in Gaza.


The Israeli army used to habitually cut off electricity and water supplying any refugee camp targeted for a crackdown.


The practice persists to this day in Gaza, but on a much larger scale, where fuel is denied, food and medical supplies are scarce and water purifying plants are in a pitiable state.


"Collective punishment" has always been at the centre of Israel's policy towards the miserable Strip. Some things never change.
But, somehow, Gaza miraculously manages.


The people of that tiny stretch of land find a way to cope with their many tragedies, as they have done since the moment the first caravan of refugees, parched and desperate, made their way into Gaza following the 1948 Catastrophe.


They would weep for their loss, bury their dead, ask God for mercy and, once again, return home to huddle around their radios, seeking a glimpse of hope in the news broadcasts.


Today, Gazans' trust, or lack of it, in any news station depends largely on whether that particular station is committed to articulating the suffering and tragedy from their viewpoint, rather than that of an Israeli army spokesperson.


As a result, they have a love-hate relationship with major news networks such as the BBC, Voice Of America and others.


Although most Palestinians in Gaza find that the Al-Jazeera network shows the most understanding of their plight, they can't forgive it for providing a platform for Israeli government and army officials.


Nonetheless, they tune in to Al-Jazeera as a trustworthy outlet whenever tragedy strikes. And it often does.


News from and about Gaza has hardly ever been as grim as now.


Every day, there are statements from the UN and human rights organisations, decrying the siege on Gaza, the strangulation of a whole population and the international community's silence towards what is now perceived as the world's most pressing humanitarian disaster.


Gazans listen intently. When their tragedy is mentioned, they hope that perhaps the United States will press Israel to ease its siege, to allow access to the terminally ill, to restore fuel supplies. Yet day after day, the situation worsens and little is done to rectify the injustice.


When international officials, such as UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon or former UN high commissioner for human rights Mary Robinson, call on Israel to ease or end the sanctions on Gaza, Gazans move a bit closer to their televisions. They insist on believing that Israel will eventually heed the calls, but are always disappointed.


It was "almost unbelievable" that the world did not care about "a shocking violation of so many human rights" in Gaza, said Ms Robinson, as reported in the BBC on November 4. "Their whole civilization has been destroyed. I'm not exaggerating," she said.


On that same day, Israel moved into Gaza to provoke a fight and end the shaky truce with Hamas, which has largely held since June. The army killed six Palestinians and wounded three.


UN relief and works agency director John Ging told the Washington Post on November 15 that "this is a disastrous situation and it's getting worse and worse.


"It is unprecedented that the UN is unable to get its supplies to a population under such obvious distress."


On November 20, the same official reported that Israel has reversed a decision to let 70 lorryloads of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.


"Chronic malnutrition is steadily rising and micronutrient deficiencies are of great concern," said a leaked report by the Red Cross, as reported in The Independent.


The report said that Israeli restrictions are causing "progressive deterioration in food security for up to 70 per cent of Gaza's population."


Gazans are still flipping through the channels and cranking the radio dials left and right as these calls continue to fall on deaf ears.


They wonder why their plight is not treated with the same urgency as that of the Red Sea piracy or even that of eastern Congo, despite the fact that their misery has perpetuated for generations and is worsening.


They listen frustratedly to Fatah and Hamas officials spewing insults and fighting over government positions that don't exist and territories that hold no sovereignty.


They shake their heads in dismay and carry on, for, perhaps, tomorrow will bring with it some good news for once.

Ramzy Baroud

is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com.



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