Arab American Institute

Hello all,
I just found a really intersting site about an organization called the Arab American Institute (http://www.aaiusa.org). If you have a chance to get on and read about it I highly recommend it. They also provide internships for any of you who would like to get involved in D.C.
The founder wrote a very interesting article about Gaza, it is quite long, but I will post it here for those who are interested.
love emily
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Watching Gaza: "The Genovese Syndrome"

by James Zogby

President

Arab American Institute

Today I thought of Kitty Genovese.

Some of you won't remember her, but many in my generation will recall

the horror and shame they felt after hearing the story of how she was

raped and stabbed to death on a New York City street in 1964. What

shocked the nation was the fact that 37 witnesses heard Kitty's cries

but did nothing to help. Years later, social scientists, studying

this disturbing passivity, termed it the "Genovese Syndrome".

That's how I feel about what is happening in Gaza today. Israel is

getting away with murder and the world is letting it happen.

I can hear my critics bellow, "But what about Gilad Shalit (the

Israeli soldier captured and held since June 25th)?" "What about

Hamas and Islamic Jihad?" "What about the Qassam missiles?"

My response is simple: the kidnapping of Shalit was wrong and I have

repeatedly condemned the evil and stupid tactics used by those groups

who target innocent Israeli civilians. Having said that, I must add

two observations: there is no moral or political justification for

the collective punishment which Israel has imposed on Gaza's entire

population; and Gaza's humanitarian crisis began long before the June

25th capture of Shalit.

Reports issued before May of this year, describe Gaza's situation in

dire terms. One of the most densely populated areas on earth, two-

thirds of Gaza's population live below the poverty level. There are

acute shortages of food, fuel and water. Malnutrition and disease are

rampant among the young and, for the most part, only basic medical

services are available.

This crisis in Gaza predates Hamas' victory in 2006. For the first

twenty-five years of Israel's occupation (1967-1993) Gaza was a place

of misery. As Sarah Roy brilliantly describes in her book, "The Gaza

Strip: The Political Economy of Re-development", Israel ruthlessly

suppressed Gaza's people, while denying them economic growth

opportunities. During this time, no infrastructure, (sewers, paved

roads etc.) was built and the population was reduced to, in the words

of one Israeli Minister, "hewers of wood, and bearers of water," i.e.

demeaning day labor employment in Israel.

Gaza's only hope after the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993 was that

its economy and infrastructure could be developed and opened up to

the outside world. While many in the West blamed Palestinian

Authority (PA) mismanagement, the facts point in a different

direction. It was the persistence of the occupation from 1994-2005

that resulted in Gaza's continued stagnation. Despite "peace on

paper", Israel retained an iron grip on Gaza. Settlements remained,

as did the physical division of Gaza, north from south and from the

rest of Palestinian lands and the outside world. Being denied access

and egress meant difficulty in importing and exporting and,

therefore, no economic development.

When Israel unilaterally redeployed from Gaza in 2005, the situation

deteriorated even further. Israel projected its removal of 7000

settlers as a "painful sacrifice for peace." But by refusing to

coordinate their departure with the PA or even to honor the agreement

they negotiated with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (that should

have guaranteed movement in and out of Gaza), Israel left behind

disarray and an angry and impoverished population. By tightening

their external controls on the tiny strip, Israel, in effect, created

one of the world's largest prison camps. Inside Gaza, Palestinians

were "free," troubled only by their own poverty and armed gangs. Like

prisoners, they could have occasional visitors and receive gifts –

but, for the most part, they remained cut off from the outside world.

The economy, already crippled, worsened. With Israel refusing to open

Gaza's borders to goods, small Palestinian factories that had once

sub-contracted with larger Israeli firms were forced to close. And,

this summer, tens of millions of dollars of Palestinian produce

rotted at the check points because Israel refused to allow them to be

exported.

With the election of Hamas, in January 2006, Gaza's situation became

worse still. Having been reduced to dependency on international

donors for most of its operating budget, the Hamas-led PA now lost

even that. Tens of thousands of civil servants (the largest group of

salaried workers in the area) now receive no income. Hospitals

provide only basic services, with critically-ill patients or those

requiring emergency care left untreated unless, in a moment of

largesse, Israel decides to grant them admission.

Recognizing the need to resolve at least the crisis created by

Israel's and the West's refusal to deal with the Hamas government,

Palestinian leaders from across the political spectrum launched a

number of initiatives in May and June. These were efforts to create a

new national consensus that, it was hoped, could lead to a new non-

Hamas government that might allow aid to be restored.

It was at this point that violence flared up again. Israel's repeated

assassinations of militants, done with callous disregard for nearby

civilians, resulted in the death of dozens of innocents (many of them

children). These attacks were met by daily Qassam rocket attacks on

an Israeli city just beyond Gaza's borders. And then came the deadly

June 25th attack on an Israeli military post and the capture of

Shalit.

Israel's response has been an overwhelming, though measured, display

of force. Stunned by negative reactions to their killing of

Palestinian civilians in earlier attacks, Israel has mainly focused

its strikes on Palestinian installations: the power plant, bridges,

ministries, a university, and various offices. But it has been the

state of siege resulting in the complete suffocation of Gaza that has

taken the biggest toll. The pre-existing humanitarian crisis in Gaza

has now been magnified with hospitals and social service agencies

reporting new casualties, resulting from alarming shortages of food,

fuel and medicine.

Shielded from criticism by a compliant US administration and press,

this siege is now in its second week. The administration has not seen

fit to publicly challenge the impact of Israel's siege on civilians

and the press has given only scant coverage to the humanitarian

crisis. Gaza is suffering -- and like Kitty Genovese's 37 witnesses,

the rest of us watch in silence with varying degrees of shameful

paralysis.

Some ask, what is going on? There are no good answers and certainly

no justification for this massive act of collective punishment. The

response is disproportionate and cruel, even if one believes that it

is merely an effort by the Olmert government to free its soldier, an

excuse that even the Israeli press no longer believes. What is

occurring in Gaza today is nothing short of a crime against humanity—

unless, that is, you believe that the suffering of one Israeli

soldier outweighs the suffering being imposed on 1.5 million innocent

Palestinian men, women and children.

Worse still, if Israel's intention here, as some Israeli commentators

suggest, is to bring down the Hamas government, then their behavior

is tantamount to an act of terrorism—that is, the use of violence

against civilians without regard to their welfare in order to force a

political end. This is not the first time that violence perpetrated

by a reckless group has brought about a disproportionate response

that has had tragic consequences. No good will come of this.

Two truisms come to mind: Palestinian violence cannot end the

occupation and Israeli violence cannot squash the Palestinian

resistance to that occupation. Only sanity and justice can bring

peace and security but, alas, sanity and justice -- like jobs, food,

and medicine -- are increasingly rare commodities in Gaza.

Meanwhile, like poor Kitty's 37, we watch.

Founded in 1985, the Arab American Institute (AAI) is a non-profit

organization committed to the civic and political empowerment of

Americans of Arab descent. AAI provides policy, research, and public

affairs.