[THS] !!!! Israeli Documents: "Put The Palestinians On A Diet"

[The Harder Stuff in news and commentary]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26847.htm

"Put The Palestinians On A Diet"

Media bury documents revealing Israels deliberate policy of near starvation For Gaza

By Media Lens

November 17, 2010 "Media Lens" - - Israel has been forced to reveal what
Palestinians and other observers on the ground have known for a long time: that the
blockade of Gaza is state policy intended to inflict collective punishment, not to
bolster Israeli "security".

An Israeli human rights group has won a legal battle to compel the Israeli
government to release three important documents. These outline state policy for
permitting the transfer of goods into Gaza prior to the May 31 attack on the peace
flotilla in which nine people were killed by Israeli forces. The group, Gisha - Legal
Center for Freedom of Movement, is demanding Israeli transparency. Meanwhile,
Israel refuses to release documents on the current version of blockade policy which
was "eased" after international condemnation following the flotilla attack.

The released documents, whose existence Israel had denied for eighteen months,
reveal that the state approved "a policy of deliberate reduction" of basic goods,
including food and fuel, in the Gaza Strip. Gisha Director Sari Bashi explains:

"Instead of considering security concerns, on the one hand, and the rights and
needs of civilians living in Gaza, on the other, Israel banned glucose for biscuits and
the fuel needed for regular supply of electricity - paralyzing normal life in Gaza and
impairing the moral character of the State of Israel. I am sorry to say that major
elements of this policy are still in place." (Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of
Movement, 'Due to Gisha's Petition: Israel Reveals Documents related to the Gaza
Closure Policy', October 21, 2010;
http://www.gisha.org/index.php?intLanguage=2&intItemId=1904&intSiteSN=113)

As Saeed Bannoura of the International Middle East Media Center reports, the Israeli
government imposed a deliberate policy:

"in which the dietary needs for the population of Gaza are chillingly calculated, and
the amounts of food let in by the Israeli government measured to remain just enough
to keep the population alive at a near-starvation level. This documents the statement
made by a number of Israeli officials that they are 'putting the people of Gaza on a
diet'." (Saeed Bannoura, 'Israeli government documents show deliberate policy to
keep Gazans at near-starvation levels', International Middle East Media Center,
November 6, 2010 21:32;  http://www.imemc.org/article/59843)

Bannoura adds:

"This release of documents also severely undermines Israel's oft-made claim that the
siege is 'for security reasons', as it documents a deliberate and systematic policy of
collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza."

When Israel and the United States were reacting to Hamas's election victory in Gaza
in January 2006, long-time Israeli government adviser Dov Weisglass stated:

"The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger."
('Hamas readies for government, Israel prepares sanctions', Agence France Presse,
February 16, 2006)

The released documents contain actual equations used by the Israeli government to
calculate the exact amounts of food, fuel and other necessities needed to do exactly
that. ('Submitted to Gisha in the framework of a Freedom of Information Act Petition,
AP 2744/09 Gisha v. Defense Ministry', Appendices B, C and D;
http://gisha.org/UserFiles/File/HiddenMessages/DefenseMinistryDocumentsRevealedF
OIAPetition.pdf)

The policy is all the more disturbing, indeed repellent, given that almost half the
people of Gaza are children under the age of eighteen. One might reasonably
conclude that Israel has deliberately forced the undernourishment of hundreds of
thousands of children in direct violation of international law and the Fourth Geneva
Convention.


Media Response? A Polite Silence

Our searches of the Nexis newspaper database show that, as far as we could
determine, not a single UK newspaper has reported the release of these damning
Israeli documents. We widened our searches to include all English-language
publications covered worldwide by Nexis. We found just two: one from the Palestine
News Network on October 21 and one in Palestine Chronicle on November 6.

We were so surprised by the uniform silence across the English-language press that
we asked US-based media analyst David Peterson to check our findings. He was able
to do so, spelling out his search results as follows (email to Media Lens, November 11,
2010):

Major World Publications: zero

All News (English): two (the same two that we found, as mentioned above)

Broadcast Transcripts: zero

A search of the Factiva database (covering all major English-language newspapers
and wire services) found the same results. Peterson commented:

"No mentions in any of the major English-language newspapers or wire services of
the fact that someone had revealed the actual Israeli government policy towards the
Gaza Palestinians is to force a 'deliberate reduction' in their access to the necessities
of everyday survival."

It takes a peculiar form of social malaise for this astonishing media silence to be
maintained in ostensibly free societies.


The Fiercely "Independent" BBC

On November 11, an online BBC article reported on the Gaza blockade but made no
mention of the released documents. (Jon Donnison, 'UN: No change in Gaza despite
easing of Israel blockade' BBC news online, November 11, 2010 Last updated at
00:25; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11731695)

Reporter Jon Donnison wrote:

"The UN says there has been 'no material change" for people in Gaza since Israel
announced it was 'easing' its economic blockade of the Palestinian territory."

Jon Ging, the head of UN operations in Gaza, said few people had noticed any
difference:

"There's been no material change for the people on the ground here in terms of their
status, the aid dependency, the absence of any recovery or reconstruction, no
economy."

Ging continued:

"The easing, as it was described, has been nothing more than a political easing of
the pressure on Israel and Egypt."

The BBC gave the final word to Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli foreign
ministry:

"Why is the border blockaded? Because the territory has been overtaken by a
declared terror movement."

This assertion that the Gaza blockade is motivated by security concerns went
unchallenged.

World News Today, presented by Zeinab Badawi on BBC4, broadcast a piece by
Donnison along similar lines to his article. (BBC World News Today, BBC4, Thursday,
November 11, 2010, 7pm; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwxZXfRTdj0)

We wrote to Jon Donnison and asked whether he was aware that the Israeli human
rights group Gisha had obtained Israeli government documents confirming that the
collective punishment of Gaza is based on politics, not security. We asked him:

"Have you reported the release of these documents?

"Will you be pursuing it in a new article?" (Email, November 11, 2010)

We emailed again on November 16 but have received no response to date.

Compare and contrast the BBC's performance on this story with a new Foreign Office-
sponsored piece on the BBC by news presenter Zeinab Badawi:

"Transparency, accountability of government actions is absolutely crucial. And frankly
that's the role of the media. You know, shining a harsh spotlight on truths and
sunlight, after all, is a very strong antiseptic, isn't it?" ('Zeinab Badawi says freedom
of expression is cornerstone of democracy in Britain', November 5, 2010;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rQM-kMPoy0&feature=player_embedded)

Badawi added that "the BBC's constitution means that we absolutely, +absolutely+
cherish and protect and fight for our independence. We don't even have an arm's
length relationship with the government, we just don't deal with the government at
all."

Badawi continued the self-adulation:

"It [the BBC] really is a vital, vital tool for the dissemination of information in all sorts
of ways. All these things have really served to underscore that freedom of speech
that we have in this country. And I suppose the BBC best epitomises that tradition."

She concluded:

"I'm very proud to be an employee of the BBC."


SUGGESTED ACTION

The goal of Media Lens is to promote rationality, compassion and respect for others.
If you do write to journalists, we strongly urge you to maintain a polite, non-
aggressive and non-abusive tone.

Write to Jon Donnison of the BBC
Email: jon.donnison at bbc.co.uk

Write to his editors:

Jeremy Bowen, BBC News Middle East editor
Email: jeremy.bowen at bbc.co.uk

Steve Herrmann, BBC News online editor
Email: steve.herrmann at bbc.co.uk

Write to Zeinab Badawi of the BBC
Email: zeinab.badawi at bbc.co.uk

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