Intl. community overlooks, Gaza continues to remain in tatters : Activist

Press TV has interviewed Kamel Hawwash, the vice chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Birmingham, to discuss a recent warning by the United Nations that the Gaza Strip is on a “disastrous trajectory.”

What follows is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: These alarms by the UN have been raised before too regarding the Gaza Strip. We know what the situation is like; we know who the culprit is, so why is there not more action?

Hawwash: First of all, imagine if Gaza was in the United States or in Britain or in France, it would immediately have been declared a disaster zone and every effort would have been exerted to reconstruct, to allow the people to at least regain a level of dignity and living in homes being sheltered from the elements. How many more winters do they have to be out in the cold while the international community provides impunity for Israel to continue with its siege?

I think Israel is obviously hugely at fault here, so is Egypt which is not allowing access for goods and even people into Gaza. It is a prison. Why does the international community allow this? Because the international community, I am afraid, is colluding with Israel when it comes to the Palestinian issue. Only a couple of days ago Israel imposed a siege on Ramallah; so it does as it wishes and it is safe in the knowledge no one is going to challenge it.

Press TV: When it comes to Gaza, it is not just about goods and aid that can be allowed or not allowed in. It is also about the very infrastructure of the Gaza Strip. As we have just mentioned, barely of any of the houses that were destroyed by Israel have been rebuilt, the aquifer of the area remains in tatters, there is a huge issue with the electricity plant over there, which barely has any fuel to run on.

Hawwash: It is a continuing disaster zone and this is exactly my point. First of all, people, wherever they are, the first thing you want to give them is their home, a roof over their head. You want to give them elements to live a semblance of a normal life, but again unfortunately even in the UK, Prime Minster David Cameron, in his first term, you know, confirmed that he thought that Gaza was a prison. What has he done about it? Nothing. In fact, he lauds Israel as this wonderful beacon of democracy. Well if it was doing to the Gazans; if it was doing the same thing to British people, then Britain would move everything to end its control over them and to free them…

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