The Israeli government calculated the minimum number of food calories necessary to keep Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from becoming malnourished during Israel’s siege on the territory, an official document released by court order reveals.
The government of Israel did in fact calculate the minimum number of food calories necessary to keep Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from becoming malnourished during Israel’s siege on the territory.
The 2008 document shows that Israel’s Ministry of Health, in conjunction with the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), worked to restrict Gaza’s food intake along a series of “red lines” designed to avoid a “humanitarian crisis”.
One of the “red lines”, and probably the most stark example of Israel’s virtually limitless control over the coastal enclave, demands that Gazans be supplied, on average, with 1,838.6 grams of food per day. Based on an average Israeli diet modified to account for the “culture and experience” in Gaza, this food would account for the 2,279 calories needed to keep Gazans from starving.
The document also contains information on how Israel controlled the flow of food goods through the border. [Read more...]
The right to self-defense is reserved for Israel only. After all, Obama’s administration, with a stamp of approval from Israel’s government, has gone to great lengths to avoid recognizing the Palestinian right to self-defense. It is a twisted world when the occupier is seen as the defenseless victim and the occupied is sanctioned for simply refusing to accept inequity.
More weapons, fewer Palestinians, a delayed invasion of Iran, and a saved Presidency
In light of today’s attack on the Gaza Strip, know that the “United States offered Israel advanced weaponry in return for it committing not to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities“, according to a report from Israel’s Maariv newspaper. Essentially, to keep Israel from invading Iran, the U.S. plans to buffer Israel’s military might. Palestinians, like they did today, will face the consequences.
Earlier today, Israel launched an unprovoked, “pre-emptive” strike in Gaza that killed at least one Palestinian man. In response, militants in Gaza launched rockets towards Israel as the Israeli military embarked on at least two more shelling campaigns in Gaza’s skies. According to Reuters, eight have so far been killed, all of them Palestinian.
To anyone seeking justification in Israel’s attacks, none will be found. As even Haaretz acknowledges (see the eighth word of the second paragraph in its report), the rockets came after Israel launched an attack. [Read more...]