Democracy Now: Gaza Again Plunged into Darkness, Hunger as Israel Blocks Fuel, Food to Suffering Population

“Gaza’s humanitarian crisis has worsened in the aftermath of Israel’s latest blockade of fuel and food. We speak to Diana Buttu, a former lawyer for the Palestinian Authority, and Reverend Edwin “Eddie” Makue of the South African Council of Churches, a veteran of South Africa’s apartheid struggle. They are on an “anti-apartheid” speaking tour across the US for the next two weeks…”

–Democracy Now, Nov 12, 2008

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/12/gaza_again_plunged_into_darkness_hunger

Also from Democracy Now:

“UN: Food Aid to Gaza Dwindles Amidst Israeli Blockade

In Israel and the Occupied Territories, the UN humanitarian agency is warning it’s running out of food because of the latest Israeli fuel blockade of the Gaza Strip. The UN is responsible for feeding 750,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Israel says it’s imposed the latest blockade in response to Palestinian rocket fire, which came after an Israeli missile attack that killed six people last week. The UN says Israel has blocked several humanitarian shipments, including one to a school for blind children. UN spokesperson Christopher Gunness told Al Jazeera, ‘These blind children, as far as I am aware, are not firing rockets…Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people, including blind children who would have been assisted, are effectively being punished.’ Meanwhile, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said a full-scale Israeli attack on Gaza is only a matter of time. Olmert made the comments Tuesday at an Israeli army base near Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert: ‘We’re in no hurry, but we know very well that the moment of confrontation will eventually come. The question is not whether there will be a confrontation, but when it will take place, under what circumstances, and who will control these circumstances, who will dictate them, and who will know to exploit the time from the beginning of the ceasefire until the moment of confrontation in the best possible way.’

–Democracy Now, Nov 12, 2008

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/12/headlines#7