100 Years to Rebuild Blockaded Gaza!

By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer First they said it would take 50 years to rebuild the vital structures of blockaded Gaza Strip. Now Oxfam International, the United Nations and several other aid agencies warn it could take 100 years!

Date: 28 February 2015 - 21:38

News ID: ۱۱۵۱۱

This should come as no surprise. As maintained here last year, Egypt, Israel and their Western cohorts are turning Gaza into the biggest prison on earth and it is official. As per the despicable conspiracy, Egypt’s military junta is leveling the Rafah border area and its entire neighborhood to build a "buffer zone” with the besieged city - where roads, schools, hospitals, mosques and the electricity and water plants are still in ruins because of last year’s war.

To this end, the border – the only way out - has been effectively shut down, preventing any construction materials from getting in. The international aid money – if any – is also being held by the Zionist regime and the Palestinian Authority, which means Gazans don’t have any access to foreign aid.

Cairo might claim otherwise; that it is building the "buffer zone” to keep militants in Sinai out. But the fact is this: The systematic measures are being taken to further the isolation of Gaza, use Sinai as a platform for political opportunities to be exploited, and reassert the relevance of the Egyptian army and its annual US budget. The ultimate goal is to make the enforcement of Zionist occupation far more efficient.

No wonder Oxfam warns it may take a century to rebuild the enclave. It is evident that the "buffer zone” is not being built to facilitate reconstruction efforts. Quite the opposite, it seeks to ensure that international reconstruction and aid efforts will fail and Palestinians will never be able to continue to fight for survival amid deteriorating conditions.

In the words of Oxfam: Bearing the brunt of this systematic suffering are the most vulnerable, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, women and nearly one million children, who have experienced unimaginable suffering in three major conflicts in six years. Children lack access to quality education, with over 400,000 of them in need of immediate psychosocial support.

It is about time to stop the illegal construction of the "buffer zone”. That’s the only way to ensure Palestinians can rebuild their lives. It is utterly deplorable that the international community is refusing to do so - failing the people of Gaza when they need it most. The dire situation will never change if Western countries and world bodies continue to be complicit in the new Cairo-Tel Aviv conspiracy.

Under international law, the civil society has a duty to speak out and call for punitive measures and boycotts against Egypt and Israel. It’s the only way to force them to end the illegal siege. After all, they carry on the way they do because of the complicity of international community.