How much help is a flotilla-load of aid?

Posted by Nick Gray, on 12 Jul, 2011

Watch our current "latest video" to see how little the planned flotilla to Gaza would have helped the people of Gaza, when Israel allows some 6,000 tons of food and goods through the border crossings every day. Besides, on 28th May this year Egypt reopened the Rafiah crossing into Gaza on a permanent basis, which completely does away with the need for future flotillas, since aid and other materials can now enter Gaza from both Egypt and Israel.

A brief search on Youtube reveals evidence that perhaps Gaza is not as poverty-stricken as Hamas and many NGOs would prefer us to believe. One slightly satirical video looks at the opening of a luxury shopping mall in Gaza and comments on hundreds of Gazans being "forced to hunt for special offers and discounts".

Sadly, there are still many people in Gaza suffering at poverty levels of existence, but with so much food and other essentials entering the enclave every day we have to face the fact that the poverty of some Palestinian Arabs in one small area has now become just a political tool in the hands of Israel's enemies. Were Gaza's rulers (the terrorist group Hamas) so inclined, they could make sure that all their poor were fed first before money was spent on building luxury hotels, shopping malls and importing luxury cars and other non-essential goods.