NY Times Aid Omissions
Ethan Bronner’s New York Times/International Herald Tribune page-one article Friday begins:
Three years after Israel and Egypt imposed an embargo on this tormented Palestinian strip, shutting down its economy, a consensus has emerged that the attempt to weaken the governing party, Hamas, and drive it from power has failed.
It the days since an Israeli naval takeover of a flotilla trying to break the siege turned deadly, that consensus has taken an added urgency, with world powers, anti-Hamas Palestinians in Gaza and some senior Israeli officials advocating a shift.
Bronner does not mention, however, the position of one major player in this story — the Palestinian Authority — which opposes the lifting the naval blockade.
Also of note is the following IHH boast:
“We only work through Hamas, although we don’t limit our aid to its followers,” [Mehmet Kaya, who runs the I.H.H. office in Gaza] said. “We consider Israel and the United Nations to be the terrorists, not Hamas.”
The I.H.H. cargo is sitting at the border in Israel, which is trying to find a more appealing partner to distribute it.
Let’s take apart the second paragraph. It’s difficult to know which cargo is “I.H.H. cargo” and which came from other sources, given that various organizations contributed money used to purchase goods. In any event, the cargo is sitting in Tzrifin, a base in central Israel, not at the border with Gaza. The humanitarian aid — food, clothes, and medical supplies — have already been approved by Israel for entrance into the Gaza Strip, but Hamas has rejected them — a fact widely reported elsewhere, but not in the New York Times. As for the construction material, including pre-fab houses, the IDF spokesmen’s office tells us that these materials can be transferred without delay to any bona fide international aid organization — such as UNRWA, OCHA, or the Palestinian Red Crescent — which will take responsibility for them.
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