Amena Saleem writes “Israel should be held to account for Gaza’s shocking child mortality rates” in The Independent.
That the opinion piece presents a one-sided and disingenuous attack on Israel is hardly surprising considering Saleem is an activist for the extremist anti-Israel Palestine Solidarity Campaign organization and a blogger for the anti-Israel hate site Electronic Intifada.
She writes:
Israel’s blockade is a likely contributor to the trend of rising infant mortality in Gaza. For the people of Gaza, being held under Israeli siege for nearly ten years now has meant the denial of proper access to the essentials of life, including medicines, food, water, electricity for heating, lighting and cooking.
Nowhere, however, does Saleem even mention Hamas, the terror organization that rules over the Gaza Strip and the reason why Israel has deemed it necessary to secure the border. Instead, according to Saleem, “Israel holds Gaza under occupation and under siege” in what is a “collective punishment.”
Israel, of course, removed all of its civilians and soldiers from Gaza during the 2005 Disengagement. As for holding Gaza “under siege,” a look at a recent weekly report from Israel’s Gaza crossings shows hundreds of truckloads of food products entering the strip. It also states that Israel supplies 5 million cubic liters of water per year and supplies 125 megawatts of electricity per day as well as importing over 1,000 tons of cooking gas that week.
That Hamas has been responsible for firing thousands of rockets that have prompted Israel to respond with military operations is not mentioned. That Hamas has diverted aid supplies entering the Gaza Strip for its own terror activities is not considered. That Egypt is responsible for what amounts to a real blockade of Gaza, allowing virtually no movement of goods or people across its own border with Gaza is also not mentioned.
INFANT MORTALITY: A POLITICIZED MISDIAGNOSIS
Saleem’s main aim is to blame Israel for a rise in Gaza’s infant mortality rate as documented by UNWRA, which is a highly politicized organization itself.
As for the infant mortality rate, the figures need to be put into some perspective. The deaths of any infants or children are tragic. Yet, the infant mortality rate quoted by UNWRA does not stand out when compared with many other countries that aren’t considered to be developed.
Consider that the infant mortality rate in Gaza, according to the CIA’s 2014 estimates, ranks the territory as better than surrounding countries such as Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and several other Middle Eastern states. In fact, a look at the chart shows that Gaza’s infant mortality rate is not much higher than Bulgaria, Colombia and China. Yet, none of these countries is “under siege.”
But it isn’t just the health of newborns that Saleem points to:
Gaza’s overall health is so poor the UN declares the area could become uninhabitable in less than five years if current trends continue. For this – and for the sake of the newborns who don’t live to see their first birthday – Israel must be held to account.
Is Gaza’s overall health really so poor as to make it the primary reason why the UN would declare it potentially uninhabitable? In fact, the UN’s report mentions healthcare provision as one of a number of socio-economic indicators among many that are pointing in a downward direction.
The health of Gazans is thus a consequence of the territory’s socio-economic decline and not a cause of it.
Saleem concludes by making it quite clear what her agenda really is:
Western lobbyists are right to call for the EU to impose immediate sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel until it ends the blockade of Gaza. If Israel isn’t willing of its own accord to give those children a chance at survival, it must be forced to do so.
Gazan infant mortality rates are merely another stick with which to beat Israel while absolving Hamas of any responsibility for the plight of the people under its rule.
For Amena Saleem, this is just the latest opportunity to assault Israel and The Independent has given her the platform.
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