Gaza

by James M. Wall

When Israel would not allow the Palestinian soccer team to practice in Gaza, the team held its practice sessions in Egypt. The documentary film Goal Dreams reminds us of the implications of that decision. Palestinians from Chile, New York and Spain who were trying out for the team arrived in Egypt with little difficulty, but Palestinians who had to travel the few miles from Gaza to Egypt were delayed for several days at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt for "security reasons."

The same Israeli-controlled border crossing was more hospitable to a recent group of Palestinians entering Gaza from Egypt. Fatah, the political party favored by the U.S. and Israel in the current Gaza internal conflict, was allowed to bring in as many as 500 troops. According to the Washington Post (May 18), these troops were trained in Egypt "under a U.S.-coordinated program to counter Hamas."

The U.S.-trained Fatah forces are under the command of Palestinian national security adviser Mohammed Dahlan, who was appointed by President Mahmoud Abbas under pressure from the U.S. Tony Karon, a senior editor at Time.com, describes Dahlan as "the Gaza warlord who has long been Washington's anointed favorite to play the role of a Palestinian Pinochet" (tonykaron.com)-a reference to the Chilean military dictator installed with the help of the U.S. after a 1973 military coup led to the overthrow and death of President Salvador Allende.

Speaking about the situation in Gaza, D. Ahmad Abu Tawahina of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme characterises the Palestinian psychological environment as "terrifying" and "traumatising". Israel's policies are "creating a health and environmental disaster".

Israel is waging "psychological warfare" against Gazans. "Life becomes unpredictable. No one can avoid involvement. No one can hide. Trauma is caused by these uncontrollable, unavoidable and uncontainable factors. People cannot develop coping strategies. They have a feeling of helplessness which induces depression. Israel is driving the whole community into a pathological state, paralysing Palestinians."

by Michael Jansen

GAZA - With Hamas in control of the Palestinian Authority government, and Western donors halting all direct aid to it, an already precarious humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza could turn worse.

by Mohammed El Samhouri

The most recent kidnappings in the Gaza Strip are a disheartening testimony to how factionalism, corruption and lack of discipline can scar a national struggle that was meant to exemplify precisely the opposite.

Although attempts to hijack and reduce the Palestinian struggle date back to its very early days, never before have these efforts succeeded in eclipsing Palestinian national priorities in their entirety, as we are witnessing today.

By Ramzy Baroud

by Mohammed Omer

DESPITE its so-called disengagement, Israel's war against Palestine has entered a new phase. In addition to the targeted killings of Palestinian militant leaders in the West Bank and Gaza, the Israeli army is tormenting the entire population in Gaza with sound concussion grenades. American-made F-16s circle, followed by explosions so loud that if one is detonated from a plane flying over Beit Hanoun in north Gaza, it can be heard all the way down in south Gaza. This is a new hardship for Gazans-one the Israelis would not use while Israeli families slept in the illegal settlements, lest they suffer nightmares and broken windows. Now that the settlements are empty, though, the Israeli army apparently is quite willing to send Palestinian children to the hospital with hysteria and other stress-induced illnesses.

Last week Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brokered a deal between Israelis and Palestinians on the Rafah border crossing which connects the "disengaged" Gaza Strip with the outside world. Although significant, the recent push by the United States is merely the first step on the long road to justice.

By Remi Kanazi