The threats and violence seem to have returned to their prior levels. Not surprising to many of us. Israel has few real options with regard to Gaza. Deposing a Hams governing body is not a realistic choice. Who would replace them? Israel left Gaza because she didn’t want the headaches associated with the job. The Egyptians don’t want any part of it. They keep their border crossing point tightly controlled. Probably the best that can be achieved at present is just maintaining the status quo.
So what does that mean? well, the number of attempted incursions into Israel yesterday was back to single digits. There were only 5 incendiary balloons launched. Noo mortars shells or rockets were fired. That’s about it from the Israeli side. For Gazans it means continuing a life with little hope for change. The shops in Gaza are well stocked with all kinds of goods. But the average resident hasn’t got money to buy more than the minimum necessities. The photographs of rubble and destruction are the only pictures that Hamas will allow out. Media representatives can only go where their “minders” take them, and anyone who does make a more honest report knows he or she will not be welcomed back. The only employment available is to work for some Hamas controlled enterprise as a tunnel digger/smuggler or “enforcer”. Work in Israel, when it is possible, means turning over about half of your earnings to a “protector”, someone who physically lets you get to the border crossing. This level of corruption is common in the entire region outside of Israel.
So life goes on. The Arabs are encouraged to kill Jews. Gazans get electricity for only a few hours a day (except for the Hamas leaders and cronies who have their own generators). Donations of humanitarian aid get sidetracked into the pockets of the “leadership”. Sewage still flows openly in the streets of the poorer neighborhoods. It is a miserable condition to be in, and one that doesn’t have a reasonable solution.
I may write a little more about how and why it got to be this way in a later post.
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Wetherhorn 