Israel, "Lanceted" Again

Why is charity failing to help the Pals.?

It's complicated but I guess it's called the "Wall Disease". Read on.

The answer:

The billions of aid dollars poured into the Palestinian territories in the past 15 years have failed to bring about development because donors have overlooked everyday insecurity, health researchers say.

And how much aid has there been?

Some $9.4 billion in aid disbursed since 1994 has not met its goals, with evidence in recent years pointing to a reversal in development in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, according to a study in a special issue of the Lancet medical journal focusing on Palestinian health.

So, what's there to do?

This week, international donors pledged $4.5 billion of new aid to help the Palestinian economy and rebuild Gaza after Israel's offensive, although they insisted their funds should bypass the territory's Hamas rulers.

Awad Mataria of Birzeit University said the money could help alleviate medical suffering but would be most effective if used to tackle the political factors behind the conflict. "If we want to improve health, we have to deal with the causes of the occupation," he said.

Giacaman urged donors to go beyond meeting the immediate needs of the crisis-hit population. "Humanitarian aid is not enough," she said. "We need to address the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian land and the severe violation of human rights, including health rights."

Ah, ignore the "right now" problems and use the suffering of the population to champion a political agenda.

Nice thinking, there.

Why hasn't the goals been met?

Rajaie Batniji of Oxford University, one of the study's authors, said the international community had done little to stop threats to the basic security of the territories' 3.8 million inhabitants, targeting the effects of the violence rather than its causes.

The effects of violence? You mean Pal. Terror?

..."Giving aid without doing things to open the economy, giving aid without taking measures to ensure people are safe might not achieve the effects we're all hoping for." Batniji's team analysed direct threats to Palestinians' security, including aerial bombings, the use of guns by the Israeli military, demolition of homes and land confiscation.

Well, what do you really mean?

The study also explores indirect threats to human security, which spring from "an interlocking web of checkpoints, barriers, border closures, curfews and the permit system imposed by Israel". Symbolic of these is the towering security barrier Israel began building in 2002, a 720 km (447 mile) construction separating Israeli settlements from Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

So, one's health, if one be an Arab near Israel, is bad because of a...wall?