An emergency United Nations Security Council debate requested by Arab nations “to demand that the Council order a halt” to Israel’s assault on Gaza, was held Friday. According to Ha’aretz, “no resolution was circulated to council members Friday, apparently because of U.S. opposition to any council action.”
The “debate” ended despite warnings of an impending humanitarian crisis. In a statement released 28.06.06 by Christian Aid, William Bell, “senior policy officer responsible for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” said, “By the weekend it is estimated that water will be in dangerously short supply and that essential foods will be unavailable. After only 24 hours of a military invasion and siege on a civilian population the humanitarian impact is looking perilous.”
Do Americans realise what is being done in their name? The U.S. endorsed these war crimes from the start, and removed all doubts of complicity by blocking a ridiculously moderate resolution to end the illegal destruction. Beyond this insurance policy that holds it responsible for some of the damages, the United States is liable for all of it, including the consequences. Chris McGreal reported days ago, Israel’s electricity company stands “to make a handsome profit from the army’s destruction.” That is simply outrageous. Palestinians should not be made to pay for a service the Israelis wantonly destroyed, and they should not be held prisoner to Israel’s decisions on when and if to provide it. Some guarantees should be in place restricting Israel from withholding electricity as punishment whenever they feel like doing so. Will Hutton reports today that “already, frailer Palestinians are dying.” How many more murders are Americans willing to aid and abet?
Government to vote on supplying electricity to Gaza
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
The government will vote Sunday on a proposal to supply electricity from Israel to the Gaza Strip, in order to resume electricity to the area after an Israel Air Force strike on a Palestinian power station there.
If approved, the Israel Electric Corporation will erect special electrical lines stretching from Israel into Gaza. According to government sources, Sunday’s vote follows days of international pressure.
The Gaza Strip requires 200 megawatts of electricity, half of which is provided by the power station, and half which is supplied by the Israel Electric Corporation. After the IAF strike, the power station’s capacity was cut by half.
United States officials said they expect that U.S. funds will be used to pay for the damages caused by an Israel Air Force strike Tuesday on a Palestinian power station in the Gaza Strip. The power station was insured by a U.S. government agency, according to The Boston Globe.
The Foreign and Defense Ministry departments that oversee foreign relations were unaware of the decision to target civilian facilities in the Strip, or the decision to attack the power station. Because of this, officials did not know that the station was insured by a U.S. government agency. Israel did not inform the U.S. prior to attacking the power station.
The power station in Gaza was built over a period of five years, at a cost of $150 million. In 1999, the Enron Corporation, along with Palestinian businessman Said Khoury, began working on the project. In 2000, Khoury’s Morganti Group purchased Enron’s share of the project.
The power station began operating in 2002, reaching full commercial capacity in 2004. The owners of the power station insured it, through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, for a sum of $48 million due to “political risks.” OPIC is a U.S. government authority that insures U.S. investments in developing markets.
A spokesman for the agency said the insurance purchased by the Morganti Group covers instances of political violence, which include wars and acts of terror.
The plant supplies electricity to some 860,000 people.
A black flag
By Gideon Levy
A black flag hangs over the “rolling” operation in Gaza. The more the operation “rolls,” the darker the flag becomes. The “summer rains” we are showering on Gaza are not only pointless, but are first and foremost blatantly illegitimate. It is not legitimate to cut off 750,000 people from electricity. It is not legitimate to call on 20,000 people to run from their homes and turn their towns into ghost towns. It is not legitimate to penetrate Syria’s airspace. It is not legitimate to kidnap half a government and a quarter of a parliament.
A state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organization. The harsher the steps, the more monstrous and stupid they become, the more the moral underpinnings for them are removed and the stronger the impression that the Israeli government has lost its nerve. Now one must hope that the weekend lull, whether initiated by Egypt or the prime minister, and in any case to the dismay of Channel 2’s Roni Daniel and the IDF, will lead to a radical change.
Do Americans want a regional war, “which will bring in the United States and permit the use of nuclear weapons to devastate Iran,” as Carol Moore and others are wondering? Because it would appear they’re going to have one with their permission or not.