Palestinian children sit next to bottles they filled at a drinking fountain in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, June 22, 2008. Israel increased the trickle of badly needed goods flowing into the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a military spokesman said, in the latest stage of a four-day-old truce with Hamas militants. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinian children carry bottles of waters in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, June 22, 2008. Israel increased the trickle of badly needed goods flowing into the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a military spokesman said, in the latest stage of a four-day-old truce with Hamas militants. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)Why would cute Palestinian Arab children be forced to carry bottles of drinking water home? According to AP, it must have something to do with Israel's "siege" of Gaza, because it is illustrating a story about Israel "increasing a trickle" of "badly needed goods" into Gaza, and what is a more badly-needed good than water?
The implication is that Gaza water problems are Israel's fault, and not the fault of Palestinian Arabs who have invested more in Qassam rockets rather than their infrastructure. Furthermore, it is implying that Israel has been restricting shipments of water into Gaza, when in fact Israel has been bending over backwards to help Gazans get clean water. The more paranoid can see an analogy with age-old anti-semitic canards of Jews poisoning the wells of gentiles, a standard Muslim accusation.
AP - doing what it does best.