Sunday, January 22, 2012
Elder of ZiyonHeavy-duty diesel for the power plant is delivered directly from Egypt according to the Palestinians' decision; therefore, no diesel is transferred from Israel.
For years Palestinian Arabs and their anti-Israel cohorts have blamed Israel for choking off Gaza's power plant. Yet now Hamas is saying it doesn't need any diesel fuel from Israel at all!
Does that sound like a besieged area?
Other interesting stories about that "open-air prison" known as Gaza that you won't see in the news:
- During that same week, Gaza exported 56 tons of agricultural goods (carnations, cherry tomatoes and strawberries.)
- For the first time, furniture has been exported from Gaza, with a truck full of furniture going to Jordan.
- Last month, 99.5% of the people trying to leave Gaza for medical care in Israel or PA territories received permits. That number has been steadily increasing over the last couple of years.
Also, last week, the Arab League sent 45 tons of food to Gaza through Rafah.
Sounds like a lot, right?
Here are the amounts sent via Israel to Gaza during the second week of January:
| Food Products | Trucks | Tons* |
| Wheat | 6 | 120 |
| Cooking Oil | 7 | 140 |
| Rice | 2 | 40 |
| Produce (Fruits and Vegetables) | 57 | 1140 |
| Meat, Chicken and Fish Products | 44 | 880 |
| Salt | 8 | 160 |
| Dairy Products | 25 | 500 |
| Flour | 23 | 460 |
| Sugar | 8 | 160 |
| Mixed\ Additional Food Products | 92 | 1840 |
| Total food, tons | 5440 |
Most of the aid coming through Israel's crossings originate in the West, showing that while Arabs trumpet every time they give any aid to Gaza, it is a token amount compared to what comes from the West.
And, by the way, Juan Cole's site still says that exports from Gaza are "zero."
*I based this on 20 tons/truck. The total shipments given in the COGAT statistics indicate 25 tons of aid per truck, so this is a conservative estimate.
