Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Elder of Ziyon
Yesterday, Ma'an Arabic reported that Israel reduced the amount of electricity to Gaza by 8 MW. It quotes a Hamas spokesman as saying that Israel is fully responsible for the reduction in electricity and for how difficult this will be for Gazans.
Today, Ma'an reports that Israel reduced electricity again by an additional 12 MW.
In neither of those articles is it mentioned that the Palestinian Authority demanded these cuts and stopped paying for that electricity, and that Israel was reluctant to go along.
Their English-language articles mention that this was at the "request" of the PA. But they also emphasize that NGOs are demanding that Israel supply the electricity for free anyway, laying the bulk of the blame on Israel.
The PA has been reluctant to publicly own its decision to cut Gaza off from electricity. The official Wafa news agency only speaks about it elliptically, saying the the ultimate responsibility for all woes in Gaza is Israel's. It didn't even mention the reduction in electricity over the past two days - done at the PA's insistence.
Hamas and the PA don't like to publicly blame the other for this crisis. No doubt part of the reason is because their Arab patrons are so sick of their infighting that the flow of money to both the PA and Hamas is threatened when Arab nations see them using their own citizens are pawns in their political fight.
The non-partisan Arabic media don't want to contribute to the gaping schism between the sides.
So Israel is a useful scapegoat.
As always.
