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“The biggest difference between us and Somalia is that up to now
there is a government here, but the mood of the people is very delicate
and the situation is likely to get worse,” said Ali Hussein, editor of
the Palestinian News Agency, WAFA.
What similarities could be drawn between the occupied lands of
Palestine and the troubled state on the Horn of Africa?
The Gaza Strip has been struck by a series of incidents ranging
from theft, gun battles and attempted abductions, yet no arrests were
reported in the attacks, believed to stem from militia and clan
rivalries.
The wave of violence followed another disaster that hit the Strip
last week..
Um Al Nasser, a small village on the northern Gaza-Israel borders,
woke up last week to tens of thousands of gallons of sewage water
flooding it's cottages.
25 Gaza municipalities are on the verge of complete paralysis due
to inability to provide services to residents in light of the economic
embargo, according to the Union of Gaza Local Municipalities.
Um Al Nasser residents are now living in the open air in cold
weather after losing their houses, personal belongings and some of their
loved ones, as they await food, assistance and shelter from the
Palestinian authority, which has been suffering Western aid embargo
since Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections.
Officials are warning that further deadly sewage floods threaten
Gaza after a wave of stinking waste and mud from a collapsed septic pool
inundated the village killing five people, including two babies.
But that’s not all.
Gangs of armed men are freely roaming the streets, probably trying
to avenge the deaths of more 100 Palestinians killed in fighting between
November and February.
“It’s rather calm today. What fighting there is right now is more
between tribes not the political factions,” Mr. Hussein of the
Palestinian News Agency said. “But is definitely not safe. I am not
advising any foreigners to come here.”
Family feud erupted between two major rival families in the
southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis- clans called Almasri and Abu
Taha.
And in Khan Younis, Hamas fighters tried to assassinate an officer
of the National Security Forces. The incident took place on March 31 but
the gunmen failed to carry out the assassination and no casualties were
reported.
Another Fatah-aligned security officer was also attacked in Gaza
City.
And most recent sign of lawlessness was the kidnapping of BBC
correspondent Alan Johnston.
What makes the situation worse is the economy, which fell a victim
of a united international initiative to punish the Palestinian nation
for electing Hamas.
Now about seventy per cent of Gaza population lives below poverty
line set by the UN.
“Finding a job, getting an education or taking care of your health
are not as important as the terrible security situation,” said Nabil
Kukali, director of the Palestinian Centre for Public Opinion.
“And by this Gazans mean internal security — what Palestinians do
to each other. They are not talking about the Israeli part of this
question.”
Canada.com quoted Ephraim Haley, who once headed Mossad — Israel’s
intelligence agency- as warning that Gaza is becoming another Somalia,
during a speech he gave last month in Jerusalem.
Also former Israeli ambassador to the European Union believes that
such disaster would be felt by Israelis as well.
Despite the heated situation in Gaza, recent developments didn’t
occupy much of the media attention, probably due to the extensive
“diplomatic efforts” by U.S. officials to win support in the Middle
East, which enjoyed great media coverage in recent days.
The only way out of this debacle, the way Palestinians see it, is
an end to the Israeli siege that has cut off most of the Gazan economy
to the world since the outbreak of the Second Intifada seven years ago.
Many analysts have long warned that Gaza's poverty helps fuel the
militancy. So surging poverty, unless controlled, will lead to more
lawlessness, criminal activities, and thus more instability, adding to
the woes of the suffering nation of Palestine
The shadow of Somalia hangs over Gaza Strip, a swift action from
the International Community and Arab leaders is needed. |
