The 50-day Israeli onslaught on Gaza last summer produced many extraordinary numbers: more than 2,000 Palestinians killed; 540 Palestinian children dead; more than 11,000 Palestinians injured, many losing limbs or suffering horrendous burns; 16,000 homes destroyed or made uninhabitable; 133,000 damaged. The numbers are so stunning in the magnitude of loss of human life and material destruction that one cannot quite get one's head around them. But just when it was thought that the public had seen and heard the worst comes a totally new fact: the rebuilding of homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza could, according to the international charity agency Oxfam, take more than a century to complete unless an Israeli blockade restricting imports of construction materials into the Gaza Strip is lifted. This failure to rebuild will only exacerbate the trauma of nearly one million children in Gaza who have experienced unimaginable suffering in three major conflicts spanning six years. The next generation, the teenagers, are experiencing feelings of hopelessness and helplessness because even if they strive mightily, they cannot get a decent job. Job opportunities are simply not there. People who have become numbed by the statistics should nevertheless try to put themselves in the shoes of Gazans and at least try to imagine what kind of lives the inhabitants are living. Many have just six hours of electricity a day and are without running water. Families have been living in homes without roofs, walls or windows for the past six months. Thousands more are living in damaged buildings, using plastic sheeting to try to keep out the rain. Children die from exposure to winter cold. The Israeli blockade, in place for more than nine years, must be lifted. It was imposed after Hamas won parliamentary elections, a poll that was called for by countries, including the US, which wanted to see a democratic process come to the occupied territories. Well, a democratic vote was held, but because the results were not what some countries wanted, instead of cables of congratulations being sent to Gaza, a blockade was imposed. It is deplorable that the international community is once again failing the people of Gaza when they need it most. Help from the outside has either not been coming at all or has come in bits and pieces. Little of the $5.4 billion pledged for Gaza's reconstruction at a Cairo conference of international donors last October has reached the territory. There has been no progress on substantive talks on a long-term solution to the crisis in Gaza, which were supposed to happen after the ceasefire. There has been no headway since the collapse of the peace process talks in April last year. The continued non-payment of the salaries of public sector employees because Israel is withholding tax revenues, and the lack of progress in the national unity government further increase tension. Most important, a return to hostilities is inevitable if progress is not made and the root causes of the conflict are not addressed. Most of the 1.8 million residents are trapped in the coastal enclave, with no hope for the future. This is not the kind of life that people should be living in this century and certainly not people of the Arab world whose governments constantly trumpet the themes of Arab unity and pan-Arab nationalism which are supposed to make people proud that they are Arabs. But when an Arab looks at the situation in Gaza he cannot help but feel ashamed and embarrassed that this deterioration of people and property is happening to other Arab people.
