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The Gaza greenhouse effect

The Hasbara Buster | December 1, 2009

Every now and then the subject of the greenhouses left behind by Israeli settlers eradicated from Gaza is brought up by Israel apologists as proof of several things. It is claimed that Gazans don’t suffer from malnutrition: if they did, they wouldn’t have destroyed the greenhouses when the Israelis left. Therefore, there’s nothing wrong with Israel’s blockade of Gaza, because it doesn’t actually harm them. It is also claimed that the destruction of the greenhouses proves how hateful Gazans are: they prioritized wiping out every vestige of Jewish presence over keeping a valuable source of nutrients and income. Finally, it is asserted that a people that got the result of heavy investment and destroyed it can’t be trusted ro run anything, much less a state.

Much of this is bullshit, and the part that isn’t is highly distorted.

When Israel decided its unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, the settlers expected to be paid handosmely for the productive infrastructure they had created. Of course this was a display of chutzpah, because it had been heavy state subsidizing that had allowed them to create that infrastructure in the first place. As Haaretz noted:

The Gaza settlers had been inundated by perks from all directions. They received subsidized lands, subsidized water, assured wages from the public sector, “risk bonuses” and lower tax on their higher wages, subsidized daycare, cheap Arab labor, what didn’t they get. The benefits they received touched on every area of their lives and they became accustomed to higher standards they can’t forgo even now.

As the date of the withdrawal approached with no deal in sight, however, the settlers began to destroy the greenhouses. The New York Times reported:

About half the greenhouses in the Israeli settlements in Gaza have already been dismantled by their owners, who have given up waiting to see if the government was going to come up with extra payment as an inducement to leave them behind, say senior officials working on the coordination of this summer’s Israeli pullout from Gaza.(…)

Of the roughly 1,000 acres of agricultural land that were under greenhouses in the 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza, only 500 acres remain – creating significant doubts that the greenhouses could be handed over to the Palestinians as “a living business,” the goal cited by the Israeli coordinator of the pullout, Eival Giladi.

Finally, a last-minute effort by American Jewish philantropists raised $14 million and the remainder of the greenhouses was bought and turned over to the Palestinians.

However, since there had been no coordination with the Palestinians, there was no security plan to protect the greenhouses from looters. AP reported:

Palestinians looted dozens of greenhouses on Tuesday, walking off with irrigation hoses, water pumps and plastic sheeting in a blow to fledgling efforts to reconstruct the Gaza Strip.(…)

Palestinian police stood by helplessly Tuesday as looters carted off materials from greenhouses in several settlements, and commanders complained they did not have enough manpower to protect the prized assets. In some instances, there was no security and in others, police even joined the looters, witnesses said.

“We need at least another 70 soldiers. This is just a joke,” said Taysir Haddad, one of 22 security guards assigned to Neve Dekalim, formerly the largest Jewish settlement in Gaza. “We’ve tried to stop as many people as we can, but they’re like locusts.”

As can be seen, the theft was carried out by individuals, and in no way was it encouraged by the Palestinian Authority. Quite on the contrary, there was a conscious PA effort to prevent the lootings, which was however hindered by lack of resources.

Two reflections arise from the stories above.

On the one hand, it’s true that some of the greenhouses were destroyed by Palestinian individuals. There’s nothing remarkable about that. Beggars can’t be choosers, as the saying goes, and looting is what normally happens when two conditions are met: 1) an impoverished populace; and 2) a situation of lack of control by an established authority. Gazans stole the hardware and materials contained in the greenhouses not in a drive to erase the Jews’ memory from the territory, but to satisfy their personal needs. There was a rationale to their theft.

The destruction of part of the greenhouses by the settlers, however, can only be explained by animosity. They spent time, effort and probably even money to dismantle the facilities so that the Palestinians wouldn’t be able to use them. There’s a big difference between he who damages property in order to derive a benefit and he who damages it only to harm another person.

Many other related points could be made. For instance, that even in the Zionists’ twisted logic the looting of the facilities would justify the ban on vegetable imports into Gaza, but not that on livestock (cows can’t be raised in greenhouses). Or that the 350 Arab villages that disappeared from Israel’s map were not looted by vandals; they were razed by the State in a clear drive to eliminate any trace of Arabness from their respective landscapes. But without getting into those intricacies, and just focusing on the destruction of the greenhouses by both Jews and Palestinians, it’s clear who was moved by necessity and who by hate.

July 20, 2014 - Posted by | Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , ,

1 Comment »

  1. so-called “Jews” are NOT Israelites…

    the Talmud & hating Jesus doesn’t give someone a license to steal & Murder

    the “Jewish” narrative is a violation of the 9th Commandment

    there were never any so-called “Jews” in the Old Testament…

    KHAZARS Make Exodus & Right soon, it may already be too late…

    http://www.palestine-encyclopedia.com/EPP/TOC.htm
    CHAPTER 2:
    THE PALESTINIANS WERE A WELL-DEVELOPED NATION POLITICALLY, ECONOMICALLY, SOCIALLY AND CULTURALLY
    Introduction * The Political Advancement of the Palestinians * The Palestine Arab Party * National Defence Party * The Arab Reform Party * The National Bloc Party * The Istiqlal (Independence) Party * The First Arab Higher Committee * The Second Arab Higher Committee * Relations with the Arab League * The Third Arab Higher Committee * Youth Movements * Arab Agriculture in Palestine * Palestine Arab Industry * Comparison Between Arab and Jewish Economies in Palestine * Banking in Palestine * Palestine Arab Education * Health Services in Palestine * The Palestine Arab Labor Movement * The Arabic Press in Palestine * Cultural Advancement of the Palestine Arabs * The Holy Places of Palestine *

    CHAPTER 3:
    THE OWNERSHIP OF CAPITAL IN PALESTINE
    Land Ownership in Palestine * Buildings and Apartments * Ownership in Industry * Motor Vehicles and Estimated Value * Valuation of Rural Land Under Arab and Jewish Ownership in 1943 *

    CHAPTER 4:
    ZIONIST TERRORISM AND CRIMES IN PALESTINE 1939-1945
    Israeli Leaders are the Master Terrorists * The Goal of Zionist Terrorism * The Biltmore Resolutions * British Official Opinion of Jewish Terrorism * Agreement Between the Hagana, Irgun and Stern * The Taking of Hostages * Letter and Parcel Post Bombs * Examples of Terrorist Crimes * Zionists Accuse Arabs of Terrorism to Cover Their Own Terrorism * U.S. Congress Adopts Measures Against the P.L.O. * Discussion of Zionist Terrorism in the House of Commons * Proposed Alliance Between the Stern Gang and Nazi Germany * Zionist Terrorism and Crimes in Palestine 1939-1945, Reports from the Public Record Office, London *

    CHAPTER 5:
    ZIONIST TERRORISM AND CRIMES IN PALESTINE 1946
    Statement of Information Relating to Acts of Violence in Palestine (Command Paper 6873) published by the British Government * Conclusion * Examples of Terrorist Crimes * Debates in the House of Commons About Jewish Terrorism * Zionist Terrorism and Crimes in Palestine 1946, Reports from the Public Record Office in London *

    CHAPTER 6:
    ZIONIST TERRORISM AND CRIMES IN PALESTINE 1947
    Examples of Terrorist Crimes * Debates in the House of Commons About Jewish Terrorism * Zionist Terrorism and Crimes in Palestine 1947, Reports from the Public Record Office in London *

    CHAPTER 7:
    ZIONIST TERRORISM AND CRIMES IN PALESTINE 1948
    Assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte, United Nations Mediator * Examples of Terrorist Crimes * Debates in the House of Commons About Jewish Terrorism * Zionist Terrorism and Crimes in Palestine 1948, Reports from the Public Record Office in London *

    http://buelahman.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/why-senator-joe-mccarthy-had-to-be-destroyed/

    CHAPTER 8:
    INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW
    Development in the Nineteenth Century and Early Twentieth Century * Customs and Practices Accepted by Civilized Nations Generally * The Second Hague Peace Conference and 1907 Convention * The International Military Tribunal Upheld the Validity of the 1907 Hague Convention * 19 19 Peace Conference and the League of Nations * Kellogg-Briand Pact * Declarations of Pan-American Conferences * The London Agreement and the International Military Tribunal * The Indictment of the Major Nazi War Criminals * Judicial Decisions Regarding International Criminal Law *

    ——> * War Crimes * The Crime of Genocide * Crimes Against Humanity *
    Crimes Against Peace * The Geneva Convention of 1949 * Punishment of Criminals *
    *** Statute of Limitation Shall Not Apply Towards War Crimes****
    and Crimes Against Humanity *
    **** Principles of International Cooperation in the Detection, Arrest,
    Extradition and Punishment of War Criminals ****

    CHAPTER 9:
    THE CONSPIRACY TO EXPEL AND THE EXPULSION OF PALESTINIAN ARABS 1948-1950
    Conspiracy to Expel the Palestinians * Evidence of the Expulsion of Palestinian Arabs * Summary of the Expulsions from April 1948 *

    CHAPTER 10:
    EXAMPLES OF MASSACRES COMMITTED BY THE ZIONISTS AND ISRAELIS
    The King David Hotel Massacre * Semiramis Hotel Massacre * Deir Yassin Massacre * The Massacre of Dawayma * The Massacre of Kibya * Massacre of Kfar Kassem * The Massacre of the U.S.S. Liberty * The Libyan Boeing 727 Airline Massacre * The Massacre of the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon * The Kahan Commission Report * Conclusion *

    CHAPTER 11: 1.
    ERASING ARAB TOWNS AND VILLAGES FROM THE MAP AND CONVERTING THEM INTO JEWISH SETTLEMENTS 2. USURPING ARAB HOUSES AND APARTMENTS IN TWELVE CITIES FOR SETTLING JEWS
    Towns and Villages in Palestine in 1945 (Supplement No. 2 of the Palestine Gazette, June 7, 1945) *Districts and Subdistricts of Palestine * Arab Cities, Towns and Villages Occupied in 1948 * The Destruction and Resettlement of Arab Villages * Expulsion of the Inhabitants of Villages and Towns * Zionist Settlements on the Sites of Plundered Arab Villages * Existing Arab Towns and Villages in Israel * The Fate of the Bedouin Population in Israel * The Schedule of Towns and Villages in Palestine and Their Fate After 1948 * Summary * The Destruction of Arab Towns and Villages and Spoliation and Usurpation of Arab Houses, Apartments and Commercial Buildings Are a War Crime * Appendix 1, Partial List of Arab Towns and Villages Erased from the Map of Palestine, the Areas of Land Usurped, and Names of Some Jewish Settlements Established on Their Lands *

    CHAPTER 12:
    LOOTING, PILLAGE, PLUNDER AND SPOLIATION OF THE PERSONAL AND REAL PROPERTIES OF PALESTINIANS IN TWELVE CITIES AND LARGE TOWNS AND 526 SMALL TOWNS AND VILLAGES 1948-1967
    Looting, Pillage and Plunder * Spoliation of So-called “Present Absentees” * The Usurpa- tion and Destruction of Arab Houses and Apartment in Towns, Cities and Villages * Palestine Totals by Sub-District *

    little on the backstory…

    meanwhile, http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.606022

    FREE PALESTINE !!!

    Like

    Anthony Clifton's avatar Comment by Anthony Clifton | July 20, 2014 | Reply


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