Saturday, January 23, 2010

U.S. Policy in Gaza Remains Unchanged


(Click on cartoon by Carlos Latuff to enlarge)

By Charles Fromm and Ellen Massey

"WASHINGTON, Jan 22, 2010 (IPS) - One year ago Thursday, the last Israeli tanks were lumbering out of the Gaza Strip, ending the 22-day Gaza War and leaving in their wake a decimated landscape and population.

A year later, the humanitarian and security situation in the devastated coastal enclave remains dire, yet the Barack Obama administration continues to overlook the crisis in Gaza, an approach which some experts say is an extension of the previous administration's policy.

This policy has also done little to alleviate what human rights groups warn is a growing humanitarian crisis, plunging the Gaza Strip further into poverty and insecurity.

Sworn into office in the midst of the Gaza War, President Obama gave early prominence to the Middle East peace process in his administration's foreign policy. Yet that rhetoric has failed to materialise into progress on the peace process or relief for the people of Gaza....."

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