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Palestine, July 26, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) - They say a gift comes from the heart but one can clearly see from Gaza's perspective this meagre gift is rather heartless.

The donation is only a fraction of the $1.5 billion in donor assistance that was promised but in the case of Gaza I guess it doesn't mean anything anyway.

Ramallah

Try walking the street of Ramallah and you will see that although West Bank is totally occupied like Gaza there is absolutely no comparison between the two.

Gaza resembles a moonscape in places totally barren of normal development as the pictures above portrays. Its people live in the world's largest open air prison in the most terrible of conditions. Despite their inability to gain access to the basics of life, such as fresh food, air and water they remain strong and spiritually bonded. I guess one of Ghandi's quotations would be relevant at this stage when he said "You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind".

The US and PA plan to give nothing to devastated Gaza

They say that when money is injected into the economy the country will grow and its benefits will trickle down to everyone. In the case of Gaza this trickle-down economics becomes watered down economics whereby those that have stand on the shoulders of those that don't have and urinate down on them thinking that this is perhaps a life-sustaining liquid.

The reality of poverty (Dixon 1999)

Gaza has been dealt a bitter blow in much the same way as Lebanon when the Israeli forces used disproportionate fire power and weapons in total violation of the Geneva Convention. The IDF was also in total violation (in every aspect) of its own Code of Conduct.

Like Lebanon, Gaza became the testing ground for new US and Israeli technological weapons. Almost every weapon violates each and every Geneva Conventions when used on a city so densely populated. To this day the military forces of the US, UK, NATO and Israel continue to use these weapons that contain uranium as either a penetrator, casing or as a counterbalance with devastating consequences. We have seen medical evidence in the returning servicemen, that in the US alone probably now amounts to around one million.

We also see the terrible suffering in the civilian populations of the Balkans, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Gaza and now possibly Pakistan. If one could compare the amount of troops in relation to the amount of civilians in all theatres of war we are talking about millions of innocent people.

Gaza Under Attack

Lets just take a closer look at this meagre sum of $200 million and what it could do for the people of Gaza, if they were the recipients' ...."Absolutely nothing"...

Gaza has now been severely contaminated by the use of the weapons as described above. As we have learnt previously, Israel used weapons containing uranium, both depleted and enriched, which some refer to as "Dirty Weapons" and in doing so have left a legacy of terrible contamination.

As an example it would be advisable to carry out a urine sample on each and every resident of Gaza, which generally costs around $1,000. One can see that such a gift becomes insignificant. How are the citizens of Gaza ever going to find out with any certainty if they have been exposed or not. There is also the possibility that hair samples may also have to be taken for similar tests and who will pay for those that fall victim to the many diseases from such weapons.
When we look at a population of 1.5 million people the truth suddenly sinks in.

One very important aspect not yet covered is who will pay for the clean-up of contaminated areas? Can such contamination ever be cleaned up? Can we possibly even imagine the huge costs associated with such a major task?

Normally in any other country the polluter pays! So who do you blame for the catastrophe that befell Lebanon and Gaza? It is obvious that the instigators were Israel but having said that one must also point a finger at the United States who manufactured and supplied most of these weapons. If it were possible to clean up uranium contamination we are looking at huge amounts of money. With Depleted Uranium alone you are looking at a half life of 4.5 billion years.

How will the international community deal with this issue? Is the answer to encapsulate the entire city under a very thick layer of concrete!

Finally let's look at the cross border contamination when Israel blasted Southern Lebanon. For instance, in the area around Khiam, some 95 Artillery Shells and 91 Bombs were used; not only wiping out and killing some staff at the UN observation post but also within minutes the contamination was crossing the border into Israel. Within one hour it had covered most of Northern Israel and commenced its deadly task of contaminating its own people, ground, crops and water. This was later to prove significant in that areas health statistics as a result of the annual change in weather patterns when rains returned to the region.

If one compares the similarity of the attack on Gaza and the probability that other types of new weapons could have been used, we are looking at a true catastrophe beyond imagination. We must remember that the contamination did not just remain as a Lebanon or Gaza issue. The aerosol from these weapons crossed international border in the region and then continued its journey around the globe at the mercy of the prevailing weather. It entered the atmosphere and then ventured off in many directions. The various levels in the upper atmosphere causing the contaminated particles to drift on the wind in almost every imaginable direction. I will cover the more technical aspects of the effects of the weapons used in both Lebanon and Gaza and how this contamination moved. I will conclude that report with a more detailed medical account of the implications associated with such contamination.

It is ironic that today I feel the pain suffered by the people of Lebanon and Gaza when I wrote this article. It was at the same time and date when the Israelis attacked Khiam in Southern Lebanon on the 25th of July 2006 (very close to the Israeli border). I must also feel the pain of the innocent Israeli citizens who fell victim to that war and the current crisis in Gaza. We, as the international community, must insist that all uranium based weapons are totally banned forever.

- Peter Eyre, Middle East Consultant