Richard Falk, the UN's special rapporteur on the situation in Gaza [emphasis mine]:
and unlawfulness of the Gaza blockade imposed by Israel, such a flurry
of denunciations by normally cautious UN officials has not occurred on
a global level since the heyday of South African apartheid.
And still Israel maintains its Gaza siege in its
full fury, allowing only barely enough food and fuel to enter to stave
off mass famine and disease. Such a policy of collective punishment,
initiated by Israel to punish Gazans for political developments within
the Gaza strip, constitutes a continuing flagrant and massive violation
of international humanitarian law as laid down in Article 33 of the
Fourth Geneva Convention.
It is long past the time when talk suffices. As
[UN's Karen] AbuZayd has written, "the chasm between word and deed" with respect to
upholding human rights in occupied Palestine creates a situation where
"radicalism and extremism easily take root." The UN is obligated to
respond under these conditions. Some governments of the world are
complicit by continuing their support politically…
Thanks to Rupa Shah, who says: "the situation in Gaza
is Catastrophic. the silence of the world is deafening. tha apathy is
shocking. are we going to talk about this after 50 years and feel
guilty that we did not speak out and looked the other way?"
