Gaza Humanitarian Aid | The American Task Force on Palestine

UN concerned over closure of Gaza NGO
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 8, 2010 - 1:00am

The United Nations expressed concern Tuesday over Hamas authorities' closure of the Sharek Youth Forum, a large independent NGO in Gaza. "I am very concerned about the recent forced closing of Sharek Youth Forum in Gaza. Sharek is an important NGO partner of the United Nations in its work on behalf of children and the youth in Gaza," said Maxwell Gaylard, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the Palestinian territories.

Israel: Easing of Gaza Blockade Did Little, Report Says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - December 1, 2010 - 1:00am

A group of 22 international human-rights and aid groups issued a report on Tuesday asserting that Israel’s easing of its blockade of Gaza five months ago had made little difference to the people living there. The groups, including Amnesty International and Save the Children, said that construction material was still trickling in and that exports remained banned, meaning that the Palestinian coastal strip could not recover from Israel’s three-week war there two years ago. Israel responded that the report was distorted.

Rights groups accuse Israel of ducking pledge to ease Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
November 30, 2010 - 1:00am

Israel has only marginally eased its three-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip, leaving business and construction largely frozen in the impoverished and war-damaged Palestinian territory, a report by several aid groups said Tuesday. The groups accused Israel of ducking promises to ease the blockade's effects on civilians, a pledge it made under pressure after a deadly Israeli commando raid in May on an international flotilla protesting the restrictions. A Palestinian girl stands by sacks of humanitarian aid in Shatie refugee camp, in Gaza City on June 6, 2010. Photo by: AP

Israel's eased blockade 'still crippling' Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
by Jon Donnison - November 29, 2010 - 1:00am

That is the verdict of a new report by aid agencies and rights groups working inside the Palestinian territory. A ban on most exports from Gaza is "crippling" the economy, they say. The report, "Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza Blockade", was compiled by 21 different groups, including Oxfam, Amnesty and Save the Children. "Only a fraction of the aid needed has made it to the civilians trapped in Gaza by the blockade," said Jeremy Hobbs, Director of Oxfam International.

The enemy within: life under Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - November 28, 2010 - 1:00am

He seemed to come from nowhere, walking at a fast pace across the junction where we were parked in the heart of the crowded refugee camp. Alerted to the registration number of our taxi, he opened a back door and slipped into the rear seat. "Let's get out of here," he said. "There are eyes everywhere."

Gaza’s blockade silences women voice
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Lakhdar Brahimi, Mary Robinson - (Analysis) November 23, 2010 - 1:00am

We have just visited Gaza Strip where we met many courageous people trying to live relatively normal lives despite the crippling effects of the illegal Israeli blockade. The blockade was imposed to punish the Hamas-led government, but it is women and children who are paying the highest price. In our conversations with a range of women, we learned that despite the apparent “easing” of restrictions by Israel and Egypt, important socio-economic indicators such as poverty, malnutrition, unemployment and family violence are getting worse.

For Family of Slain Activist, No End in Sight for Case
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - November 7, 2010 - 12:00am

HAIFA, Israel — Seven years after an American student, Rachel Corrie, was killed in Gaza by an Israeli military bulldozer she tried to block, becoming a global symbol of the Palestinian struggle, her parents and her older sister sit in an Israeli court in this northern city with two hopes: to confront the men who ran over her and to prove that the army investigation into her death was flawed.

UN Gaza leaders given submachine guns for protection 'against Hamas'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - November 5, 2010 - 12:00am

The defense establishment has taken the unusual step of granting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency approval to take four weapons into Gaza. The weapons, submachine guns, are to serve the security detail guarding the heads of the agency in Gaza. The request to bring in the weapons was made three years ago and approved last week. The director of UNRWA's activities in Gaza, John Ging, said on his website that his life is in constant danger and he needs more suitable protection than the handguns his bodyguards had been carrying.

U.N. council endorses report accusing Israel of executions aboard aid flotilla
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Colum Lynch - (Analysis) September 29, 2010 - 12:00am

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Human Rights Council voted Wednesday to endorse the report of a U.N. fact-finding mission that accused Israeli commandos of summarily executing six passengers on a Turkish aid flotilla last May, among them a 19-year old Turkish-American dual citizen who was shot five times, including once in the face. Upon its release last week, the 56-page report was immediately dismissed by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office as "biased" and "distorted." Israel's deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon characterized the report in a radio interview as "a big lie."

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