Palestinians Demand End to U.N. Complicity in Gaza Siege The Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, a secretive arrangement brokered with Israel by Robert Serry, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), effectively turns the UN into the chief enforcer of Israel’s ongoing siege. Serry continues to present the UN as merely supporting the Palestinian Authority in implementing a deal for which the PA is ultimately responsible. But the reality is that Serry himself brokered and promoted the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, which is why Palestinian anger is increasingly directed toward the UN. Under the guise of reconstruction, the UN monitors and gathers detailed private information about Palestinian households to be passed on to Israel, which has a veto over which families get aid to rebuild their homes. And despite promises that the deal would at least allow Palestinians made homeless by Israeli bombing to quickly rebuild, the mechanism is not working. Even UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, which initially gave a cautious welcome to the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, is now blowing the whistle on it. UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl said last week that “despite initial results, the process for reconstruction is proving far too slow and is largely ineffective.” He added: “should this continue, we will reach the winter with no progress in rebuilding the homes of the many still displaced, including those still in UNRWA schools. The people of Gaza deserve much better and much more than that.” The 28 trucks of cement which entered Gaza on November 25th is only the second delivery of building materials for the private sector since the summer assault, the Ma’an News Agency reported. This is a tiny drop in the bucket and follows a previous delivery, also small, of 75 trucks more than a month ago. The UN estimates that more than 100,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in Israel’s attacks, affecting more than 600,000 people – one third of Gaza’s population. “It is time the UN feel the extent of public outcry as details emerge of the UN’s complicity in keeping Gaza under siege and the ways in which Israeli companies will profit from the reconstruction of Gaza.” electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/palestinians-demand-end-un-complicity-gaza-siege
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 12:25:16 +0000
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