Earth to UN

The UN sends yet another high-level official to Gaza, who says he is "shocked" by the living conditions there. Has this guy not been reading the news and his own institution's reports for the past umpteen years? Hello! Earth to UN! That Gaza is a hellhole is hardly a revelation. Even more perplexing is the envoy's apparent belief that all will be better if the flow of goods increases back to the level it was "before".... well, before when? Before the Egyptians resealed the Rafah crossing after last month's mass breaching of the wall? Before Israel's latest sealing of the Gaza Strip? Before 2001? This is akin to saying the carnivores in a zoo will have normal lives again once the local butcher returns from vacation...

The Israelis are of course always happy to promulgate the idea that they mean well if their security is respected. "Israeli spokesman Mark Regev said the situation could 'very quickly return to where it was' if rocket attacks ceased." That's just great. If my memory doesn't fail me, the status quo doesn't offer living conditions any sane person on earth would freely choose. When i was there in 2001, i couldn't believe the filth i had to wade through just to cross the narrow streets in the Jabaliya Refugee Camp (which has since experienced its share of demolitions). This statement, intended to give the impression a few rockets landing in Israel are responsible for the conditions in Gaza today, is so disingenous i can't imagine it being said with a straight face.

People say this conflict will never end, the Palestinians and Israelis are never going to accept, let alone like each other. i disagree: a resolution is possible. However, the endless stream of lies coming from all quarters - including Abbas and his american-armed thugs - has got to stop. If these were piled together, we could jump from that heap directly onto Mt. Kilimanjaro - we're talking decades of outright lies and distortions. Yes, there are intensely complicated issues that need to be resolved, but as we've seen since 1948, without even a modest effort to be honest, there's no chance for trust, and no ramp off the roadmap to hell.