Gaza Poverty not the Result of Israel’s Legal Blockade. Radio Canada Amends Article on Gazan Youth’s Self-Immolation (September 19, 2012)

Dear HonestReporting Canada Subscribers,

On September 3, Radio-Canada reportedon the self-immolation of an unemployed Gazan who died from his injuries, apparently in protest over his family’s dire living conditions.

An Associated Press story gave some context to the story:

“The family lived in a seaside slum in Gaza City. Of four children, two worked part time as cleaners. The father told Palestinian news service Maan his son sold bags of potato chips on the street sometimes, but he was frequently harassed by Hamas police. …”

“The father blamed Palestinian infighting for their family’s woes. He said he appealed to both governments, Hamas and Abbas’ Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, to help his family, but received no response.”

However, the Radio-Canada news report pointed only to Gaza’s international isolation and Israel’s legal blockade of Gaza, by way of explanation.

Radio-Canada reported: “It is the first time that this has occurred in the Gaza Strip, where the population suffers from great poverty. International isolation and the blockade imposed by Israel explain this poverty.”

Except that today, there is no civilian good that is prevented from entering Gaza. In this SRC report Hamas terrorism, corruption, mismanagement and infighting among Palestinian factions are unfortunately not mentioned. Indeed, after its takeover of Gaza in 2007, Hamas has mobilized its resources to wage war with Israel, rather than nation-build.

We contacted Radio-Canada about the inaccurate attribution. They thanked us for bringing this information to their attention and amended the article by removing the reference to the Israeli blockade.

As the Gaza Strip continues to terrorize a million Israelis in missile-reach in Israel while using its own population as human shields, it is clear that the Gaza regime’s commitment to terrorism, rather than Israel’s response to it, more appropriately explains why Gazans may suffer. It’s an explanation that was not lost on the father of the victim, Ihab Abu Nada.