Omar Shaban: the catastrophic situation in Gaza demands effective intervention and united efforts

Amad / Gaza — special: In light of what the Gaza Strip is subjected to of bombardment and blockade.. the position of the Palestinian National Authority must rise to the level of the event and the level of the sacrifices and suffering the Gaza Strip's inhabitants are passing through in light of the Israeli war currently under way. The Gaza Strip was never a burden, neither financial nor political, on the political project, as some fools, the short-sighted, and the profiteers of crises repeat; rather it was and will remain a strong and fundamental supporter and tributary of the Palestinian political project in its entirety. The Palestinian government, its prime minister, and its spokespeople must stop the sick, trembling discourse in their taking up of what goes on in the Gaza Strip, as if it were a region located in the middle of Africa. Such statements stir disgust and nausea — among them, for example: the Palestinian government donates to the Gaza Strip … such condescending, arrogant discourse does not issue from states that have actually presented support to the Palestinian people for tens of years; if that were the case, what would the governments of Japan, South Africa, and Malta say, for example? It must be recalled that this war comes in tragic circumstances the Gaza Strip is passing through, without precedent in terms of poverty, unemployment, the weakness of capabilities, the stoppage of the private sector's institutions, the unavailability of budgets for the important ministries and bodies, and the continuation of the blockade on the beloved Strip — which requires an urgent and large movement that surpasses the statements of solidarity issued by some Palestinian politicians whose intellectual, physical, and psychological validity has expired. And to recall also that thousands of the employees of the important sectors, such as health, ambulance, police, education, and others, who practise their work under bombardment and fire, have not received their salaries for months. Likewise the security forces in the Gaza Strip must protect the institutions, such as the banks and others, since harm to these institutions represents a loss for the Palestinian people and society in its entirety.

And in application of the articles of the Basic Law, which obliges the executive authority, as a deputy of the people, to care for it and work to realise its interests, the Palestinian Authority must take the initiative with the following:

• Demanding officially, and in a way that admits no doubt, the lifting of the Israeli blockade imposed for seven years on the Gaza Strip. Recourse can be had to the United Nations and the international institutions effective in this field. And activating the Arab follow-up committee and the governments and peoples championing the Palestinian cause.

• Declaring the Gaza Strip a stricken area, which requires allocating large and urgent budgets in all fields. What happens in the Gaza Strip of destruction in all fields exceeds by multiples what floods or heavy rains leave behind — which used to push the National Authority to declare it a disaster area.

• Calling the Legislative Council — stalled for years although its members receive salaries and allowances for meetings that have not taken place for years — to convene immediately and begin communicating with the Arab and international parliaments to stop the war on the Gaza Strip and press the Israeli leadership to lift the blockade from the Strip. If the Legislative Council does not meet in these circumstances! then when will it meet! To recall: the Legislative Council's deputies are deputies of the whole people and not of their political parties, facing the executive authority and not the reverse, as is the case.

• Demanding of sister Egypt the opening of the Rafah crossing in a natural way like any border crossing between two areas.. The opening of the Rafah crossing does not at all mean lifting the responsibility from the Israeli occupation toward Egypt, for the Gaza Strip, according to international law and the objective circumstances, is still under the control of the Israeli occupation despite the withdrawal of its forces from inside the Gaza Strip. Sister Egypt must practise its role as the largest Arab state, and it is the only Arab state neighbouring the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Its dispute with the Hamas movement must not stop it from practising its duty toward the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

• Demanding of the international institutions, whether those working in the Gaza Strip or those working from the West Bank governorates, the widening of the scope of their intervention in the field of humanitarian assistance and the presentation of financial and in-kind support, very urgently, to the service institutions such as the municipalities, the hospitals, and the institutions of care for the poor, the orphans, and the children, so that they can confront the war's repercussions on the civilians.

• Civil-society organisations must continue their important role in such circumstances through communicating with the international institutions and their partners among the civil organisations in the world, and working as far as possible on continuing to present their services in these circumstances — especially the institutions working in the field of protecting children, the elderly, people with special needs, women, and others.