Gaza's Economy Decimated? Sounds Familiar, Doesn't It?
Al Jazeera points to Gaza's 80 percent unemployment, blaming "Israeli counts on small initiatives." This polite phrasing sidesteps the systematic economic strangulation of Gaza, a policy in place since the 2007 blockade. Israel's stated goal of maintaining a 'diet' on Gaza's population — explicitly revealed in 2012 documents obtained via the Gisha legal center — systematically limited caloric
intake and prevented economic development. This wasn't some organic market failure, but a deliberate, engineered impoverishment. We're meant to believe this devastating unemployment rate is a recent development, rather than the culmination of decades of siege and periodic bombardments that obliterate what little infrastructure exists. How many times must an economy be 'decimated' before we call it
a policy of immiseration? One might wonder how many more 'small initiatives' will be needed to finally acknowledge the larger, deliberate pattern.