Many bloggers and news outlets are using a graphic printed in The Economist to show that Israel prevents basic foodstuffs from entering Gaza, including Coriander and Chocolate.
Since the chart is in The Economist, most people accept it at face value, and mock any suggestion that The Economist could be inaccurate (emphasis mine):
I’m not about to get into a debate over whether there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza; you either think there is or you don’t, and facts won’t matter. So I thought I would simply post the following chart from that notorious left-wing propaganda outlet The Economist and let readers judge for themselves whether the blockade is designed solely to prevent weapon-smuggling.
The Economist, however, relies on a list provided by the Gisha Legal Center. But that list makes clear that it is anecdotal based upon what Palestinians have told Gisha. Even items supposedly banned, like chocolate, actually are not banned but are allowed to be shipped to the international organizations in Gaza which distribute food. (See my prior post.)
You will not hear this nuance, however, because none of the people using The Economist’s chart bother to go to the source document for that chart.
By the way, the Israeli government’s description of the supplies entering Gaza, issued a few days prior to the flotilla incident, is here.
All of this charting, however, misses the key point. Why does the Hamas focus on building its missile stocks, instead of its food stocks? Why does the Hamas loot NGO offices serving the poor in Gaza? Why does the Hamas burn down summer camps run by the U.N.?
The greatest question, however, is why don’t the people using inaccurate documents to attack Israel ever ask questions about the brutal Hamas regime?
Answer: Because they are Useful Idiots.
Does raising such inconvenient questions and answers make me an “Israel-Firster“?
Update: Bruce McQuain at Q and O has a brilliant takedown of the claim being made by Matthew Yglesias and others, based on an article by a Palestinian activist, that Israel has cut the supply of electricity to Gaza. Turns out Hamas has other priorities ahead of restoring electric generating capacity or paying for fuel.
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Related Posts:
How About Some Honesty From The Useful Idiots?
Soldiers With Pens In The Information War Against Israel
Pallywood Meets The Gaza Blockade (Or, “Did You Hear The One About How Palestinians Can’t Eat Chocolate?”)
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