Why Does New York Times Compare Gaza Mall To American Malls--But Not West Bank Mall?

Daled Amos
23 August '10

Let the message go out: We will not be defeated.
Ethan Bronner, New York Times

True, Bronner is not referring to the New York Times, but to the Palestinian Arabs of Gaza--it just appears that he got caught up in his own enthusiasm.

Actually, Bronner's enthusiasm runs throughout his article Gaza Mall Seeks to Make Statement of Resolve. It seems to dictate not only what he writes, but also what he leaves out.


When Bronner writes that Gaza, famous for its misery, has a shopping mall, it is apparent that he is referring to life in Gaza--not to the misery that rockets fired from Gaza by its Hamas leaders are causing Israeli civilians in Sderot, and elsewhere.

Bronner also goes to great pains to point out the limitations of the Gaza Mall:

(Read full post)

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.

Hungry or not? Mainstream media's hypocrisy on Gaza

Elder of Ziyon
23 August '10

The mainstream media and NGOs were the the main purveyors of the myth of Gaza was suffering form a humanitarian crisis - a myth that goes back to the early 90s at the very least.

Since the Gaza Mall opened, we have seen on a few occasions the people who have made a living talking about how miserable life is in Gaza take a step back and re-frame their arguments. They cannot deny the truth, but they don't want to retroactively look like liars - which is what they effectively have been for nearly two decades.

So, one by one, they are reframing the Gaza meme to try to save face and make sure that people still blame Israel for Gaza's problems.

Gaza is still miserable, these newly-sophisticated and nuanced journalists are saying, but it is not because the Gazans are hungry, or poverty-stricken, or cannot get basic items. Forget all those thousands of articles over the years that we wrote, forget us uncritically quoting Jimmy Carter about how Gazans are "literally starving" or being "starved to death." No, the problems with Gaza are not so much physical but a state of mind, you see.

(Read full post)

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.

Gaza Mall - the video!

Click here for more heartbreaking pictures

from the Gaza Mall

Elder of Ziyon
20 July '10

Gaza, today.

Just like Darfur, East Congo, Haiti and Auschwitz.



*****Also from Elder of Ziyon: More heartbreaking pictures from the Gaza Mall

*****And the original: Grand Opening of the Gaza Mall (Note: photos are now labeled in order that credit returns to the proper place. Elder of Ziyon invests major time in finding new and original material. Unfortunately people who should know better have more than once have self-attributed work which is not theirs. Y.)

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.

Gaza looks beyond the tunnel economy

Tobias Buck
Financial Times
24 May '10

(Not exactly the picture they normally are trying to convey, is it.)

The young tunnel worker flashes a broad smile as he tightens his grip and starts lowering himself down a narrow shaft into the sandy depths below Rafah.

Seated on a piece of wood attached to an electrical winch, he descends 18 metres and starts crawling into the narrow tunnel that continues for another 700 metres, linking this border town in the southern Gaza Strip with Egypt. Somewhere below, his colleagues are shoring up the tunnel's precarious supports, damaged by a recent explosion.

While the dangerous work proceeds below, Nasim, one of the owners of the tunnel, waits in the tent that covers the entrance. He is among a small number of Gazans who have made a fortune by undermining Israel's economic embargo of the Strip. Until recently, tunnel owners could expect to make at least $50,000 (€40,000, £35,000) in net profits every month by smuggling fuel, cigarettes and other goods from Egypt.

For close to three years, the tunnels below Rafah have offered a unique lifeline to Gazans, who are otherwise deprived of all but the most basic humanitarian supplies. They have also allowed Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Strip, to replenish its coffers and rebuild its military arsenal, making the tunnels a target for Israel.

Today, however, Nasim is more worried about the decline in business than he is about Israeli air raids. He says Hamas, whose security officers can be seen in the tunnel area, is taking an ever greater cut of the operators' profits. Moreover, the prices of many smuggled goods have fallen in recent months, thanks to a supply glut that is on striking display across the Strip.

Some argue that Gaza's tunnel economy is becoming a victim of its own success. Hundreds of tunnels have shut down over the past year as the result of greater Egyptian efforts to stop the flow of goods - and weapons - into the Strip. But the remaining tunnels, about 200 to 300 according to most estimates, have become so efficient that shops all over Gaza are bursting with goods.

Branded products such as Coca-Cola, Nescafé, Snickers and Heinz ketchup - long absent as a result of the Israeli blockade - are both cheap and widely available.

(Read full story)

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.