May 26, 2002	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 13,1423

ABU DHABI: A leading United Arab Emirates (UAE) English language daily has blamed Israel for the depressing situation in the occupied territories and the miserable life ordinary Palestinians are leading.

The Dubai-based ‘Gulf News’ newspaper in its editorial on Saturday described the plight of ordinary Palestinians as desperate as they endeavour to endure against incredible odds. The paper said that over half the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza survive on less than two dollars a day and many are jobless, having been barred from travelling to work, be it companies in Israel or farmlands now occupied by Israelis .

In the paper’s view the consequence of this depressing situation has resulted in the fact that too many Palestinians do not get enough food to live on. Lack of food and inadequate diet in Palestine has been, according to the newspaper, the cause for concern of the UN World Food Programme, which called for emergency aid to be immediately dispatched to feed over half a million people in need.

The ability of Palestinians to grow most of their own food has been hindered dramatically by the Israelis capturing much of the good farmland, ‘Gulf News’ said. Additionally, where that has not occurred, roadblocks and general hardships experienced by workers in getting to their farms have meant that crops have not been harvested or replanted for next season. This therefore renders farms useless and ripe for takeover by the Israelis for building yet more settlements, which presumably is their intention all along behind such restrictions, the paper added.

It concluded by saying that the political situation in the West Bank and Gaza could take many years to resolve and peace settle on the troubled lands, suggesting that there would be little point in arguing for land if the people have died from malnutrition in the meanwhile.—WAM