Baby Food and Pasta Are “Weapons of Mass Destruction†By: Ali Baghdadi
(arabjou...@aol. com Chicago) If you were told that the U.S. government banned baby food from reaching Iraqi infants, and that the Israeli government prevented pasta from entering besieged Gaza, you most likely would immediately dismiss these two statements as a dirty “joke†or an outright “lie†. Sadly, it is not a joke or a lie. It is real and documented. It can be easily researched and verified. It is difficult to believe that “civilized†countries that care for animals, spend millions of dollars to feed them and groom them, support their rights, and punish people that mistreat them, could allow their governments to be cruel to fellow humans. To be blunt, this contrast in dealing with animals and humans can be simply characterized as “split personality†. It must be dealt with. Not only had it destroyed the only Iraqi infant milk formula plant during the 1991 Gulf War. The U.S. government also prevented Iraq from importing baby food to feed millions of its malnourished children for thirteen years of economic sanctions designed to topple the late Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein. Likewise, in the aftermath of its recent barbaric Gaza invasion that fair minded Jewish historians and intellectuals condemn as genocide, the Israeli government stopped emergency relief shipments of pasta from reaching the tiny strip in order to bring down the Hamas government which, according to former President Jimmy Carter, came to power through free and democratic elections. What a tragedy! For thirteen years, baby food was among a list of more than a million items that Washington forbade Iraq from importing. No logical or rational explanation was provided. For thirteen years, did the U.S. government consider Iraqi infants as potential “terrorists†, who may convert this food to poison gas and seriously threaten American cities. The list of sanctioned items included ambulances, hearing aids, eyeglasses, paper, pens, pencils, toothbrushes, toothpaste, epilepsy medication, soap, shampoo, and even toilet paper. The amount of food and medicine allowed into Iraq was no more than about a third of what the country usually imported to meet the needs of its people prior to the unjustly imposed sanctions. The twenty million Iraqis had virtually become a herd of sheep whose minimal requirements had been reduced to foodstuffs, a few medicines and some essentials that the Sanctions Committee residing in New York determined. As confirmed by the World Health Organization and the U.N. Children Fund, and many other organizations, the slow genocide due to starvation and health hazards caused the demise of more than one and a half million innocent Iraqis, mostly children. The same cruel and savage policy and behavior have been repeated in Gaza. The tiny strip has been under Israeli siege for almost two years. Nothing can enter Gaza by sea, air or land without Israeli approval. Most of the humanitarian food and medical supplies donated to relieve some of the pain and suffering inflicted by Israel against the people of Gaza have not been allowed to enter. For seven weeks, an international aid organization, Mercy Corps, has been trying to send 90 tons of pasta to feed the 1.5 million starving people of Gaza, but to no avail. According to U.N. aid workers, “Israel does not define pasta as part of humanitarian aid†. "We're at the end of our rope,.. "This is just ridiculous. It's absolutely absurd," commented David Holdridge, the head of the emergency relief efforts for Mercy Corps. “When the delivery of aid is restricted to an argument of pasta vs rice, then the situation becomes a little ridiculous. No security reasons justify a blockade on pasta," Sammay Mshasha, a spokesman for UNRWA commented. Ironically, pasta is not the only “weapon of mass destruction†that Israel bans from reaching Gaza, the largest open concentration camp on the globe. The list is too long. It includes everything from lentils, tomato paste and fruit juice to paper, textbooks and crayons. Healthy educated Palestinian children are viewed as a threat to the continued illegitimate existence of the Jewish settler state. The list also contains construction material, steel, cement and glass. Approximately, 15,000 buildings were destroyed as a result of 22 days of Israeli carpet bombing. More than 50,000 men, women and children are left homeless. In addition, agricultural supplies that include seedlings, fertilizers, and piping which are essential to revive the economy that Israel destroyed are banned. Medicine and medical equipment, as well as spare parts for water and sewage treatment plants are severely curtailed. Senator John Kerry, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, became aware of the pasta “episode†during his fact finding mission to Gaza in the aftermath of the Israeli genocidal attack. Only after the U.S. senator, protested, and demanded an explanation for the ban, did Israel’s Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, give the green light for the pasta to enter into Gaza. U.S. Representatives Brian Baird and Keith Ellison, who also toured Gaza, expressed similar complaint, and criticized Israel's "idiosyncratic and arbitrary" inhumane policy. "When have lentil bombs --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WebTV Dawgs/Dittos" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/WebTV-Pals -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
