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Gaza rebuilding faces Israeli block on materials
Despite the international community's pledging billions to reconstruct the Gaza Strip after Israel razed much of it to the ground during its January offensive, donations have proved futile in the face of Israel's persistent blockade that has prevented key building material from entering the Strip for security reasons.
"Hello? This is Mahmoud, over at Hamas! I wanna place an order for eight tons of dynamite... Of course it's for reconstruction... Can you ship that airmail?
As world leaders met in Egypt for a conference on Gaza reconstruction, the irony of such efforts was palpable as Israel continued to block the passage of cement, iron and steel, all essential materials for reconstruction.

" We are facing on the one hand, large sums of money of potential use to the Strip and on the other, no means of using this money in substantive ways, on a large scale "
Michael Bailey, Oxfam
After heavily bombing tunnels at the Rafah border and declaring a unilateral ceasefire, Israel retained full control over Gaza's commercial crossings, through which goods and other materials for rebuilding must pass, in a bid to control reconstruction efforts and seek guarantees that reconstruction projects will not benefit Hamas.

"[U]nless key goods are allowed in and Israel ends its blockade reconstructing Gaza will not happen," the international aid agency Oxfam warned in a press release Sunday.

As important as the financial contributions expected to come out of hte donor's conference are, Oxfam's Jerusalem head officer Michael Bailey warned that they would be meaningless unless pressure is put on Israel to allow essential goods including building materials to enter Gaza.

"We are facing on the one hand, large sums of money of potential use to the Strip and on the other, no means of using this money in substantive ways, on a large scale," Bailey told AlArabiya.net, adding that having a roof over one's head is basic humanitarian need..
Not being able to spend large sums of money does limit the graft potential ...
Posted by: Fred 2009-03-03
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=263984