The Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine has condemned Israel’s closure of the Gaza borders making more than 1.5 million destitute Palestinians prisoners in their own homes. The systematic method of starving the Palestinians by depriving them of basic facilities such as food, water, electricity, fuel and health care are in flagrant violation of all Geneva Conventions. Yet who cares?

These vicious atrocities are obviously aimed at punishing the poverty stricken and brutally oppressed Palestinian people for practicing their inalienable right to elect a government of their own in an election described by former US President Jimmy Carter as free and fair. But sadly the Palestinians have been subjected to untold hardships for exercising their inalienable right to elect the representatives of their choice.

In the aftermath of the elections in the early 2006 when they elected HAMAS, Israel started imposing blockade causing miseries on the Palestinians in the full glare of media publicity. Unfortunately not a single nation that audaciously calls itself civilized has condemned these Israeli brutalities. Instead they make one excuse after another in justifying the Israeli crimes. This enabled Israel to continue its slow and invisible genocide against hapless Palestinian drawing swift global condemnation.

It was during June 1967 aggression the 363 square kilometer Gaza Strait, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, was brought under Israel occupation. Since then the Palestinians there have been subjected to unprecedented atrocities with the complete backing of the United States and Europe while the United Nations whose sanctions on Iraqi were sacrosanct and killed 500,000 children remains powerless in face of continuous Israeli crimes.

Ever since HAMAS, known for their integrity, honesty and commitment to the Palestinian cause, was elected in the first ever democratic elections the Israel, United States and Europe opposed to democracy joined hands to crush HAMAS and thereby crush the sole and emerging Palestinian democracy. They picked up Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and provided arms, financial and diplomatic support to instigate inter Palestinian war to weaken the Palestinian people. This didn’t work.

In June 2006 Israel sent its troops into Gaza while its air force bombed and destroyed roads, bridges, hospitals, schools and disrupted power supply besides imposing economic blockade and closing the borders. Egypt joined hands with Israel in closing the border and virtually sealed and cut off Gaza from rest of the world. Added to this Israel continue to kill Palestinian on a daily basis under one pretext or the other.

This situation continued for 20 months preventing the Palestinians from moving in or out until last week when Israel imposed complete blockade preventing food, fuel, water, electricity, fuel and medicine forcing Palestinians to starve to death .As if these oppressions were not enough Israel, fourth largest military power in the world fully backed by United States and Europe declared war on this unfortunate Palestinians.