Australian surf life savers once used the beach in Gaza to put on an impressive display of their skills for soldiers serving in Palestine. Surviving British footage from about 75 years ago shows a pristine and spectacular setting which could be any beach, anywhere in the world.
But now Gaza, subjected to a near-total blockade by Israel since 2007, is best described as the world’s largest, open air prison.
According to a succession of United Nations reports — the latest in July — the Gaza Strip is on track to becoming uninhabitable by 2020. The Palestinian territory faces a combination of skyrocketing poverty, severe lack of infrastructure, polluted and inadequate water supplies, and severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods.
Read the full article by Lisa Gleeson at the Green Left Weekly.