Palestinian Childrens' Health Declines under Sharon

According to Asharq al-Awsat, a just-released Palestinian study reports that 33% of Palestinian elementary school children in the Gaza Strip under Israeli occupation are suffering from anemia. This is a tripling of the rate from before the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising two and a half years ago. Data indicates a strong link between this outbreak of anemia and the poverty imposed on the population by the Israeli blockade and the consequent unemployment. (The Gaza Strip is an economic black hole on its own; a third of its best land has been usurped by a few thousand Zionist settler-colonialists, and its borders are completely controlled by Israel, so that the blockade has essentially caused it to implode economically, with tragic results for children).

To help Palestinian children see the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund and the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. Save the Children also has a program in Palestine. Those little first-graders have not done anything to deserve being starved. And, I have to say, that Ariel Sharon doesn't look to me like he's missed too many meals.