This cartoon by Carlos Latuff was found on a pro-Palestinian blog called Israel’s 60th Birthday. Other cartoons “Subvert the Birthday” and remember it visually as 60 years since the Nakba, not as a celebratory photo opportunity but a commemoration of the “disaster” that is still mourned. The delivery of aid to Gaza is not without its own politics. In a conference that took place last week in Egypt, $4.48b (USD) was donated to reconstruct the Gaza Strip and aid the Palestinian Authority. The $900m pledged by the United States for rebuilding isn’t going to Hamas, which governs Gaza. Only $300m will go towards reconstruction of Gaza, and that will be funneled through organizations like the UN while the rest will be directed to the Palestinian Authority. The new administration in Washington has expressed support for a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation. But with this pinpointed direction of aid it risks continuing the policy of the previous one by bolstering Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah while marginalizing Hamas and driving more wedges between the two factions as they struggle for control.



The closure of aid flows through Gaza’s borders that Latuff’s cartoon of last year refers to is still in effect. With 14,000 homes destroyed and infrastructure in tatters, the challenges posed by the blockade frustrate those wanting to aid those devastated by the 22-day conflict. By allowing the crisis to continue, the Israeli blockade keeps Gazans from getting access to reconstruction materials that have been offered. The picture of a baby blocked by the hand of a military that doesn’t see the desperation of the people it says it is preventing from obtaining more weapons is extreme, but not an unfair depiction of the situation. What Israel risk, besides escalating the humanitarian crisis in the increasingly isolated Gaza Strip, is provoking further anger and hostility. This blockade may aim to starve Hamas out of popularity and power, but if carried out too long, it can only embolden those who respond with terrorism. I don’t have confidence that the blockade is erected with wholly peaceful aims. It’s not too much to believe that by giving what violent groups can interpret as due cause to continue firing rockets, Israel is maintaining the conditions in which it can smother Gazan autonomy through its economic and military reprisals.