The UN's lead humanitarian officer for the Palestinians tells Dina Ezzat that the Israeli occupation is the real problem is commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in the Near East. Based in Gaza, Abuzayd is convinced that the worst is not yet over, neither for inhabitants of Gaza, nor those of the West Bank. In Cairo for "an exchange of opinion" with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, Abuzayd, while avoiding entering into discussion of the political dynamics played out lately on the Palestinian scene, was keen to stress a point few others appear willing to accept: "Politics aside, Gaza today seems to be much safer than it was a few months ago. Now we can conduct our work in an easier manner. We can walk around and we can even take an evening walk. This was not the case until recently," she told Al-Ahram Weekly. For Abuzayd, the issue is more than the mere establishment of security. Nor is it only providing food rations and medical relief for the growing number of Palestinians -- especially in Gaza -- who "are becoming increasingly dependent" on humanitarian and relief bodies. And while UNRWA is working hard to facilitate the entry of building materials -- used for housing, schools, and at present essential repairs following the recent violence -- Abuzayd's clearest concern is a spreading loss of hope, aggravating existing conditions of despair, leading Gaza especially to resemble "an abyss". One outcome, Abuzayd told the Weekly, is that many Gazans are trying everything possible to abandon the Gaza Strip. "This is something that one would never expect of the Palestinians, who have never left their land and would do anything to stick to their land," Abuzayd says with genuine concern. "Many people want to emigrate, wishing so out of fear for their children, for whom they perceive no future under the current situation, one unlikely to improve before a decade at least," she added. According to Abuzayd, statistics for the last six months of 2006 indicate that some 10,000 Gazans pursued exits from Gaza while 45,000 more are now presenting immigration applications to different countries. "People are living in dire conditions," the commissioner general stressed, with many parents "sacrificing their meals and healthcare for the sake of their children". Still determined to avoid talking politics, Abuzayd was not shy of hiding her criticism of the attempt by "some" to isolate Gaza in the name of isolating Hamas. Despite the fact anti- Hamas rhetoric coming from many quarters, including Palestinians, appears more strident than actual action on the ground, Abuzayd was quick to stress that, "Gaza cannot take anymore". The Strip is already "in the eye of the storm", with poverty rife, and unemployment and deprivation a daily reality for nearly all. The situation, Abuzayd insisted, violates basic human rights, in particular the right of everyone to enjoy an adequate standard of living and healthcare. For Abuzayd, implementing the Millennium Development Goals is supposed to be about the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. The exact opposite is happening in Gaza. "These noble goals are being rendered meaningless by abject socio-economic conditions," said Abuzayd. Upward of 66 per cent of Palestinians living in Gaza were suffering acute poverty towards the end of 2006, up 30 per cent from 2005. Unemployment has doubled since 1999. Close to 80 per cent of Gazans rely on UN food aid. Judging by recent World Bank figures, Abuzayd said, the situation is getting worse. The situation is also humiliating for people "who want to have jobs and provide for themselves and their families rather than live on food handouts." Attempting to alleviate poverty and hardship, UNRWA will provide employment opportunities to the most needy refugee families throughout the Gaza Strip. These employment projects will create some 640,000 days of work for unemployed refugees. They will offer employment in UNRWA facilities, as well as with community- based organisations and the private sect While Abuzayd acknowledges the inter- factional Palestinian fighting helps sustain Gaza's "dire conditions", unlike some other officials who wish to blame Palestinians, Abuzayd has the courage to blame most of the present suffering on the continued Israeli occupation and the blind eye turned -- and at times outright support given -- by the international community. "These dire conditions are largely the result of de facto sanctions imposed by Israel and the international community since early 2006 [when the Hamas government was elected]," she said. This week, during talks in Cairo with Moussa and Abul- Gheit, Abuzayd called for urgent aid for Gaza as fears about a humanitarian crisis mount. "We have identified nearly $30 million worth of emergency projects for which we need urgent funding," she said, while making a special appeal to Arab donors, some of whom she acknowledged as being especially generous with their support. Meanwhile, Abuzayd is concerned that growing world attention on Gaza -- deserved though it may be -- risks overshadowing the fact that Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank are also suffering. There too, Abuzayd said, a broad spectrum of Palestinian rights are "gravely abused on a regular basis", mainly by Israel as the occupying power. "In the West Bank you have the settlements, you have the checkpoints, and you have the [separation] wall. You have the territories being eaten up and being cut up," the commissioner general said. As an UN official, Abuzayd is worried that the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories "is an assault on international humanitarian law and the principles underling it." And Abuzayd is also concerned with the impact on Israelis, in view of the fact that "no state is be able to achieve its security in isolation." And the question of Palestinian refugees is not only restricted to the West Bank and Gaza: Lebanon, Syria and Jordan all have refugee camps that are struggling amid hardships of various forms. While UNRWA's work continues, with significant if limited benefits, there appears little reason for optimism. It is only within the zone of political calculations that Abuzayd is keen to leave to others that an end to the six decades long suffering of the Palestinians will be found. This is an added source of frustration for Palestinians consigned for generations to deprivation and poverty.
