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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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 Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 7:26 pm Post subject: Luxury shopping mall opens in "impoverished" Gaza |
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Heartbreaking stuff. The Humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Gaza where Palestinians are forced to search for luxurious clothes and bargains and endure a high standard of living.
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Bargain Prices for 'Zionist' Clothes in New Gaza Luxury Mall
July 2010
While Hamas continues to complain that Gaza lacks building materials, a luxury mall in Gaza City held its grand opening over the weekend. Among the goods on sale are Israeli men's clothing, and items from Turkey, France, and the United States.
Pictures of the new mall were featured on the Palestinian Authority Safa website and by the Associated Press.
A variety of stores sell cosmetics, clothing, office supplies, toys, shoes, appliances and more. The mall boasts air conditioning and a delivery service.
Hamas has often accused Israel of creating a �siege� by keeping its border crossings to Gaza closed. According to Hamas, Gaza lacks electricity and building supplies.
Gross, who has previously posted pictures of fancy restaurants, shops filled with goods, and even an Olympic-size swimming pool during the �Israeli siege,� pointed out that Gaza enjoys a higher standard of living than Turkey, which recently sent citizens on a flotilla to Gaza in violation of an Israeli naval blockade of Hamas. Noting that life expectancy and literacy rates are higher in Gaza than in Turkey, while infant mortality rates are lower, he asked, �Have they considered that perhaps the humanitarian flotillas ought to be going in the other direction, towards Turkey?� |
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/138671 |
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BoholDiver
Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:07 am Post subject: |
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| Look at the source of that article. |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| BoholDiver wrote: |
| Look at the source of that article. |
So then look at a different source, if you must.
Oh look, its an independent journalist- something I have come to trust more and more in recent years.
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Will the Western media show these images?
Tom Gross
Please scroll down below for photos of the new shopping mall that opened today in Gaza. I have also attached new photos and film of Gaza�s hotels, beauty spas, swimming pools, beaches and street markets -- images the BBC, New York Times and others refuse to show you.
Meanwhile, Hamas are deliberately leaving some Gazans in plastic tents, in order to fool gullible Western journalists and politicians who are brought to Gaza to witness a staged �humanitarian crisis.�
As I note below, this doesn�t, of course, mean that there isn�t poverty in Gaza too, just as there is in most places in the world. But the misrepresentation by the media of the situation in Gaza is shocking. When Time magazine reports �Please spare a thought for the starving Palestinians of Gaza. There are 1.5 million of them, most of them living hand to mouth� - or when former U.S. President and Nobel peace prize laureate Jimmy Carter says �the people in Gaza are literally starving� - these are just blatant untruths. |
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001127.html |
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BoholDiver
Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:19 am Post subject: |
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Junior, you're the kind of guy who would endorse the annexation of Korea from 1910-1945. The smart and powerful Japanese came in and taught the poor uncultured Koreans how to live.
Junior, I am taking up collection to pay for your vasectomy. |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:31 am Post subject: |
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Is that all you can say?
I mean, when faced with the terrible realisation... that you've been force fed a diet of unabashed propogandist anti-semitic lies since birth?
You lose. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 8:21 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, and gee whiz, how come everybody sez that Mugabe's a bad guy? Here's a recent photo of shoppers in Harare. Look at all the food! I guess all this stuff about Mugabe dragging Zimbabwe into poverty and despair is just a bunch of neo-colonialist propaganda! |
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Madigan
Joined: 15 Oct 2010
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Otoh wrote: |
| I guess all this stuff about Mugabe dragging Zimbabwe into poverty and despair is just a bunch of neo-colonialist propaganda |
Apples and oranges my friend. Yes he did drag them through hard times but things have improved with the adoption of the american dollar. Nobody denies this.
But as regards Gaza, you have an ongoing and concerted effort by western media to portray the place as one big starving refugee camp regularly sprayed by Israeli bullets. Lies.
Look at the bustling markets.
And the fact there are more mercedes-benz per capita in Nablus than in Tel Aviv.
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001072.html
But I'm sure you won't let something so irrelevant as truth get in the way of riding your anti semitic hobby horse. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Junior wrote: |
| BoholDiver wrote: |
| Look at the source of that article. |
So then look at a different source, if you must.
Oh look, its an independent journalist- something I have come to trust more and more in recent years.
| Quote: |
Will the Western media show these images?
Tom Gross
Please scroll down below for photos of the new shopping mall that opened today in Gaza. I have also attached new photos and film of Gaza�s hotels, beauty spas, swimming pools, beaches and street markets -- images the BBC, New York Times and others refuse to show you.
Meanwhile, Hamas are deliberately leaving some Gazans in plastic tents, in order to fool gullible Western journalists and politicians who are brought to Gaza to witness a staged �humanitarian crisis.�
As I note below, this doesn�t, of course, mean that there isn�t poverty in Gaza too, just as there is in most places in the world. But the misrepresentation by the media of the situation in Gaza is shocking. When Time magazine reports �Please spare a thought for the starving Palestinians of Gaza. There are 1.5 million of them, most of them living hand to mouth� - or when former U.S. President and Nobel peace prize laureate Jimmy Carter says �the people in Gaza are literally starving� - these are just blatant untruths. |
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001127.html |
You link to the site of the guy who was quoted in the original link? |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| You link to the site of the guy who was quoted in the original link? |
You think he photoshopped his images?
What will will it take for you to believe your own eyes?
How about these photos from the Arab Palestinian press.
http://www.paltimes.net/arabic/read.php?news_id=115527
Or maybe the official website of the Gaza mall.
http://www.gazamall.ps/
Don't you find it a bit strange that the western press refused to cover this and many other things which show Gaza to be happily thriving?
Instead they prefer to stick to their tired old "evil Israel" narrative. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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The mall website's main page has toothpaste for sale.
Is Colgate a luxury brand? |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Junior wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
| You link to the site of the guy who was quoted in the original link? |
You think he photoshopped his images?
What will will it take for you to believe your own eyes?
How about these photos from the Arab Palestinian press.
http://www.paltimes.net/arabic/read.php?news_id=115527
Or maybe the official website of the Gaza mall.
http://www.gazamall.ps/
Don't you find it a bit strange that the western press refused to cover this and many other things which show Gaza to be happily thriving?
Instead they prefer to stick to their tired old "evil Israel" narrative. |
I'm not saying that in the least, but doubling down on the same source when asked for an alternative source isn't exactly the best way to prove your point.
As for the mall, I really don't see how it proves that there isn't an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Palestine's internal political problems and inequality are largely to blame. By no means do I blame Israel for Palestine's problems of inequality. That said, I think those inequalities will only continue to get worse without the creation of a viable Palestinian state, which only serves to takes us farther from a long-term solution in the region. |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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| caniff wrote: |
| The mall website's main page has toothpaste for sale. |
It also has computers, pens, pencils, stationery, desks, paper, printing paper, mats, mouse mats, printers, clocks, cartridges, coats, jackets, scarves, hats, jeans, pants, underwear, officeequipment, mens suits, shirts, ties, socks, shoes, apples, oranges, strawberries, dates, raisins, grapes, vegetables, cabbages, carrots..
....and everything you would expect in a normal department store.
The people look well fed, happy. Half of them even look fat. Overweight.
Hardly a bullet-riddled concentration camp of tents and cholera, is it?
The fact is...with Israeli help, a new prosperous Palestinian state is emerging.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107104574571491401847518.html |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Junior wrote: |
| caniff wrote: |
| The mall website's main page has toothpaste for sale. |
It also has computers, pens, pencils, stationery, desks, paper, printing paper, mats, mouse mats, printers, clocks, cartridges, coats, jackets, scarves, hats, jeans, pants, underwear, officeequipment, mens suits, shirts, ties, socks, shoes, apples, oranges, strawberries, dates, raisins, grapes, vegetables, cabbages, carrots..
....and everything you would expect in a normal department store.
The people look well fed, happy. Half of them even look fat. Overweight.
Hardly a bullet-riddled concentration camp of tents and cholera, is it?
The fact is...with Israeli help, a new prosperous Palestinian state is emerging.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107104574571491401847518.html |
Two things:
1) No snark intended, but do you have any different sources?
2) Do you really think that seeing fat people in Gaza's lone luxury mall speaks to the overall wealth and well-being of the people of Gaza at large? Is that really an honest argument? |
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Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
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| Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 10:27 pm Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
1) No snark intended, but do you have any different sources?
2) Do you really think that seeing fat people in Gaza's lone luxury mall speaks to the overall wealth and well-being of the people of Gaza at large? Is that really an honest argument? |
OK, I just posted from the Wall Street Journal. I think the article covers your question.
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Building Peace Without Obama's Interference
A promising, independent Palestine is quietly being developed, with Israeli assistance.
Wall Street Journal, December 2nd 2009.
It is difficult to turn on a TV or radio or pick up a newspaper these days, without finding some pundit or other deploring the dismal prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace or the dreadful living conditions of the Palestinians. Even supposedly neutral news reporters regularly repeat this sad tale. "Very little is changing for the Palestinian people on the ground," I heard BBC World Service Cairo correspondent Christian Fraser tell listeners three times in a 45 minute period the other evening.
In fact nothing could be further from the truth. I had spent that day in the West Bank's largest city, Nablus. The city is bursting with energy, life and signs of prosperity, in a way I have not previously seen in many years of covering the region.
As I sat in the plush office of Ahmad Aweidah, the suave British-educated banker who heads the Palestinian Securities Exchange, he told me that the Nablus stock market was the second best-performing in the world so far in 2009, after Shanghai. (Aweidah's office looks directly across from the palatial residence of Palestinian billionaire Munib al-Masri, the wealthiest man in the West Bank.)
Later I met Bashir al-Shakah, director of Nablus's gleaming new cinema, where four of the latest Hollywood hits were playing that day. Most movies were sold out, he noted, proudly adding that the venue had already hosted a film festival since it opened in June.
Wandering around downtown Nablus the shops and restaurants I saw were full. There were plenty of expensive cars on the streets. Indeed I counted considerably more BMWs and Mercedes than I've seen, for example, in downtown Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
And perhaps most importantly of all, we had driven from Jerusalem to Nablus without going through any Israeli checkpoints. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu has removed them all since the Israeli security services (with the encouragement and support of President George W. Bush) were allowed, over recent years, to crush the intifada, restore security to the West Bank and set up the conditions for the economic boom that is now occurring. (There was one border post on the return leg of the journey, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, but the young female guard just waved me and the two Palestinians I was traveling with, through.)
The shops and restaurants were also full when I visited Hebron recently, and I was surprised to see villas comparable in size to those on the Cote d'Azur or Bel Air had sprung up on the hills around the city. Life is even better in Ramallah, where it is difficult to get a table in a good restaurant. New apartment buildings, banks, brokerage firms, luxury car dealerships and health clubs are to be seen. In Qalqilya, another West Bank city that was previously a hotbed of terrorists and bomb-makers, the first ever strawberry crop is being harvested in time to cash in on the lucrative Christmas markets in Europe. Local Palestinian farmers have been trained by Israeli agriculture experts and Israel supplied them with irrigation equipment and pesticides.
A new Palestinian city, Ruwabi, is to be built soon north of Ramallah. Last month, the Jewish National Fund, an Israeli charity, helped plant 3,000 tree seedlings for a forested area the Palestinian planners say they would like to develop on the edge of the new city. Israeli experts are also helping the Palestinians plan public parks and other civic amenities.
Outsiders are beginning to take note of the turnaround too. The official PLO Wafa news agency reported last week that the 3rd quarter of 2009 witnessed near-record tourism in the Palestinian Authority, with 135,939 overnight hotel stays in 89 hotels that are now open. Almost half the guests come from the U.S or Europe.
Palestinian economic growth so far this year�in a year dominated by economic crisis elsewhere�has been an impressive 7% according to the IMF, though Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad, himself a former World Bank and IMF employee, says it is in fact 11%, partly helped along by strong economic performances in neighboring Israel.
In Gaza too, the shops and markets are crammed with food and goods. But while photos from last Friday's Palestine Today newspaper, for example, depict sumptuous Eid celebrations, these are not the pictures you are ever likely to see on the BBC or Le Monde or the New York Times. No, Gaza is not like a "concentration camp," nor is the "humanitarian crisis in Gaza is on the scale of Darfur," as British journalist Lauren Booth (who is also Tony Blair's sister-in-law) has said.
In June, the Washington Post's Jackson Diehl related how Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had told him why he had turned down Ehud Olmert's offer last year to create a Palestinian state on 97% of the West Bank (with 3% of pre-1967 Israeli land being added to make up the shortfall). "In the West Bank we have a good reality," Abbas told Diehl. "The people are living a normal life," he added in a rare moment of candor to a Western journalist.
Nablus stock exchange head Ahmad Aweidah went further in explaining to me why there is no rush to declare statehood, saying ordinary Palestinians need the IDF to help protect them from Hamas, as their own security forces aren't ready to do so by themselves yet.
The truth is that an independent Palestine is now quietly being built, with Israeli assistance. So long as the Obama administration and European politicians don't clumsily meddle as they have in the past and make unrealistic demands for the process to be completed more quickly than it can be, I am confident the outcome will be a positive one. (The last time an American president�Bill Clinton in 2000�tried to hurry things along unrealistically, it merely resulted in blowing up in everybody's faces�literally�and set back hopes for peace by some years.)
Israelis and Palestinians may never agree on borders that will satisfy everyone. But that doesn't mean they won't live in peace. Not all Germans and French agree who should control Alsace Lorraine. Poles and Russians, Slovenes and Croats, Britons and Irish, and peoples all over the world, have border disputes. But that doesn't keep them from coexisting with one another. Nor�so long as partisan journalists and human rights groups don't mislead Western politicians into making bad decisions�will it prevent Israelis and Palestinians from doing so. |
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107104574571491401847518.html |
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