Richard Forer writes:

In November 2012, I was a member of an InterFaith Peace Builders delegation to the Gaza Strip, where I witnessed the hardships, including food deprivation, Gazans live with. Most are a direct consequence of Israel’s long-term blockade that limits supplies of building material, fuel and food and enervates agricultural and fishing yields.

In 2006, Dov Weisglas, the chief adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said “The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.” At the time, many thought Weisglas was speaking in hyperbole. In 2012, however, as a result of a successful legal challenge by the Israeli human rights group Gisha, Weisglas’s comment was revealed to be not hyperbole but policy. Cold-bloodedly, Israeli health officials had calculated the per capita number of calories required for a subsistence diet and then interpolated that figure into truckloads of food. The final figure did not even attempt to take into account food spoilage due to long delays at border crossings.

The inhumanity of this policy is magnified by the fact that more than half of Gaza’s population is children, under age 16. Malnutrition, anaemia and stunted growth are common. Of the Gazans I met during my visit, Rana stands out. She and I had been in communication for a couple of years and finally met in person when she spent a day with our delegation. Because the blockade of Gaza would not be possible without the billions of dollars provided Israel by the US, Rana wants Americans to discover a greater awareness of what life is like for her and her people. Here is her message.