Consider this a follow-up to yesterday’s post, about how comfortable the American right is with violence. First Things is a magazine that seeks to “advance a religiously-informed public philosophy”. I suppose that religiously-informed public philosophy encompasses consequentialism. Someone tell the Catholic Church. Someone tell Pope John Paul II, who wrote a strong encyclical denouncing moral positions like consequentialism.
What is this about? The title says it all: “Israel’s Gaza Boycott Saves Lives“. The author, Shmully Hecht, claims that “The actions Israel has taken aimed solely to prevent attacks on its civilian population” and that “The blockade of Gaza represents an inconvenience ..but not a humanitarian crisis”.
Not a humanitarian crisis. Only if you refuse to look. I talked about this a few days ago, but Yousef Munayyer has a nice piece in Foreign Affairs that summarizes this little “inconvenience”:
- Severe electricity shortages, as Israel refused to allow the reconstruction of Gaza’s only power plant after bombing it (from 140 to 80 megawatts in 2006, 60 megawatts in 2009, 30 megawatts in 2010). Most have power cuts from 8-12 hours a day.
- Serious water shortages. Israel refuses to allow the sewage system be repaired, so that 95 percent of drinking water is contaminated and unfit for consumption.
- Industry decimated. Almost all (98%) of industrial operations have been shut down. Exports are practically banned. Unemployment is 42 percent. Fishing catch down 47 percent, given Israeli restrictions.
- Healthcare in crisis. 15 of 27 hospitals, 43 of 110 of primary care facilities, and 29 of its 148 ambulances were damaged or destroyed, and not rebuilt of replaced. 21 percent of permits to leave for emergency medical treatment were denied or delayed, sometimes resulting in death.
- Severe food shortages. Chronic malnutrition has reached 10 percent. Over 60 percent of households are food insecure. 80 percent depend on humanitarian aid.
Catholic social teaching tells us that all people have right to food, water, employment, and healthcare. These rights are non-negotiable and cannot be taken away for any reason, especially not to collectively punish a population. But First Things seems strangely silent about such matters. And then there is the usual neocon brigade condemning Obama for daring to use the word “tragic” when talking about the loss of life from Israeli action (I have my own issues with the Obama administrations overly-cozy relationship with Israel). But this says it all. Do they equally condemn the pope for decrying the loss of life? This really is a pagan mentality, isn’t it? What was that about a “religiously-informed public philosophy” again?
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