and boils down to one issue - unemployment. No one wants to hire Gazans and no one is obligated to hire Gazans. Hamas screwed up by spending its entire budget on unilateral warfare at the expense of local infrastructure. That's why their approval rating is 23%! No matter how many flotillas arrive, how many UN packages are dropped from the sky, or how many buildings are developed on the backs of US/EU taxpayers, the fact remains that NO ONE wants to hire these dolts and without a proper economy, they will be welfare recipients forever. West Bank is thriving because they didn't choose war (mostly because they failed in the past repeatedly) and because Israel hires them. Israel holds no obligation to allow passage between Gaza and WB. If you're upset, go scream at Cairo. They have an open border - surely they can hire some Gazans...that is, after they employ Sinai Bedouins.

and its due to Brazilian domestic policies and its govt....same too in Gaza.

Because we've convinced the UN, ICRC, Amnesty Intl, reporters from CNN, BBC, NYT, a Sudanese govt minister, and even Hamas, that Gaza is doing quite well these days. Hamas often boasts that Gaza is progressing with new buildings, malls, cars, high end appliances from South Korea, and food stalls filled to top. The only people we couldn't convince is: You, Nour, a few Leftist Israelis, and some lost souls on a failed flotilla. Can't will them all, I guess.

the only one's who haven't realized this is you, Don Quixote.

Even if she didn't believe it, and there is no proof to a unique population called "palestinians", she acknowledge your population as a way to push peace forward through negotiations. She's pragmatic. Had she known that in return "Palestinians" will break agreements, launch suicide bombings on children, and basically continue their genocidal path born decades before, she would have pushed your asses into Jordan without thinking twice. Jews have always paid for their optimism.

and everything else is smuggled.... then it's not a punishment at all and therefore your argument is moot.

Notice all of the participants are coming from EU/NA countries that are reeling from the economic downturn. Gaza's the only place that has massive income (albeit from the countries experiencing the economic downturn) and a decent life. They're not going there to free Gaza - they're going there on vacation!

I don't think you get it. Nobody is running little boats to Rio to bring humanitarian aid. Nobody is saying, as some said to me last week on a TV show, that the Gazans are starving to death. There are rich Gazans, middle-class Gazans and poor Gazans. So what? It's exactly the shock. The reason for writing this article must be that the public has for too long been fed a myth about Gaza as a basket. Since longevity in Gaza is above parts of the UK, I have to assume that nobody is dying off out of poverty.

how can anyone bring up the aid flotillas going to Gaza. it doesn't make any sense. Israelis will continue attempting to discredit the Palestinian struggle, yet Israel receives more aid from the US then any other single country, even more so than the American people. amidst all the US debt talk and economic issues there still seems to be space in the budget to send billions to Israel.

It's not a dole, unlike what the US gives to the PA/Hamas terrorist entity. While the contribution of the PA is suicide bombing, the contribution from Israel to the US far outweighs any money given to Israel. Do some research, it will open your eyes and help you to realize that you also have been duped by the fifth column and its twisted propaganda.

the pals voted for terrorists and by so dong have made themselves THE problem, not the cure. Who cares if they are fat and rich? Who cares if they are poor? Nobody. They are common variety of terrorists, nothing more, nothing less. The US Congress is about to end all US funds to the pals, Hooray and Hallelujah!!!

Thank G-d for the 2012 election when we the people can throw this bum out.

The best part about Salma are the laughs. Maybe not intentional but still funny. I think she/he's paid by the lie.

My tex money is sometimes held! The Gazan's don't pay tex money to Israel - Israelies pay texes thet goes to Gaza!

Glad to hear things are better - not 100% but better. Lifting the seige won't cause the Palestinians to love us but it will signal the possibility of a better relationship. Only then can the they get on with state-building which is surely to out advantage.

Do you think that there's no poverty or inequity in the USA? We have malls here, too. But we also have many poor people. So does Brazil, China, India, and even Israel! The point of this article is that Gaza is pretty much just like everywhere else... Except they have elected rulers that create oppressive rules for them, and who have historically spent significant amounts of money and effort to buy, build, and smuggle rockets, bombs, and bunkers instead of food, cars, and cement... Perhaps that is changing, and the people in Gaza will see that rebuilding is more productive than revenging...

Sure - but you hate the lives of innocent Israeli children, so you send bombs to kill them. The world will be a much better place when your land is an uninhabitable parking lot made of glass.

The Palestinian Authority rates higher than Egypt, Syria, Morocco, India, just about all of south-Saharan Africa, etc., etc.

That doesn't stop goods... that doesn't make the other option "true" (collective punishment.) It just makes both a false. Israel allows for all sorts of stuff to come in. However, this way, there is lack of import freedom- i.e. monitoring, that allows for more security control.