Monday, May 16, 2016

Egypt cuts power lines to Gaza

(Ma'an) The people in Gaza get their electricity by the following ways:
  • Israel supplies around 62 %
  • Gaza produces around 30%
  • Egypt supplies around 8%
Yes, nasty old Israel, come rain, shine and terrorist attacks, supplies the blood thirsty but peaceful victims next door with more electricity than anybody else. Remember that the next time you see some ethical latte drinker venting his/her spleen about the so called siege on Gaza.

The thing is, unlike you and I, no Palestinian government pays for their electricity, the 22,000 residents of the Tulkarm camp in the northern West Bank have amassed $15.2 million in unpaid electric bills alone over at least 10 years, part of the yawning Palestinian power debt of $430 million (as of May 2015). Gaza is no different, and Hamas demands that the PA pays their bills (whilst trying to remove them from power at the same time), and the PA instead cuts payment to fuel supplies for Gaza's power station. And everybody blames... Israel.

Anyway, of the two power lines from Egypt which supplies Gaza with power, one was shut down a fortnight ago, and as of Saturday, they cut the other one, which has resulted in the southern half of Gaza (Rafah and Khan Yunis) in a full electric blackout.

For some very strange reason, the Western media (and ethical latte drinkers) remain very silent on this. Gee, I wonder why?