Various on Israel & Occupied Territories: Rahm Emanuel apologizes for his father's comments; UN forced to stop Gaza food aid & more

Emanuel Apologizes for Father’s Israel Comments

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has apologized for his father’s comments about how Emanuel will influence Obama’s policies toward Israel. In an interview with an Israeli newspaper last week, Benjamin Emanuel said, “Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House.” In a letter to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the younger Emanuel apologized on behalf of his family and said he would meet with the group at a later date.
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UN Forced to Stop Gaza Food Aid

The United Nations says it’s been forced to halt food aid to 750,000 Palestinians because of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel says it won’t allow food shipments into Gaza, because Palestinian militants continue to fire rockets at nearby Israeli towns. The rocket fire began last week after an Israeli missile attack killed six people. The top UN aid official in Gaza, John Ging, called the situation a “disaster.”

John Ging: “The situation here in Gaza is desperate. There’s 750,000 refugees depending on handouts of food from UNRWA. Why? Because the economy has been destroyed in this period of time when crossings have been closed. These people have been reduced to be dependent on this food, and now we can’t even get that food into Gaza. It’s a disaster.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli government has also forced Gaza’s main power plant to shut down after cutting off its fuel supplies. The plant provides between a quarter to a third of Gaza’s electricity. In addition to the food and fuel blockades, Israel has also barred foreign journalists from Gaza.

Find the two items just above in more detail at Democracy Now!

Also find more on the food blockade story in much detail at The Washington Post November 14, 2008 GoHere

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