Tuesday, July 26, 2011

What constitutes a humanitarian crisis? Gaza: Stay human? Just Staying Alive Is Hard Enough

Only a week ago, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak insisted that there is not a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“The facts and figures are clear and visible,” he said.(1)

That is very true – the facts and figures ARE clear and visible – but they indicate the complete opposite.

Let’s begin by defining what constitutes a humanitarian crisis. Most international organisations and governments would accept the term to signify “a serious disruption of the functioning of society, whether developing suddenly or as the result of long-term processes, which poses a significant, widespread threat to human life, health, property or the environment,” a composite definition drawn from various humanitarian manuals and documents. (2)  | Scoop News




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