http://heathlander.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/save-the-children/
May 12, 2008
In an interview today about the cyclone in Burma, Foreign Secretary David Miliband assured viewers that British aid would be channeled through "organisations like Save the Children, who rightly have a very high reputation."
Save the Children is indeed a reputable organisation, but Miliband’s respect for it seems to be rather selective. Earlier this year Save the Children UK co-authored a report describing a "humanitarian implosion" in the Gaza Strip. It emphasised that the "unprecedented humanitarian crisis" in Gaza, where children comprise over half the population, is "man-made, completely avoidable and, with the necessary political will, can also be reversed." That is, unlike in Burma, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is completely manufactured. It is not a consequence of some unforeseen natural disaster, but is rather the intended result of policies designed to force the "impoverishment of an entire population." The report concluded that the current Israeli and international approach is "failing at all levels" and called for an end to the siege and "political dialogue with all Palestinian parties."
So how did Miliband respond to this grave analysis from an organisation which he recognises has "a very high reputation"? Did he, as with Burma, listen to the "humanitarian experts…who make all the difference on the ground" and change policy accordingly? Not quite. Instead the British government, which along with the U.S. has been unswerving in its support for the devastating collective punishment of Gaza since Hamas took office in February 2006, continues to facilitate the Israeli siege and oppose political engagement with Hamas. Where Miliband criticised the "malign neglect" of the Burmese junta in preventing aid agencies from functioning properly, he failed to condemn the Israeli government for doing - as he himself acknowledges - exactly the same thing. As a result the people of Gaza continue to suffer and die. It appears that, for David Miliband and the British government, some children are worth saving while others are perfectly expendable.
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