The UNDP has published its yearly Human Development Report (HDR) and the results are surprising to say the least. It will put paid to a few received notions held dearly by the moralists of the Left, the Islamists of the religious right and pretty much everything else in between. I say that with irony at full blast and very little confidence, of course.
According to the report, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which comprises the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, are classified in this broad-based UN Index as having “Medium Human Development”. It places its position at 110 of 182 countries, putting the Palestinian Territories in neither the top nor bottom groups.
And most surprising of all, the country’s HDR index places it ahead of the muslim-majority countries Egypt (123), Indonesia (111), Pakistan (141) and Bangladesh (146).
Where is data of the alleged ‘exteme humanitarian crisis’ and the starving Gazans that the Left insists on holding up as examples of said crisis?
Here is an image of a people “starving” at a fruit and veg market bursting with produce in Gaza:
And one of “destitution” at the lady’s souk:
But back in Bangladesh, there’s no poverty or starving people at all, is there? No flotilla for this young girl:
Nor for these children in Pakistan,
And of course these people in Egypt have no experience of social deprivation at the hands of a corrupt and venal government administration do they?
12 Comments
Shame on Turkey and shame on Egypt.
although i don’t think that a couple of pictures like this prove that all is rosy in gaza.
b’shalom
bananabrain
No,they are there for illustrating the point. Nor was I suggesting with a couple of pictures that everything is horrific in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt either.
Is there any possibility of seeing the breakdown of those HDR results by city, so that we can see whether what is true of the OPT as a whole is also true of Gaza in particular?
Yep, great excuse for the Israeli’s to turn the screws a bit more.
No, I don’t think that follows at all, mostly harmless.
However, I would be a little cagey about making judgements about the economic and social situation in, say, Burnley on the basis of statistics for the entire of the United Kingdom.
Given the (hotly debated) economic upturn in the West Bank (that may, or may not, be accounted for by some rather neat and tricky accountancy on the part of the Palestinian Authority), it is rather important to see localised trends as well as the overall picture.
From the HDR stats as given, it is impossible to draw informed conclusions about the state of the economy and its impact upon people in any particular area of Palestine – let alone Gaza.
The underlying point remains the same whatever the breakdown of the data. And the point is this: One of the reasons why Islamism remains a flashpoint in majority-muslim countries is because the opinions are inflamed by the notion that the oppression of muslims in Palestine is of a higher qualitative order than the oppression of muslims in their own countries. And that applies to muslims in the west, of course. And this is not just a matter of mismanagement by their governments, we’re talking brutal oppression in conjunction with colossal administrative corruption at a scale that dwarfs the Palestinian problems. The UNDP HDIs demonstrate this point brilliantly. So the oppression of the Ahmadiyya in Pak, oppression of the Pahari people in BD and the oppression of the Copts in Egypt are comparable if not of an order of magnitude far worse than than that of Palestinians. Leaders of Pakistan and Bangladesh and Egypt are possibly delighted that their populace are more engaged with the perceived oppression of Palestinians because it draws attention away from their own crimes against humanity and corruption. It’s insidious. Why should this grotesque imbalance be the case?
i agree 100% with the last point – i’m just rather wary, for obvious reasons, of suggesting that the situation in gaza is anything less than calamitous.
b’shalom
bananabrain
I would also agree, Faisal.
That was not, however, directly my point.
Are The people of Gaza starving. We see photos of shops bulging with produce not only food. Another tells us that Israel lets in between 10-15000 tons of produce every week, medical supplies etc. I am in London so we only have the media and and the internet to refer to, most of what you publish is from people with a vested interest in whichever side they favour. SO WHAT IS THE TRUTH???
It is very confusing one website shows shops over flowing with produce of every description and claims the Israels are allowing thousands of tons of goods into the area every month. Another website says just the opposite. What we in England do not understand is who is to be believed. My thought is all gods children deserve a decent life. Why have the oil rich countries not supported the poor Gazans or west bank Arabs as they can afford better than most to help.
Alex Mitchell
is it true that the Gazans have been bombarding shells and mortar bombs into Israel every day??