Gazans living disastrously due to Israeli siege: Pundit

Press TV has interviewed Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a professor at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, to discuss Israeli crimes against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Another day and another Palestinian has been killed protesting against Israeli aggression.  What are your thoughts at this time?

Abu Saada: Well let me put it this way. We are in the fourth month since the beginning of the current Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli occupation and its atrocities against the Palestinians.

As it was stated by you, two Palestinians were shot and killed today on the borders between the Gaza Strip and the Israeli borders. These Palestinians were protesting against the Israeli occupation in a non-violent way. They were not shooting at the Israeli soldiers, they were not carrying any kind of weapons, they were non-violent protesters to show their support for Palestinian freedom and also an end to the Israeli occupation.

It also needs to be noted here that the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been living under Israeli occupation for almost half a century now and the Palestinians have been basically targeted by the Israeli army, Israeli settlers for the past 50 years in the West Bank and Gaza and thousands of Palestinians  have been killed, thousands of Palestinians have been injured and also more than half a million Palestinians have been arrested since the occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Press TV: So professor, at this time where you are sitting of course in Gaza, that is a territory that has been under siege for quite a while now and I am wondering now with even further limits placed on gas supplies and Egypt obviously keeping its border also closed to Gazans, how bad are things there?

Abu Saada: That is a very important question. Yes, Gaza has been under extreme Israeli siege for more than eight and a half years now, since the summer of 2007. Israel [is] very much in total control of the border crossing between the Gaza Strip and the outside world and life has been disastrous here in the Gaza Strip with poverty -- 70 percent of the Palestinians in Gaza under poverty line, with 43 percent unemployment as a result of the Israeli siege and blockade of the Gaza Strip and in addition to that, there is a big need for fuel to generate the only power station in the Gaza Strip which is basically making life unbearable here in the Gaza Strip as a result of electricity blackout every six hours.

So basically the Palestinians in Gaza do not get more than 50 percent electricity during every 24 hours per day.

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