Roma in Europe

Unlucky roads for Roma in Europe. Via Bob, portraits accompanied by the Roma song Djelem Djelem.

“A green Gaza looks too independent “

Necessity being the mother of invention, Gazans have been switching to renewable energy and building techniques to improve their lives under the containment and economic devastation of their neighbours’ border restrictions. Hamas think these successes are against its own interests. Hamas has a stake in keeping Gaza undeveloped.

“While it would seem that the Israeli blockade is the sole reason for Gaza’s fledgling eco-enterprise, it turns out, says Theodore May, that Hamas is responsible for pushing it down.”

Read on in Green Prophet, which draws on Theodore May’s Global Post article.

HT: Arieh.

Playing politics: summer camps in Gaza

In The Guardian, Harriet Sherwood reviews the provision of children’s summer camps in Gaza, summarising:

Islamic Jihad

10,000 children

51 camps

Themes: resistance; freedom for Palestinian prisoners; loyalty to the land and Jerusalem

Hamas

100,000 children

500 camps

Themes: Jerusalem, prisoners, occupation, commitment to prayer

UNRWA

250,000 children

1,200 camps

Theme: fun

Children having fun, particularly in mixed groups of boys and girls, is a threat to some interests. There have been arson attacks on two UNRWA camps, one involving a death threat to the organisation’s head, John Ging.

Tapping into the prurient passions of a niche electorate

Writing, in Jewish periodical The Tablet Lee Smith, is talking about markets rather than electorates. But in doing so he draws attention to how, if you’re trying to draw a crowd and you’re not choosy about who’s in it, Israel or anti-Israel is the cause for you.