-Analysis-
Starving people are waiting for food to fall from the sky. They watch, as planes drop packages carried by huge parachutes, and follow the path of the parachutes, running after them. Children dive into the sea and wave to fishermen arriving with food parcels. The scene seems to document a poignant and profound human moment, in which a starved population find food coming from a country like the U.S.
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But the truth behind the airdrops of aid by the U.S., Egypt, Jordan and Egypt is much darker; it is an inhuman and slow method to deliver aid to starving Palestinians. Janti Soeripto, the head of Save the Children, called the airdrops “theater” that was fueling chaos on the ground.
Humanitarian groups excluded
The aid has not been distributed equally because humanitarian organizations were not involved in the recent airdrops. People are not trained to properly handle airdropped aid, which raises the risks of humiliation and deadly stampedes. It seems that the U.S. deliberately excluded aid organizations in an effort to create an image of false humanity amid its unconditional supply of arms and diplomatic support to Israel.
How can a country that supplied Israel with 10,000 tons of weapons to bomb the Palestinians send food to the people of Gaza who are killed by its weapons?
The U.S. decided to join in airdropping aid following the “bread massacre”, on Feb. 29, when more than 100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops while they were attempting to get food. The disaster triggered sharp condemnations from several parties, including Israeli allies. The UK, France, Italy and Germany called for an investigation.
The exclusion of aid groups and volunteers further humiliates a population living in inhumane conditions.
Humanitarian organizations are crucial, particularly in the distribution of aid. Their role was evident in Syria, where the UN World Food Program conducted 309 airdrop operations in Deir ez-Zor, which had been besieged by the Islamic State and other groups for more than a year, to deliver more 6,500 metric tons of humanitarian aid. The WFP had coordinated with volunteers on the ground for distribution and changed airdrop sites four times over the course of 15 months to avoid risks for aircraft or volunteers.
The efforts demonstrate the importance of having groups that coordinate operations and distribute aid on the ground. The exclusion of aid groups and volunteers further humiliates a population living in inhumane conditions.
Better options
Airdrops should be the last option for two reasons: it is the most expensive means of delivering aid; and only small quantities can be delivered on each flight, compared to a truck convoy. The WFP, for example, does not resort to this option unless it has no other possible route.
For Gaza, airdrops are not the last option. Aid convoys are waiting at the Rafah crossing in Egypt, but Israel is preventing their entry into Gaza. With only a trickle of supplies entering the territory, hunger is rampant especially in northern Gaza. Many families are living on one meal a day.
Pressuring Israel to open the Rafah Crossing would be more effective than theatrically tossing food.
Countries conducting the airdrops know that pressuring Israel to open the crossing would be more effective than theatrically tossing food. The U.S. is the party that is able to pressure Israel.
Usually, aid droppers color the packages to indicate what is inside them. For example, red packages contain baby formula or green ones contain menstrual supplies. But that has not happened in Gaza, where people are not trained to differentiate along the colors — if they exist. So men may be surprised to receive a package of sanitary pads or elderly women, baby formula. This disorganisation raises mockery among the starved population.
Returned empty-handed
The airdrops may ease public anger in countries participating in the operations; they may give the world the illusion that the people in Gaza are receiving necessary aid. But the reality is the opposite. Airdrops may even contribute to obstructing sustainable or political solutions to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
Many people, mostly women, who waited for the aid airdrops returned empty handed. Women — especially those who are less physically able — are the least likely to obtain airdropped aid. According to the UN Women agency, 87% of women in Gaza reported that they find it more difficult to obtain food than men. Some women have resort to searching under rubble or in the trash.
Half a million people in the Gaza Strip are on the verge of famine, UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said, as the “lack the most basic basic needs, such as food and water and health care.”
