By Charlotte Silver
RAMALLAH, Apr 3, 2012 (IPS) - The European Commission has released a document that lists projects it funded that were destroyed or damaged by the Israel Defence Forces between May 2001 and October 2011.
The list documents 82 such instances, amounting to a monetary loss of 49.2 million euro, 30 million of which came directly from European aid.
British Member of the European Parliament, Chris Davies, released the list following his inquiry to the European Commission. Davies subsequently published the findings on his webpage where he stated that the list was "the most detailed response I have ever received from the European Commission."
The recently published record is yet another indicator of the disregard with which Israel treats its European allies’ activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. Last year, it was calculated thatIsraeli-imposed travel restrictions cost international aid organizations 4.5 million dollars a year.
Davies notes that while the economic damage is not significant in the larger context of the conflict, the Commission’s meticulous record is illuminating.
The bulk of the damage was inflicted during the years of the second Intifadah (uprising, 2000-2005) as well as Israel’s attack on the besieged Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008-2009.
The projects range in scale. In the winter of 2001, Gaza’s International Airport was devastated, costing contributing countries (Spain, Sweden and Germany) 9.5 million euros.
Smaller-scale but significant destruction also incurred. For example, during the second Intifadah, Israeli attacks destroyed a fleet of Red Crescent ambulances financed by the European Commission.
Israel’s attack on Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009 destroyed nearly two million euros worth of European- funded projects, including several waste management and water treatment plants. READ MORE
