MER - Unprecedented Humanitarian Crisis for Palestinians

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> [The United Nations Human Rights Commission's Special Rapporteur on the <br>right to food, Jean Ziegler, reported today that Palestinians are <br>facing malnutrition at unprecedented levels. More than half of <br>Palestinian households, the report indicates, are currently eating only <br>one meal per day. Levels of malnutrition are equivalent to poor <br>sub-Saharan countries, a situation that Ziegler describes as "absurd" <br>given the economy of the region. While Ziegler affirms Israel's right <br>to defend itself, the Commission's report evidently regards as <br>inexcusable Israel's failure to address the extraordinary incidence of <br>near-starvation of the Palestinian populace. Far from starving the <br>Intifada to death, the impact on Palestinians of starvation, <br>humiliation and impoverishment is likely to be ever greater violence. -LS<br><br> <b on></b> </body>