Letters To The Editor

Water Conditions On The Gaza Strip

In 2005 I created and produced a 90 min documentary titled Running Dry and filmed in Africa, India, Singapore, China,  Russia, Jordan, Israel and the Gaza Strip, (Also filmed in Las Vegas). 

Once I arrived in Jerusalem I was able to secure an Israeli press pass which would allow me access to everywhere in the region.

During my visit I conducted an on-camera interview with former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres at his office in Tel Aviv. 

I was advised by the US State Department it was important to understand and secure an interview which clarifies the depth and dimension of water quantity and quality conditions on the Gaza Strip which I accomplished.         

My Gaza Strip experience was memorable because it’s unique and more intense than any location I’ve ever filmed before and/or since. 

The Gaza Strip is a 140 miles in length ghetto and significantly densely populated with 2 million Palestinians living mostly on top of each other in poverty conditions. My cameraman and I were picked up at the passport control border into Gaza by a Palestinian who I contracted to drive us throughout the day.

The most memorable moment was visiting and filming the sewage treatment plant and the stench and public health implications were beyond comprehension. I conducted an on-camera interview with the director general of the Palestinian Water Authority in Gaza City and he indicated drinking water in Gaza was deplorable and unsuitable for human consumption. 

I was advised  facilities treating water function is on a limited basis because Israel controls the water flow technology into the Gaza Strip

The drive south from Gaza City to Rafah City was interesting because we drove from the poverty and deprivation of Gaza City for miles and miles along the vast beaches of the Mediterranean 

The most bizarre surrealistic experience was filming in Rafah City which in my opinion is a war zone with bullet holes everywhere and in the midst were children playing as though it was a playground. 

Rafah is also the entrance/exit to and from Egypt and the Gaza Strip

I was told by our Palestinian host that the Gaza Strip is like a prison under control by Israel and It’s hard to argue with the perspective because upon my return my car was held up for an hour at an Israeli border roadblock. I was told by my Palestinian driver Israeli roadblocks at the border is a common occurrence  

In my perspective the Palestinians are an indigenous population of the region which is not unlike the history of the American Indians who were confined to stifling reservations. The book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee documents this reality.

Jim Thebaut

Automation

When I was a young person thinking about a future and choices, Californians worked in auto, rubber, steel, mining, textile, and a wide variety of manufacturing and processing goods for distribution in the city, state and USA. We exported the goods we made. We built Pension Plans, The Health Care industry, and could buy a home, a car and put gasoline in the tank. 

Last week I purchased groceries in a market where there used to be a cashier in every checkout lane, but instead … customers were lined up behind automated checkout lines, which I refused to use. Previously, I did not have a long wait for a cashier who I spoke to when I paid for groceries. In the past few months, automated checkout stations multiplied in the store, causing longer lines, no humans to bag the customers’ items, very few cashiers remain working. The customer is now doing the work of two store employees, the cashier and one bagger who are now unemployed. 

Most shoppers today are struggling from paycheck to paycheck and don’t have time to question why. The cause of current human hardship must be discussed, put in context and we must act so that we all have a future, not just a wish for one. The answers are not on Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok. The answers are vivid and available. 

Automated work, physical and mental, replaces humans that pay taxes and support services to our communities, our Cities, State of California, and USA. Working folks, built our Social Security System, (scheduled to be drained of resources due to dwindling contributions from workers), our schools and services are suffering, homelessness speaks loudly about our collective priorities. Many are working and living in cars. 

You don’t need a lecture from me. You are no doubt smarter, and more experienced than I am. However, our collective silence is collective acceptance by choice. In addition to checkout lines robots and automated technology is replacing workers in the ports of LA and LB already affecting workers and the ports’ communities, automated ships and tugs have been developed as have trucks, warehouses, and, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is replacing intellect….. 

Luisa Gratz, 

President Local 26, ILWU