The Times Cannot Go Cold Turkey From Bashing Israel

The Times has found something else to blame on Israel: Gazans having to go cold Turkey from a popular drug.

Thousands of Palestinians addicted to a popular painkiller are being forced into cold turkey withdrawal after Egypt destroyed thousands of cross-border smuggling tunnels into Gaza.

According to the health ministry, there has been a 50 per cent increase in recent months in the number of patients seeking help to give up Tramadol, a prescription painkiller sold illegally on the black market. The opiate has similar addictive qualities to heroin, and has became popular with thousands of residents, including children as young as 13 who are desperate to escape the misery of daily life.

Tramadol addicts typically require hospital treatment to deal with the withdrawal symptoms, which include severe abdominal pains, insomnia, chronic joint pain and, in some cases, suicidal urges. Aid agencies are struggling to provide the necessary support because of a lack of funds.

Khadra Said, a senior official in the health ministry’s psychiatric unit, said that since the Egyptian military set out last year to destroy more than 2,000 of the illegal tunnels, Tramadol had become ever harder to find on the black market, driving up prices. “In the worsening economic conditions in the aftermath of the summer war [with Israel] we are seeing double the patients needing our services, after being forced to give up.”

Tramadol first appeared in Gaza in 2007. It was easily obtainable from Egypt and cost less than 20p a pill. In 2010, the Egyptian Forensic Medicine Authority reported that 15,000 males in Gaza — about 30 per cent of those aged from 14 to 30 — were users.

Healthcare workers said that men, women and children in Gaza had turned to the drug to cope with the hardship of living in the war-torn territory under an eight-year Israeli blockade, which restricts access to basic needs and construction materials. The 51-day war with Israel last year, in which 2,200 Palestinians were killed and more than 17,000 homes destroyed, boosted the popularity of the “escapist” drug.

“Addicts found in this drug an escape for their daily pressure and suffering,” said Fadel Ashour, a Gaza-based psychiatrist who helps recovering addicts. “We are talking about constant military attacks, internal clashes, and very limited access of movement in and out of the territory.”

What a bunch of poppyseed poppycock. Allow me to expose a few home truths.

There are plenty of Gazans with suicidal urges who are affluent. They are not driven by desperation, but rather the lure of killing Jews and then getting laid by 72 virgins.

Of the approximately “2,200 Palestinians” killed in last summer’s war forced on Israel, at least 41% were identified as terrorists. The actual figure is likely higher. Furthermore, the civilians killed were either placed in harms way by the terrorists or voluntarily acted as human shields.

Regarding the “construction materials” to which access has been restricted, the very existence of the tunnels described in this article – used not only to smuggle in drugs but also to smuggle in weapons and provide access into Israel to commit terror attacks – provides the reason why access has had to be restricted in the first place! Had the Gazans used construction materials to improve civilian infrastructure, access would not be restricted and their lives would be greatly improved.

Let’s face it: The main thing Gazans have had trouble going cold turkey from is terrorism. They just can’t help themselves. They have paid a heavy price for it, yet refuse to lay down their arms and seek peace.

And another thing. Media outlets like The Times are addicted to a drug called Israel Bashing. They are also enablers for the terrorists, who are emboldened by the fact they can feel supported by such articles, despite their terrorism.