Recession

 Shehada St, Hebron, the shopfronts welded shut. Palestinians are forbidden to even walk along this street. Apartheid is alive and well.

With the news that the economies of the UK, the USA and Germany are now officially in recession the question has to be asked, "Can Australia be far behind?" Lots of people are doing it tough here, some are losing their homes, but it will have to get much, much worse before we see anything like the Depressions of the 1930s and 1890s which our parents and grandparents went through.  (My parents, both hardworking people, finished up living in a tent on the beach.)

And spare a thought for the citizens of Hebron (Al Khalil) as they try to survive after nearly forty years of Israeli occupation.  Large sections of their markets remain closed, the doors welded shut by the military authorities. Other locations are roofed with protective mesh to block the rubbish and fecal matter dumped upon them by the rabid Zionist settlers squatting in the overlooking buildings.

Yet the people of Hebron have it easy compared to their Palestinian brothers and sisters desperately trying to stay alive in Gaza while their Israeli overlords prevent foodstuffs, fuel and medical equipment from reaching them. Their crime for this collective punishment of slow starvation?  To elect a government of their choice in free, fair and democratic elections.