GAZA NEEDS CEMENT

From James Taranto of WSJ's Best of the Web:

We Will Bury You
"Palestinian officials warned of a humanitarian and environmental disaster in Gaza, due to a shortage of cement to build graves in which to bury the dead," reports the Saudi-owned, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya network. Naturally, the network blames the Jews:

"The situation in Gaza is tragic," said Deputy Minister Abdullah Jarboa of the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, according to Quds Press. . . .

After the Islamic Hamas movement took control of the poor and densely-populated enclave in mid-June, Israel closed the Gaza crossings to all but essential food products. . . .

Jerboa pleaded with the International Community, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Conference to exert pressure on Israel to lift the embargo and allow food, medicine, and cement into the strip.

It hardly needs saying that if Hamas gave up its campaign to destroy Israel, the crossing would open in a New York minute. But the reason this story caught our attention is because of the contrast with that infamous McClatchy headline from a couple of months ago: "As Violence Falls in Iraq, Cemetery Workers Feel the Pinch."

The Palestinians must be wishing they could come up with a way of persuading America to invade Gaza.