LINK NEARLY everything you’ve been led to believe about Gaza is wrong. Below are a few essential points that seem to be missing from the conversation, much of which has taken place in the press, about Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip. Most of the people living in Gaza are not there by choice. The majority of the 1.5 million people crammed into the roughly 140 square miles of the Gaza Strip belong to families that came from towns and villages outside Gaza like Ashkelon and Beersheba. They were driven to Gaza by the Israeli Army in 1948. THE OCCUPATION The Gazans have lived under Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel is still widely considered to be an occupying power, even though it removed its troops and settlers from the strip in 2005. Israel still controls access to the area, imports and exports, and the movement of people in and out. Israel has control over Gaza’s air space and sea coast, and its forces enter the area at will. As the occupying power, Israel has the responsibility under the Fourth Geneva Convention to see to the welfare of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. THE BLOCKADE Israel’s blockade of the strip, with the support of the United States and the European Union, has grown increasingly stringent since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006. Fuel, electricity, imports, exports and the movement of people in and out of the Strip have been slowly choked off, leading to life-threatening problems of sanitation, health, water supply and transportation. The blockade has subjected many to unemployment, penury and malnutrition. This amounts to the collective punishment — with the tacit support of the United States — of a civilian population for exercising its democratic rights. THE CEASE-FIRE Lifting the blockade, along with a cessation of rocket fire, was one of the key terms of the June cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. This accord led to a reduction in rockets fired from Gaza from hundreds in May and June to a total of less than 20 in the subsequent four months (according to Israeli government figures). The cease-fire broke down when Israeli forces launched major air and ground attacks in early November; six Hamas operatives were reported killed. WAR CRIMES The targeting of civilians, whether by Hamas or by Israel, is potentially a war crime. Every human life is precious. But the numbers speak for themselves: Nearly 700 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the conflict broke out at the end of last year. In contrast, there have been around a dozen Israelis killed, many of them soldiers. Negotiation is a much more effective way to deal with rockets and other forms of violence. This might have been able to happen had Israel fulfilled the terms of the June cease-fire and lifted its blockade of the Gaza Strip. This war on the people of Gaza isn’t really about rockets. Nor is it about “restoring Israel’s deterrence,” as the Israeli press might have you believe. Far more revealing are the words of Moshe Yaalon, then the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, in 2002: “The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people.” Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia, is the author of the forthcoming “Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East."
Reading through that thread, I think it became clear that we (including myself) knows very little of the history of that place. I personally think a few threads debating the history of Gaza strip and understanding why it's the hot bed would be helpful. Thanks for the post, Sland, and if there are alternative views with historical facts and analysis (i.e. not just "All the Muslims in the regions hate Israel"), I think it would help the discussion also.
maybe, but as you've pointed out, this is an opinion piece as much as (more than) anything else. made even more so because of the OP's random bolding. basically, the OP thought the other thread is too long and wanted HIS voice to be heard, as represented by an article he agrees with, with random non-fact comments added, some of which he has bolded, so that people would see his viewpoint. it belonged in the other thread. what you're asking for would be welcome.
hey, great, completely ignore why you posted this in the wrong thread. i'm not typically a thread nazi (bad choice of words!?!) or anything, but your article and subsequent postings belong in the other thread, where an active discussion is taking place. my opinion on its substance is of little relevance.
I agree, there is nothing original about this thread. It should go in the other one The blockade one is different because it asks about the un definition of genocide and applying it to the blockade, which was pre conflict.
I don't disagree with the facts in the OP but they are presented somewhat slanted and as much as I disagree with the slanting of facts for the Israel side it should be acknowledged on the other side. I agree that most of the Gazans are refugees yet it was questionable to what extent they were driven there which would imply a deliberate attempt on the Israelis part. My understanding is that while there was some intimidation on the part of Zionists forces on Arabs most of the Arabs fled in 1948 because of the general conflict and in the leadup to the 1948 war there was violence set against both Jewish and Arab villages. The Israelis happened to win so their people stayed while the Palestinian Arabs found they were without a country. On the breaking of the ceasefire it is true that Israel did launch a raid that killed 6 Hamas fighters but those fighters were likely in the process of digging a tunnel into Israel. Since Hamas had done that earlier and kidnapped an Israeli soldier the Israelis saw it as an act of self defense to stop them from coming into Israel. For one that quote was made in 2002 in the heat of the second Intifada and also prior to Israel's own withdrawl from Gaza. Its questionable then whether that quote necessarily has much bearing on the current conflict.
From Wikipedia: "The Canaanites (Hebrew: כנענים, Standard Knaanim Tiberian Kəna‘anîm) are said to have been one of seven regional ethnic divisions or "nations" driven out before the Israelites following the Exodus. Specifically, the other nations include the Hittites, the Girgash ites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites (Deuteronomy 7:1)" Others include the Phoenicians and Philistines.
