January 08, 2009
What You Don’t Know About Gaza
Rashid Khalidi in The New York Times:
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.
THE GAZANS 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.
More here.
Posted by Azra Raza at 07:04 AM | Permalink
Comments
There are rights and wrongs on both sides, and both sides have made their voices and photos heard and seen...now let us talk about getting the thing fixed rather than focusing upon this one and that one did or said this or that. Do you believe Israeli occupation bad? yes. Me too. Do you believe Hamas mission statement to eliminate the state of Israel bad? me too. Do you think blocking entrance points bad? Me too. Do you believe thousands of rockets randomly fired into a neighboring place bad? me too. and on and on and on...I could post 4 pieces that are pro or anti this or that side within a half hour. Buit to what end? Fix the Fucking thing--and let us hope Ob ama can step in for this.
Posted by: fred.lapides | Jan 8, 2009 8:54:45 AM
There's something left out of this. The role of Egypt. Israel doesn't control the border between Gaza and Egypt (or at least it didn't until about six days ago or so). Egypt does. Egypt enforces the blockade between Gaza and Egypt, though it seems like it tolerates smuggling in tunnels.
Is Egypt an occupying power? Of course not. (Though it was the occupying power between 1948 and 1967.) But it is a party to the blockade on Gaza, precisely because the Egyptian government has such a phenomenal dislike of Hamas.
Posted by: Hektor Bim | Jan 8, 2009 9:24:19 AM
The comment attributed to Yaalon is fabricated.
What he did say is:
"[Israel's goal is] the very deep internalization by the Palestinians that terrorism and violence will not defeat us".
I wonder what else the author (a professor of Arab studies at Columbia) distorts or makes up in the defense of terrorism.
see:
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=35&x_article=1587
Posted by: David | Jan 10, 2009 1:04:33 PM
So far the only fabricated quote I know in this Islamic-Jewish conflict is the one attributed to Ahmadinejad: "Israel should be wiped off the face of earth", which has been repeated to the limit by every douchebag pseudo-journalist in the 'Western World' during more than a year. You would think they'd do a better job of checking their information before opening their mouths.
Posted by: Pepito | Jan 10, 2009 7:38:25 PM
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