Gaza is the Evidence: Israel is Demented
February 5, 2008
Some facts and interpretations about Gaza: What are the facts? What things have happened? Why?. Big project. There are literally thousands of articles on the topic from 2005 to the present, so it is necessary to build this post over time or over a number of posts. See here for the Israel is Demented piece.
August 15, 2005: Israel officially began pulling out the settlements from the Gaza Strip. Israel had occupied the strip for 38 years. During that period it had built up 21 settlements peopled with Jewish-Israelis.[1] The total area of Gaza: 363.7 sq. kilometers. Area of Jewish-Israeli settlements: 116.5 sq. kilometers (32.13% of the Gaza territory).[2] Number of Palestinians: approx. 1.4 million. Number of Jewish-Israeli settlers: approx. 8,700.[3]
Even before the official pullout date serious questions were being raised as to what the pullout would mean in practical, no less legal terms:
Ushani Agalawatta (07/28/05 – Inter Press Service):
-under international law the Gaza Strip would still be considered occupied territory
-the Palestinians in Gaza would not have “control over airports, sea ports or natural resources such as water or gas.”
-Renad Qubbaj of the Palestinian NGO Network stated (July 28, 2005) that despite the pullout, “there is a great risk of Gaza becoming one big prison,” and “the Israeli army will still be controlling the movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza.”
-Further, “The disengagement plan specifically states that ‘Israel will guard and monitor the external land perimeter of the Gaza Strip, will continue to maintain exclusive authority in Gaza airspace, and will continue to exercise security activity in the sea off the coast of the Gaza Strip.’”
-Jaber Wishah, deputy director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) stated (July 28, 2005), “It is certain that Gaza will become a big prison, there will be no freedom of trade or freedom of movement. Until there is a safe and continuous passage to the West Bank, there will only be movement through the Rafah border with Egypt but even that the Israelis want joint control over.”[3]
