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FRIENDS OF PALESTINE SOCIETY

FRIENDS OF PALESTINE SOCIETY. The truth about Gaza. The Gaza Strip. 360 km sq. Coastal strip of land 41 km long / 6-12 km wide 5 districts / 8 UNRWA refugee camps - Total population almost 1.5 million people. Occupation by Israel. - Eventually Occupied by Israeli in 1967

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FRIENDS OF PALESTINE SOCIETY

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  1. FRIENDS OF PALESTINE SOCIETY The truth about Gaza

  2. The Gaza Strip • 360 km sq. Coastal strip of land • 41 km long / 6-12 km wide • 5 districts / 8 UNRWA refugee camps • - Total population almost 1.5 million people

  3. Occupation by Israel • - Eventually Occupied by Israeli in 1967 • Captured initially in 1956 but forced to withdraw

  4. Consequences- Economic • Deliberate de-development • Gaza workers as a majority worked in Israel • Industries: Construction • Active Impediment of local economic development • Gaza reduced to a pool of cheap labour for Israel, and captive market for its goods.

  5. Consequences - Settlements • Initially unattractive to the government • Focus on West Bank • First paramilitary settlement created in 1970 (Kfar Dhharom). • Settlements expanded to create facts on the ground. • By 2005: • 8000 Jewish settlers/1.4 million Palestinians • Land controlled by settler: 25% • Arable land by settlers: 40% • Water allocation per person: <settlers

  6. 1st Intifada and the founding of Hamas • Situation for Palestinians becomes much worse • 1987-1992 first Intifada takes place • Hamas founded in Gaza in 1987 • First suicide bombings in 1994 • Initial ‘Security fence’ around Gaza in 1995 • Poverty Increases dramatically

  7. Al-Aqsa Intifada 2000-2005 • -2nd Intifada starts in 2000 • Violence escalates • ‘Buffer corridor’ in Rafah in the Gaza strip creates thousands of homeless. • -Cease Fire and lull in the fighting agreed in 2005.

  8. Disengagement 2005 • Disengagement plan articulated by Ariel Sharon in 2004. • -Aim was to redirect capital and military to West Bank • -Incorporate West Bank settlements into Israel • -Ariel Sharon: ‘At the same time, in the framework of the ‘Disengagement Plan’, • Israel will strengthen its control over those same areas in the Land of Israel which will constitute an • inseparable part of the State of Israel in any future agreement’ • -Dov Weissgias: ‘Arik [Sharon] doesn’t see Gaza today as an area of national interest. He does see Judea and • Samaria as an area of national interest… The significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing • of the peace process. And when you freeze that process, you prevent the establishment of a • Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem.’

  9. Did ‘Israel end the occupation of Gaza?’ • Israel controlled: • the air and sea space • movement to and from Gaza • the population registry • use of sea resources • family unification • the crossing of goods and humanitarian aid • fuel, electricity, and gas supplies • Crossings for workers • Israel is still an occupying power under international law

  10. Palestinian Elections and Hamas • Hamas wins in Gaza in 2004-2005 municipal elections/ loses overall • Wins the 2006 Parliamentary Elections • ‘Lull’ in fighting and ceasefire still in effect • Israel: • -closes Erez crossing, • -withholds customs taxes payments • -pressures international donors to stop payment to PA • Hamas under pressure of government moderates politics • Hostilities renew after June 8 assassination of Jamal Abu Samhadana/beach explosion near Beit Lahia

  11. Inter-Palestinian Fighting and Hamas victory in Gaza • -November 2006: Cease fire with Israel agreed • -Fatah-Hamas relations disentegrate • Reasons: • -Extreme poverty and economic desolation • -Political power play • -US policy by Elliot Abrams • Carnegie Endowment for Peace concurred: “is difficult to • argue with the conclusion that the United States effectively aided the slide toward civil war. • Compromise achieved on 16th March • Israel immediately rejects new government • June 2007, after coordinated assault, Hamas takes control of Gaza.

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