Spring Break
Progress in Palestine and how we can participate
Dr. Andrew Bush
Issue date: 9/28/05 Section: Opinion
Israel recently completed the evacuation of its remaining military units from Gaza. This brings to an end the painful process of removing all Israeli settlers from a territory home to more than 1.4 million Palestinians.
Months ago, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced plans to close the settlements in Gaza, he stated with a candor rare in Middle East politics that Israel could not keep 3.5 million people (the Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza) under military occupation forever.
True to his word, and as the result of a stunning example of executive leadership, Sharon ended the 38-year-old occupation of Gaza has now ended. The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rightly hailed this as an "historic" and "brave" step toward peace.
But Gaza still needs all the help it can get.
It is a miserable place of suffering. Two thirds of Gazans are refugees who fled from their now destroyed homes and villages in Israel during the war in 1948. For decades they have been housed in squalid refugee camps funded by the United Nations.
After 1967, Israel occupied Gaza (and the West Bank) and allowed Israeli settlements to be established. For the Palestinians, a bad life became much worse. Their lives were restricted by a large Israeli military presence which was required to secure the settlements. Severely limited travel produced crippling poverty. A permanent environment of mutual hate and violence was created. Gaza became known as the largest prison in the world.
That the majority of Israelis supported the end of Gaza's occupation is encouraging. Militant religious Zionists--Jewish and Christian alike--have severely threatened the process. But realists have opted for peace.
And realism also demands that the remaining 2.5 million Palestinians still under occupation receive full authority over their communities.
Israeli human rights organizations such as Rabbis for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights and Women in Black, as well as Christian organizations such as Christian Peacemaker Teams, are working for the end of the occupation and the establishment of an enduring peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
Months ago, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced plans to close the settlements in Gaza, he stated with a candor rare in Middle East politics that Israel could not keep 3.5 million people (the Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza) under military occupation forever.
True to his word, and as the result of a stunning example of executive leadership, Sharon ended the 38-year-old occupation of Gaza has now ended. The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rightly hailed this as an "historic" and "brave" step toward peace.
But Gaza still needs all the help it can get.
It is a miserable place of suffering. Two thirds of Gazans are refugees who fled from their now destroyed homes and villages in Israel during the war in 1948. For decades they have been housed in squalid refugee camps funded by the United Nations.
After 1967, Israel occupied Gaza (and the West Bank) and allowed Israeli settlements to be established. For the Palestinians, a bad life became much worse. Their lives were restricted by a large Israeli military presence which was required to secure the settlements. Severely limited travel produced crippling poverty. A permanent environment of mutual hate and violence was created. Gaza became known as the largest prison in the world.
That the majority of Israelis supported the end of Gaza's occupation is encouraging. Militant religious Zionists--Jewish and Christian alike--have severely threatened the process. But realists have opted for peace.
And realism also demands that the remaining 2.5 million Palestinians still under occupation receive full authority over their communities.
Israeli human rights organizations such as Rabbis for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights and Women in Black, as well as Christian organizations such as Christian Peacemaker Teams, are working for the end of the occupation and the establishment of an enduring peace between Palestinians and Israelis.