Palestinians Between Hope And Despair

It is “the fulfillment of one small dream on the road to the establishment of a Palestinian state.” With these words Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the opening of the border crossing at Rafah between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. After the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation troops from Gaza, the border opening became the second of numerous exceedingly difficult Israeli concessions yet to come if the dream of an independent Palestinian state is to be achieved.

The 25-mile long Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean is home to roughly 1.4 million Palestinian Arabs inside an area of 139 square miles. (By comparison, the 36,000 residents of Morgan County, Illinois, live in a territory of 561 square miles.) More than 35 percent of Gaza’s inhabitants are refugees crowded into eight huge camps with one of the highest population densities in the world. Over 107,000 refugees, for example, live in the Jabalia camp whose area encompasses barely one square kilometer.

The Israeli occupation, beginning in 1967, made Gaza one giant prison, 16 miles long and 3 miles wide. Nobody could legally get in or out without passing through one of four heavily guarded Israeli checkpoints. Now, for the first time in 38 years, Gaza’s residents can cross at Rafah into neighboring Egypt through a Palestinian checkpoint.

Israeli authorities maintain electronic surveillance of the Rafah crossing so that they can watch around the clock who and what is going out and coming in. Border police from European Union countries are on guard to assure that Palestinians observe the rules imposed upon them by Israel’s government. It remains the Gaza Strip’s landlord, and it therefore insisted that the entire border agreement be valid for one year only. It will presumably be extended if Gaza’s inhabitants satisfy the landlord’s requirements.

Because Mr. Sharon considers the “disengagement” from Gaza to be in America’s national interest and because the Bush administration wanted it, Mr. Sharon now expects the U.S. Treasury to pay for the troop and settler withdrawal, estimated to cost $2,200 million (or $2.2 billion). Given Israel’s influence over most members of Congress, Israel’s skillful lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee,should have little trouble extracting the requested amount from America’s taxpayers.

The three checkpoints into Israeli territory and the all-important road to the Palestinian West Bank remain under Israeli control. Since Palestinians are still not routinely allowed to leave from Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport, they need to find their way to an airport in Egypt or Jordan, or some day get an airport and a seaport of their own.

Nevertheless, as Haaretz, the Israeli daily, reported, when the border opened at Rafah last Friday, cheering Palestinians across the political spectrum, including leaders of the Hamas resistance, celebrated the fulfillment of the dream. Hopes at present seem to be running high among Palestinians, even though the outlook for a final settlement with the Israeli government remains gloomy.

The usually well-informed British Guardian reports that Prime Minister Sharonis eager “to shape Israel’s final borders,” but only on conditions that no Palestinian leader can accept. Sharon wants to annex East Jerusalem, expand the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumin enough to join East Jerusalem, and build a wall of separation around the whole complex, far from the original Green Line. There would be no more corridor between the West Bank and East Jerusalem for Palestinians. The city’s Arab residents would gradually be squeezed out and made to leave, urged on by an array of discriminatory policies, such as deliberately higher taxes and fees, refusals of work and building permits, confiscation of land, and demolition of housing as penalties.

If this part of Sharon’s plan became reality, it would severely dash the Palestinians’ hopes for a contiguous and viable state of their own. It would make a peace settlement impossible and lead to renewed terrorist violence against Israel and, by extension, to more violence again Israel’s main supporter, the good people of the United States.

Wolf D. Fuhrig	Home	12-04-05
Palestinians Between Hope And Despair
It is “the fulfillment of one small dream on the road to the establishment of a Palestinian state.” With these words Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the opening of the border crossing at Rafah between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. After the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation troops from Gaza, the border opening became the second of numerous exceedingly difficult Israeli concessions yet to come if the dream of an independent Palestinian state is to be achieved. The 25-mile long Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean is home to roughly 1.4 million Palestinian Arabs inside an area of 139 square miles. (By comparison, the 36,000 residents of Morgan County, Illinois, live in a territory of 561 square miles.) More than 35 percent of Gaza’s inhabitants are refugees crowded into eight huge camps with one of the highest population densities in the world. Over 107,000 refugees, for example, live in the Jabalia camp whose area encompasses barely one square kilometer. The Israeli occupation, beginning in 1967, made Gaza one giant prison, 16 miles long and 3 miles wide. Nobody could legally get in or out without passing through one of four heavily guarded Israeli checkpoints. Now, for the first time in 38 years, Gaza’s residents can cross at Rafah into neighboring Egypt through a Palestinian checkpoint. Israeli authorities maintain electronic surveillance of the Rafah crossing so that they can watch around the clock who and what is going out and coming in. Border police from European Union countries are on guard to assure that Palestinians observe the rules imposed upon them by Israel’s government. It remains the Gaza Strip’s landlord, and it therefore insisted that the entire border agreement be valid for one year only. It will presumably be extended if Gaza’s inhabitants satisfy the landlord’s requirements. Because Mr. Sharon considers the “disengagement” from Gaza to be in America’s national interest and because the Bush administration wanted it, Mr. Sharon now expects the U.S. Treasury to pay for the troop and settler withdrawal, estimated to cost $2,200 million (or $2.2 billion). Given Israel’s influence over most members of Congress, Israel’s skillful lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee,should have little trouble extracting the requested amount from America’s taxpayers. The three checkpoints into Israeli territory and the all-important road to the Palestinian West Bank remain under Israeli control. Since Palestinians are still not routinely allowed to leave from Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport, they need to find their way to an airport in Egypt or Jordan, or some day get an airport and a seaport of their own. Nevertheless, as Haaretz, the Israeli daily, reported, when the border opened at Rafah last Friday, cheering Palestinians across the political spectrum, including leaders of the Hamas resistance, celebrated the fulfillment of the dream. Hopes at present seem to be running high among Palestinians, even though the outlook for a final settlement with the Israeli government remains gloomy. The usually well-informed British Guardian reports that Prime Minister Sharonis eager “to shape Israel’s final borders,” but only on conditions that no Palestinian leader can accept. Sharon wants to annex East Jerusalem, expand the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumin enough to join East Jerusalem, and build a wall of separation around the whole complex, far from the original Green Line. There would be no more corridor between the West Bank and East Jerusalem for Palestinians. The city’s Arab residents would gradually be squeezed out and made to leave, urged on by an array of discriminatory policies, such as deliberately higher taxes and fees, refusals of work and building permits, confiscation of land, and demolition of housing as penalties. If this part of Sharon’s plan became reality, it would severely dash the Palestinians’ hopes for a contiguous and viable state of their own. It would make a peace settlement impossible and lead to renewed terrorist violence against Israel and, by extension, to more violence again Israel’s main supporter, the good people of the United States.

Wolf D. Fuhrig

Home

12-04-05

Palestinians Between Hope And Despair