The Israeli-Arab conflict is a complicated one and at some point, perhaps when I have a year or so to spare, I shall make an attempt to understand it. In the meantime, the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip is making headlines and it seems quite a major move by Israel.
Here’s the situation as I understand it: Jewish settlers in Gaza - a small piece of land about 25 miles by 6 miles in size - represent a tiny minority of Gaza’s population. In fact, there are 8,500 Jews and 1.3 million Arabs in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan - removing, by force if necessary, all those Israelis currently living in Gaza - is designed to relieve pressure on Israeli security forces and generally (hopefully)increase the security of all residents in Israel.
The disengagement starts August 15. From August 17, those Israelis who have resisted the order to leave will be forcefully removed by Israeli troops. From what I have seen on various news programmes there will definitely be resistance. In fact, Jews are coming into Gaza strip specifically to support those settlers who refuse to leave.
Once all the Israelis are gone the army will demolish their homes.
It’s not all plain sailing though.
While there is a general Israel-wide agreement with the withdrawal the majority isn’t large and hundreds of Israeli soldiers who object to the withdrawal have been excused from participating in its execution.
Perhaps the main concerns over the whole business is, to my mind at least, the attitude of the Palestinians themselves. The Palestinian National Authority, which will run Gaza once the withdrawal is complete, says the whole operation is designed to allow the Israelis to consolidate their control over the West Bank. They seem not to regard it as any kind of an olive branch and so feel no need to act in kind. Hence there are Israeli concerns that the withdrawal does not require reciprocal concessions by the Palestinians.
Even more worrying is the attitude of Hamas which regards the plan to leave Gaza as a victory for their violent resistance to Israeli occupation. One might wonder if the withdrawal will embolden them further (if that’s possible).
It does seem though that occupation of Gaza - and the West Bank - are out of step with Israel’s mission to establish its own homeland in peace and security. If it’s accepted that Gaza and the West Bank aren’t really a legitimate part of this project then withdrawing from them is quite possibly the best thing to do. With its finite resources Israel perhaps needs to focus its attentions on those enemies which seek its total destruction; protecting small, occupied zones seems to be a waste of resources - a luxury that cannot be afforded when your very existence is at stake.
