Welcome to Costa-del-Gaza

[Violet_Crumble]

When Alexander the Great reached the southeast Mediterranean he encountered resistance along the coast of what is now Israel. To deter any other rebellious towns he crucified 2,000 men, and from that point town after town surrendered to him unconditionally.

Then he reached Gaza. The local population made it clear that he was unwelcome and began an intense military campaign against him. Eventually, as many people in Gaza will happily remind you, Alexander left having contracted the disease that would eventually kill him.

There have been many subsequent invasions – Napoleon, the Ottomans, the British – in this narrow strip of territory into which 1.4 million Palestinians and 8,000 Israeli settlers are now squeezed.

The two sides of present-day Gaza are the poverty-stricken Palestinian population and the Israeli settlers who control about 45% of the land. But neither population is united; the divisions within each are as real as those between them. And the Israeli soldiers present in numbers to protect the settlers are now charged with overseeing their withdrawal - and if necessary, eviction - by August.

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3967.shtml

[bemildred]

1. Interesting piece.

I agree:

Amidst this diversity, there is a rare unity between groups like Hamas and the Israeli settlement movement over the disengagement plan. Each side insists, albeit in the terms of their own language, that Israel is retreating because of military failure. Palestinian civil society’s views coincide remarkably with those of Dov Weisglass in believing that disengagement is a momentous setback for Israel.

The delusion that Jabba is a military genius (or any other kind of genius) is coming home to roost.

The larger question: "What are you going to do with all those people" still seems to have no answer, and I would agree with the notion that running a tourist trap or hi-tech haven or whatever is not realistic, Capitalism is not likely to solve this mess, and any solution - should one be found - will be generational in nature and far from the profit motive. But it seems likely, with the current political situation, that no solution will be found at all and bafflegab will be substituted.

(Edit: some grammatical corrections)