Thursday, January 11, 2018

Many Jewish souls died in the Diaspora and continue to die by YJ Draiman

Many Jewish souls died in the Diaspora and continue to die by YJ Draiman
NEVER AGAIN - must be in deeds not just words!
Many Jewish souls died in the Diaspora and continue to die including in Israel for the sole reason that they are Jews. Their fate was in the hand of their leaders. 
They deserved so much more then being murdered just because they were Jewish. We do no want to repeat the Holocaust again. Nor the expulsion of over a million Jewish families from the Arab countries while confiscating all their assets and they were resettled in Israel.
Israel must learn to secure the safety of every citizen under its roof. Enough of trying to be the advocate for these extremists’ evil barbaric people within the Arab-Palestinians. Israel is the home of the Jewish people. It is written in all of the holy books, the bible and history books, including archaeological excavations in Israel, International treaties and laws.
Enough of trying to accommodate the Arab-Palestinian people that thrive on hate and destruction towards me as a Jew. Israel must be strong and extremely strict in enforcing its laws and sovereignty. Hamas should have been destroyed, just like any other enemy of Israel who wants to destroy her. Order must be restored in the Gaza.
The Arab-Palestinians in the west bank (Judea and Samaria) thinks they can torture me because I am a Jew. They commit daily terror and violence in Israel in the name of Islam. Enough is enough. The time is not for revenge but for law and order with a clear message to Mahmmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen the convicted murderer, and his Arab P.A. that these terror and violence acts are his responsibility. If he cannot stop it, Israel will have no alternative, but to take appropriate action to stop terror and violence. Moreover, Hamas the terrorist organization must be eradicated completely once and for all.
I am a Jew and I deserve to live in peace in my own country without threat and intimidation. I expect the respect and protection that is due to me especially by my Jewish leaders. All Jews must learn to respect each other no matter their religious practice, affiliation or opinion.                            
A unified Israel is a strong Israel.

Moreover, I blame the government of Israel for not taking a far, far stronger and extreme stand against Arab terror and violence. There is no alternative but denial of citizenship, and deportation, of everyone who is an avowed enemy of the Jewish people and the Jewish state. People will say this is extreme. I say, the situation is extreme. Living with one million plus potential and actual murderers of our men, women and children is extreme.
How do we know who is an enemy of the State? Anyone who has participated in any act of aggression against Israeli Jews (stone throwing, rioting, knifing, car ramming, vandalizing Jewish cemeteries and holy places, attacks on Jews, inciting to violence) is an enemy of the State. Furthermore, the families of these enemies of the State; the schools that teach hate and the destruction of Israel; and anyone who engages in anti-Israel hatred and violence in words or acts, must be treated as enemies of the State.
I also blame, of course, the anti-Semitism of the rest of the world, including the US government (the State Dept), and certainly the EU (which also has trillions of dollars of Jewish assets which were not paid for) and the UN (non-binding resolutions), whose extremely biased condemnation and pressures have restrained Israel from taking the necessary and appropriate steps to protect itself. These are Steps which any other State/Country of the world would be duty-bound and obligated to take and has taken without criticism and condemnation. Not taking these extreme steps in protecting your citizens is a dereliction of duty.
The never ending and continuance of violence by the Arabs against Israel and its’ citizens must come to an end. How many more of our beautiful people, young and old, must be sacrificed on the altar of the world’s anti-Semitism and our own fear of appearing too self-interested?
If ever there was a time for self-interest, it is now.
The Israeli government needs to learn from previous mistakes that ingratiating itself to the biased international media, the world and to the Arabs only strengthens the Arab resolve and brings more bloodshed and bullying. No one has said a word about Egypt bombing Gazan houses and building a wall because Egypt doesn’t give a damn and everyone knows it. Israel needs to have the same attitude and do what is good for its people for a change. This will garner more respect, not less. Bullies prey on the weak.
As for Gaza (the terrorist entity) which is Israel’s problem and the government will probably be dumb enough to accept the problem as their own. Israel in hope for peace created the Arab-Palestinian people and an idea of a possible second Arab-Palestinian state west of the Jordan River and now they will probably take some responsibility for the people of Gaza to please the biased world. Makes you sick, does it not!
The Arabs keep demanding Judea and Samaria aka West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem as their new State. But nowhere in any treaties of post WWI, there is no such an agreement. They also fail to inform the world that the Arab states terrorized and expelled over a million Jewish families from their countries, confiscated all their assets personal, businesses, homes and over 120,000 sq. km. (47,000 sq. mi.) of Real estate (6 times the size of Israel valued in the trillions of dollars) most Jewish refugees families from Arab countries were resettled in Greater Israel and today comprise over half the population.
The Arab-Palestinians have a state, it is called Jordan (on Jewish land and they expelled all the Jews from Jordan), which about 75% of its citizens is Arab-Palestinians citizens and possess a Jordanian citizenship. While the British as a trustee for the Jewish people managed the Mandate for Palestine aka The Land of Israel, the British violated the trust and created The State of Jordan for the Arabs in the early 1920’s. The British took about 80% of Jewish allocated land which included all the territory east of the Jordan River. This was in addition to the 6 million square miles of territory with a wealth of oil reserves that they received after WWI.
Under the San Remo Treaty of April 1920 which incorporated the Balfour Declaration of 1917 as international law with no restrictions on boundary; the British violated agreements and treaties, took over 77% of Jewish territory and gave it to the Arabs, in violation of the treaty and the January 1919 Faisal Weizmann Agreement. Additionally the British gave away Jewish land west of the Jordan River to the Arabs without authority.
The Arab-Palestinians do not want a state; they have shown to date in deed and practice that they are only interested in the destruction of Israel. Their Charters, Schooling and Media (brainwash) educates and promotes hate, terror and violence towards the Jewish State and its people. An Arab-Palestinian State would have to act responsibly and abide by world criteria of a responsible state, which they cannot adhere to. The Arabs cannot make peace among themselves for centuries, do you expect them to make peace with Israel.
It is time for Israel to fully take over all its liberated territory west of the Jordan River and expel all the Arab trouble makers and their families. No violence must be tolerated and death penalty must be a mandated punishment for terrorists.
YJ Draiman
P.S.
How many holidays do the Arabs celebrate due to historical events in the land of ancient Israel. The Jewish people celebrate most of their holidays and fast days in memory of and the goal and aspiration to return to Israel and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem – where it was before it was destroyed and desecrated by the enemies of the Jews. Many of the Jewish prayers for thousands of years recite the love of Israel and the Jewish aspirations to return to their ancestral land and bring back its glory and holiness.
Government of Israel first duty is to protect the people at all costs, not run their lives.
The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.








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    54 comments:

    1. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:06 PM

      If anyone knows about "Occupiers" it is Muslims including those who took over GAZA when the Jordanians ran the Jews and Muslims off their lands. They continue to occupy Gaza.

      Ancient period from Wikileaks

      Statue of Zeus unearthed in Gaza

      A city which would become present-day Gaza began to develop on the
      site of Tell al-Ajjul. This city served as Egypt’s administrative
      capital in Canaan,
      and was the residence of the Egyptian governor of the region. A caravan
      point of strategic importance from the earliest times, it was
      constantly involved in the wars between Egypt and Syria and the Mesopotamian powers, and appeared frequently in Egyptian and Assyrian records. Under Tuthmosis III, it is mentioned on the Syrian-Egyptian caravan route and in the Amarna letters as "Azzati". Gaza was in Egyptian hands for 350 years, until it was settled by the Philistines, a seafaring people with cultural links to the Aegean, in the 12th century BCE. It then became a part of the pentapolis; a league of the Philistines' five most important city-states.[2]

      The Hebrew Bible mentions the Avvites occupying an area that extended as far as Gaza, and that these people were dispossessed by the Caphtorites from the island of Caphtor (modern Crete).[3] Some scholars speculate that the Philistines were descendants of the Caphtorites.

      Gaza is also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the place where Samson was imprisoned and met his death.[4] The prophets Amos and Zephaniah are believed to have prophesied that Gaza would be deserted.[5][6][7] According to biblical accounts, Gaza fell to Israelite rule, from the reign of King David in the early 11th century BCE.[2] When the United Monarchy split in about 930 BCE, Gaza became a part of the northern Kingdom of Israel[citation needed]. When the Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians under Tiglath-Pileser III and Sargon II around 730 BCE, Gaza came under Assyrian rule.[2] In the 7th century, it again came under Egyptian control, but during the Persian period (6th-4th centuries BCE) it enjoyed a certain independence and flourished.[2] In 529 BCE, Cambyses I unsuccessfully attacked Gaza and later, around 520 BCE, the Greeks established a trading post in Gaza. The first coins were minted on the Athens model around 380 BCE.[8]

      Alexander the Great besieged Gaza—the last city to resist his conquest on his path to Egypt—for five months, finally capturing it 332 BCE.[2] Led by a eunuch named Batis and defended by Arab
      mercenaries, Gaza withstood the siege for two months, until it was
      overcome by storm. The defenders, mostly local elements, fought to the
      death and the women and children were taken as captives. The city was
      resettled by neighboring Bedouins,[9] who were sympathetic to Alexander's rule. He then organized the city into a polis or "city-state" and Greek culture took root in Gaza which gained a reputation as a flourishing center of Hellenic learning and philosophy.[10][11] Belonging at first to the Ptolemaic kingdom, it passed after 200 BCE to the Seleucids.[2]

      In the 1st century BCE and the first half of that century, it was the Mediterranean port of the Nabateans, whose caravans arrived there from Petra or from Elath on the Red Sea. In 96 BCE, the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus besieged the city for a year. The inhabitants, who had hoped for help from the Nabatean king Aretas II, were killed and their city destroyed by Jannaeus when Aretas did not come to their aid.[2][12]

      ReplyDelete
    2. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:28 PM

      The known history of Gaza spans 4,000 years. Gaza was ruled, destroyed and repopulated by various dynasties, empires, and peoples.[1] Originally a Canaanite settlement, it came under the control of the ancient Egyptians for roughly 350 years before being conquered and becoming one of the Philistines' principal cities. Gaza fell to the Israelites in about 1000 BCE but became part of the Assyrian Empire around 730 BCE. Alexander the Great besieged and captured the city in 332 BCE. Most of the inhabitants were killed during the assault, and the city, which became a center for Hellenistic learning and philosophy, was resettled by nearby Bedouins. The area changed hands regularly between two Greek successor-kingdoms, the Seleucids of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt, until it was besieged and taken by the Hasmoneans in 96 BCE.

      Gaza was rebuilt by Roman General Pompey Magnus, and granted to Herod the Great thirty years later. Throughout the Roman period, Gaza maintained its prosperity, receiving grants from several different emperors. A 500-member senate governed the city, which had a diverse population of Greeks, Romans, Jews, Egyptians, Persians and Nabateans. Conversion to Christianity in the city was spearheaded and completed under Saint Porphyrius, who destroyed its eight pagan temples between 396 and 420 CE. Gaza was conquered by the Muslim general Amr ibn al-'As in 637 CE, and most Gazans adopted Islam during early Muslim rule. Thereafter, the city went through periods of prosperity and decline. The Crusaders wrested control of Gaza from the Fatimids in 1100, but were driven out by Saladin. Gaza was in Mamluk hands by the late 13th century, and became the capital of a province that stretched from the Sinai Peninsula to Caesarea. It witnessed a golden age under the Ottoman-appointed Ridwan dynasty in the 16th century.

      Gaza experienced destructive earthquakes in 1903 and 1914. In 1917, during World War I, British forces captured the city. Gaza grew significantly in the first half of the 20th century under Mandatory rule. The population of the city swelled as a result of the Palestinian exodus during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Gaza came under Egyptian rule until it was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War. Gaza became a center of political resistance during the First Intifada, and under the Oslo Accords of 1993, it was assigned to be under the direct control of the newly established Palestinian Authority. Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005. By 2007, Hamas emerged both as the victor in Palestinian elections and in factional fighting with rival Fatah in the city and in the wider Gaza Strip and has since been the sole governing authority. Israel subsequently blockaded the Strip and launched assaults against it in 2008–2009, 2012 and 2014, as a response to rocket attacks.

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    3. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:30 PM

      Settlement in the region of Gaza dates back to 3300–3000 BCE at Tell as-Sakan, a site located south of the present-day city, which began as an Ancient Egyptian fortress built in Canaanite territory. Tell as-Sakan prospered as Canaanite cities began to trade agricultural goods with the Egyptians. However, when Egypt's economic interests shifted to the cedar trade with Lebanon, Gaza's role was reduced to that of a port for ships carrying goods and it declined economically. The site was virtually abandoned and remained so throughout the Early Bronze Age II.[1]

      Gaza enjoyed demographic and economic growth again when the local Canaanite population began to resettle Tell as-Sakan around 2500, but in 2250, the area experienced a total collapse of civilization and all of the cities in the Gaza region were abandoned by the 23rd century BCE. In its place emerged semi-nomadic cultures with pastoral camps made up of rustic family dwellings which continued to exist throughout the Early Bronze Age IV. An urban center known as Tell al-Ajjul began to arise inland along the Wadi Ghazza riverbed. During the Middle Bronze Age, Tell as-Sakan was the southernmost locality in Canaanite territory, serving as a fort, and by 1650 BCE, while Egypt was occupied by the Canaanite Hyksos, a second city developed on the ruins of the first Tell as-Sakan. This city was destroyed about a century later, when the Hyksos were routed from Egypt. Egypt settled Gaza once again and Tell al-Ajjul rose for the third time in the 15th century BCE. The city finally ceased to exist in the 14th century, at the end of the Bronze Age.[1]

      ReplyDelete
    4. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:30 PM

      A city which would become present-day Gaza began to develop on the site of Tell al-Ajjul. This city served as Egypt’s administrative capital in Canaan, and was the residence of the Egyptian governor of the region. A caravan point of strategic importance from the earliest times, it was constantly involved in the wars between Egypt and Syria and the Mesopotamian powers, and appeared frequently in Egyptian and Assyrian records. Under Tuthmosis III, it is mentioned on the Syrian-Egyptian caravan route and in the Amarna letters as "Azzati". Gaza was in Egyptian hands for 350 years, until it was settled by the Philistines, a seafaring people with cultural links to the Aegean, in the 12th century BCE. It then became a part of the pentapolis; a league of the Philistines' five most important city-states.[2]

      The Hebrew Bible mentions the Avvites occupying an area that extended as far as Gaza, and that these people were dispossessed by the Caphtorites from the island of Caphtor (modern Crete).[3] Some scholars speculate that the Philistines were descendants of the Caphtorites.

      Gaza is also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the place where Samson was imprisoned and met his death.[4] The prophets Amos and Zephaniah are believed to have prophesied that Gaza would be deserted.[5][6][7] According to biblical accounts, Gaza fell to Israelite rule, from the reign of King David in the early 11th century BCE.[2] When the United Monarchy split in about 930 BCE, Gaza became a part of the northern Kingdom of Israel[citation needed]. When the Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians under Tiglath-Pileser III and Sargon II around 730 BCE, Gaza came under Assyrian rule.[2] In the 7th century, it again came under Egyptian control, but during the Persian period (6th-4th centuries BCE) it enjoyed a certain independence and flourished.[2] In 529 BCE, Cambyses I unsuccessfully attacked Gaza and later, around 520 BCE, the Greeks established a trading post in Gaza. The first coins were minted on the Athens model around 380 BCE.[8]

      Alexander the Great besieged Gaza—the last city to resist his conquest on his path to Egypt—for five months, finally capturing it 332 BCE.[2] Led by a eunuch named Batis and defended by Arab mercenaries, Gaza withstood the siege for two months, until it was overcome by storm. The defenders, mostly local elements, fought to the death and the women and children were taken as captives. The city was resettled by neighboring Bedouins,[9] who were sympathetic to Alexander's rule. He then organized the city into a polis or "city-state" and Greek culture took root in Gaza which gained a reputation as a flourishing center of Hellenic learning and philosophy.[10][11] Belonging at first to the Ptolemaic kingdom, it passed after 200 BCE to the Seleucids.[2]

      In the 1st century BCE and the first half of that century, it was the Mediterranean port of the Nabateans, whose caravans arrived there from Petra or from Elath on the Red Sea. In 96 BCE, the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus besieged the city for a year. The inhabitants, who had hoped for help from the Nabatean king Aretas II, were killed and their city destroyed by Jannaeus when Aretas did not come to their aid.[2][12]

      ReplyDelete
    5. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:33 PM

      Roman rule
      Gaza was rebuilt by consul Aulus Gabinius after it was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 63 BCE, under the command of Pompey Magnus.[2] Roman rule brought six centuries of relative peace and prosperity to the city—which became a busy port and locus of trade between the Middle East and Africa.[10]

      In the Acts of the Apostles, Gaza is mentioned as being on the desert route from Jerusalem to Ethiopia. The Christian gospel was explained to an Ethiopian eunuch along this road by Philip the Evangelist, and he was baptised in some nearby water.[13]

      Gaza was granted to Herod the Great by Roman emperor Augustus in 30 BCE, where it formed a separate unit within his kingdom; and Cosgabar, the governor of Idumea, was in charge of the city's affairs. On the division of Herod's kingdom, it was placed under the proconsul of Syria.[2] After Herod's death in 4 BCE, Augustus annexed it to the Province of Syria. In 66 CE, Gaza was burned down by Jews during their rebellion against the Romans. However, it remained an important city; even more so after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus the following year.[14] Titus passed through Gaza on his march toward to Jerusalem, and again in his return. The establishment of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea restored trade links with Petra and Aila.[15]

      Throughout the Roman period, Gaza was a prosperous city and received grants and attention from several emperors.[2] A 500-member senate governed Gaza, and a diverse variety of Philistines, Greeks, Romans, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Jews, Egyptians, Persians and Bedouin populated the city. Gaza's mint stamped out coins adorned with the busts of gods and emperors.[11] During his visit in 130 CE,[8] Emperor Hadrian, who favored Gaza,[15] personally inaugurated wrestling, boxing and oratorical competitions in Gaza's new stadium, which soon became known from Alexandria to Damascus. The city was adorned with many pagan temples—the main cult being that of Marnas. Other temples were dedicated to Zeus, Helios, Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena and the local deity Tyche.[2]

      The spread of Christianity in Gaza was initiated by Philip the Arab around 250 CE; first in the port of Maiuma, but later into the city. The religion faced obstacles as it spread through the inland population because pagan worship was strong. In 299, an unverified number of local Christians who assembled in Gaza to hear the Scriptures read were seized and mutilated by the Romans.[16] Also, its Christians were harshly repressed during the Diocletianic Persecution in 303. The first bishop of Gaza was Philemon, believed to have been one of the 72 disciples, but the first cleric was Saint Silvanus who, during the persecution by Maximinianus in 310, was arrested along with about 30 other Christians, and condemned to death.[2]

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    6. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:33 PM

      Byzantine rule and advent of Christianity
      On the breakup of the Roman Empire, Gaza became part of the Byzantine Empire as part of the Palaestina Prima province. The official recognition of Christianity by Constantine I did not increase sympathy of the religion in Gaza. Although Gaza was represented by Bishop Asclepas in the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the vast majority of its inhabitants continued to worship the native gods.[16] As the Roman Empire was crumbling at this time, Gaza remained unaffected.[10] At this time, the inhabitants of Maiuma converted to Christianity en masse. Constantine II decided to separate it from pagan Gaza in 331, giving Maiuma its own episcopal see.[16] Julian reversed the process during his reign in the latter half of the 4th century. Although Maiuma had its own bishop, clergy, and diocesan territory, it shared its magistrates and administration with Gaza.[17] Upon Julian's death, Maiuma's independence was restored and the rivalry between it and Gaza intensified.[16]

      During most of the 4th century, the Christian community was small, poor, and carried no influence in the city. The church was insignificant and its members were not allowed to hold political office.[18] However, conversion to Christianity in Gaza was spearheaded under Saint Porphyrius between 396 and 420.[2] In 402, after obtaining a decree from the emperor, he ordered all eight of the city's pagan temples destroyed and idol worship was forbidden by the Byzantine government. Paganism continued and Christians were still persecuted in the city, forcing St. Porphyrius to undertake more measures.[19] As a result of his persuasion, Empress Aelia Eudocia commissioned the construction of a church atop the ruins of the Temple of Marnas in 406.[20] (Note that according to MacMullen it is likely that Porphyrius did not even exist.[21]) Persecution against Christians did not cease, but it was less harsh and frequent than previously.[19] A large 6th century synagogue with a mosaic tile floor depicting King David was discovered in Gaza. An inscription states that the floor was donated in 508–509 CE by two merchant brothers.[22] Around 540, Gaza became the starting point for pilgrimages to the Sinai Peninsula. It was an important city in the early Christian world and many famous scholars taught at its academy of rhetoric, including 6th-century scholar Procopius of Gaza.[2] The celebrated Church of Saint Sergius was built in this century.[20]

      Depicted in the mosaic Map of Madaba of 600, Gaza was the most important political and commercial center on the southern coast of Palestine.[23] Its northern municipal border was marked by Wadi al-Hesi, just before Ashkelon, and its southern boundary is unknown, but Gaza's jurisdiction did not reach Raphia. The towns of Bethelea, Asalea, Gerarit and Kissufim were included in Gaza's territories.[24] Its large representation, approximately half of which is preserved, cannot be easily explained, mainly because only small tentative excavations have been made there and because Byzantine Gaza is covered by the still inhabited Old City.[23]

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    7. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:34 PM

      Arab caliphates
      Rashidun rule
      There were already converts to Islam among the city's Greek-speaking Christian population before Gaza's capitulation to the Muslims. At the near end of the Byzantine era, Gaza had become the home of an increasingly influential group of Arab traders from Mecca, including Umar ibn al-Khattab, who later became the second ruler of the Islamic Caliphate. Muhammad visited the city more than once before being a prophet of Islam.[11]

      In 634, Gaza was besieged by the Rashidun army under general 'Amr ibn al-'As, with assistance from Khalid ibn al-Walid, following the Battle of Ajnadayn between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate in central Palestine.[10][25] The Muslims' victory at Ajnadayn gave them control over much of Palestine's countryside, but not the major cities with garrisons such as Gaza. With Umar succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph (head of the Caliphate), the Rashidun forces began to make stronger efforts at conquering Byzantine territory.[26] During the three-year siege of Gaza, the city's Jewish community fought alongside the Byzantine garrison.[27] In the summer of 637, Amr's forces broke the siege and captured Gaza, killing its Byzantine garrison, but not attacking its inhabitants.[28] Amr's victory is attributed to a combination of Arab strategy, Byzantine weakness, and the influence of Gaza’s Arab residents.[11] Believed to be the site where Muhammad's great grandfather Hashim ibn Abd Manaf—who also lived as a merchant in Gaza—was buried, the city was not destroyed by the victorious Arab army.[29]

      The arrival of the Muslim Arabs brought drastic changes to Gaza; its churches were transformed into mosques, including the Cathedral of John the Baptist (previously the Temple of Marnas) which became the Great Mosque of Gaza.[29] Gaza's population adopted Islam as their religion relatively quick in contrast with the city's countryside.[28] Eventually,[29][30] Arabic became the official language.[29] The Christian population was reduced to an insignificant minority and the Samaritan residents deposited their property with their high priest and fled the city east upon the Muslim conquest.[31] Gaza was placed under the administration of Jund Filastin ("District of Palestine") of Bilad al-Sham province during Rashidun rule, and continued to be a part of the district under the successive caliphates of the Umayyads and Abbasids.[32]

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    8. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:34 PM

      Arab dynasties
      Under the Umayyads Gaza served as a minor administrative center.[30] In 672 an earthquake struck the city but there are few details of its effects. Under the caliph-appointed governors, Christians and Jews were taxed, though their worship and trade continued, as noted in the writings of the bishop Saint Willibald, who visited the city in 723.[33] The year 750 saw the end of Umayyad rule in Palestine and the arrival of the Abbasids, with Gaza becoming a center for the writing of Islamic law.[8] In 767, Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi'i was born in Gaza and lived his early childhood there; al-Shafi'i founded one of the prominent fiqhs (schools of law) of Sunni Islam, named Shafi'i after him.[34]

      In 796 the city was laid waste during a civil war by the Arab tribes of the area.[35] Gaza apparently recovered by the 9th century according to Persian geographer Istakhri who wrote that merchants grew rich there "for this place was a great market for the people of the Hejaz."[36] A Christian writer, writing in 867, described it as "rich in all things".[15] Gaza's port, however, occasionally succumbed to neglect under Arab rule and an overall decline in commerce followed because of infighting among Palestine's rulers and Bedouin bandits who disrupted overland trade routes towards the city.[29]

      From 868 to 905 the Tulunids ruled Gaza,[1] and around 909, the influence of the Fatimids from Egypt started to grow, leading to a slow decline of the city. The orange was introduced to the area, arriving from India in 943.[8] In 977, the Fatimids established an agreement with the Seljuk Turks, whereby the Fatimids would control Gaza and the land south of it, including Egypt.[37] By the 985 CE, while under Fatimid rule, the Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi described Gaza as "a large town lying on the highroad to Egypt on the border of the desert. There is here a beautiful mosque, also to be seen is the monument for the Khalif Umar."[38] The Arabic language poet, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Ghazzi was born in the city in 1049.[15]

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    9. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:35 PM

      Crusader and Ayyubid rule
      The Crusaders wrested control of Gaza from the Fatimids in 1100. According to the chronicler William of Tyre, the Crusaders found it uninhabited and in ruins. Unable to totally refortify the hilltop on which Gaza was built, due to a lack of resources, King Baldwin III built a small castle there in 1149. The possession of Gaza completed the military encirclement of the Fatimid-held city of Ascalon to the north. After the castle's construction, Baldwin granted it and the surrounding region to the Knights Templar.[20] He also had the Great Mosque converted into the Cathedral of Saint John.[8][20]

      In 1154, the Arab traveler al-Idrisi wrote Gaza "is today very populous and in the hands of the Crusaders."[39] William of Tyre confirms that in 1170, a civilian population was persuaded to occupy the area outside the castle and establish feeble fortifications and gates surrounding the community.[20] That same year, King Amalric I of Jerusalem withdrew Gaza's Templars to assist him against an Egypt-based Ayyubid force led by Saladin at nearby Darum. However, Saladin evaded the Crusader force and assaulted Gaza instead, destroying the town built outside the castle's walls and killing its inhabitants after they were refused refuge in the castle, managed by Miles of Plancy at the time. Seven years later, the Templars prepared for another defense of Gaza against Saladin, but this time his forces fell on Ascalon. In 1187, following Ascalon's capitulation, the Templars surrendered Gaza in return for the release of their master Gerard of Ridefort. Saladin then ordered the destruction of the city's fortifications in 1191. A year later, after recapturing it, Richard the Lionheart apparently refortified the city, but the walls were dismantled as a result of the Treaty of Ramla agreed upon months later in 1193.[20]

      According to geographer Abu al-Fida, Gaza was a medium-sized city, possessing gardens and a seashore in the early 13th century.[40] The Ayyubids constructed the Shuja'iyya neighborhood—the first extension of Gaza beyond the Old City.[41]

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    10. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:38 PM

      Mamluk rule -
      Ayyubid rule virtually ended in 1260, after the Mongols under Hulagu Khan completely destroyed Gaza—Hulagu's southernmost point of conquest. Hulagu left his army in Gaza after being recalled due to the death of the Mongol emperor, and Mamluk general az-Zahir Baybars subsequently drove the Mongols out of the city and again defeated them at Baysan in the Galilee. He was proclaimed sultan of Egypt on his way back from the battlefield after the assassination of Sultan Qutuz. Baibars passed through Gaza six times during his expeditions against the remnants of the Crusader states and the Mongols between 1263 and 1269.[42] Mamluk domination started in 1277,[29] with Gaza initially being a small village in the territory of Ramla. In 1279, Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun encamped in Gaza for fifty days while on a march against the Mongols.[42]

      In 1293, Qalawun's son an-Nasir Muhammad instituted Gaza as the capital of the province that bore its name, Mamlakat Ghazzah (the Governorship of Gaza).[42] This province covered the coastal plain from Rafah in the south to just north of Caesarea, extending in the east to the western slopes of Samaria and the Hebron Hills; its major towns were Qaqun, Ludd, and Ramla.[43] In 1294, an earthquake devastated Gaza, and five years later the Mongols again destroyed all that was restored by the Mamluks.[29] That same year, Gaza was the center of a conspiracy against Sultan al-Adil Kitbugha, but the plot was detected and crushed before being carried out.[42]

      The Syrian geographer al-Dimashqi described Gaza in 1300 as "so rich in trees it looks like a cloth of brocade spread out upon the land".[11] He accounted to Gaza the cities and towns of Ascalon, Jaffa, Caesarea, Arsuf, Deir al-Balah, al-Arish (in north-central the Sinai), Bayt Jibrin, Karatiyya, Hebron and Jerusalem—all of which had their own sub-governors.[44] Emir Baibars al-Ala'i ruled Mamlakat Ghazzah between 1307-1310, during the second reign of an-Nasir Muhammad until the latter was briefly overthrown by Baybars al-Jashnakir.[45] Gaza was one of the places that returned to the allegiance of the exiled sultan; in 1310, an-Nasir Muhammad defeated Sultan Baybars in Gaza, forcing the latter to surrender his throne to him. Baybars was imprisoned in the city.[44]

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    11. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:45 PM

      Mamluk rule continued
      Emir Sanjar al-Jawli acquired the governorship of Gaza and central Palestine in 1311. He highly favored Gaza and transformed it into a flourishing city, having built in it a horse-race course, a madrasa (college), a mosque, a khan (caravansary), a maristan (hospital), and a castle.[46] In late 1332, coinciding with the appointment of Emir Taynal al-Ashrafi as governor, some of the provincial privileges of Gaza, such as the governor's direct subordination to the sultan in Cairo, were removed by an-Nasir Muhammad's decree. From then, and until 1341 when Sanjar al-Jawli served a second term as governor, Gaza became subordinate to the na'ib as-saltana (viceroy) of Syria, Emir Tankiz al-Husami.[47]

      In 1348 the Bubonic Plague spread to the city, killing the majority of its inhabitants, and in 1352, Gaza suffered a destructive flood—which was rare in that arid part of Palestine.[48] However, by 1355, the Berber traveler Ibn Batutta visited the city and noted that it was "large and populous, and has many mosques. But there were no walls round it. There was here of old a fine Jami' Mosque (the Great Mosque), but the one present[ly] used was built by Amir Jawli [Sanjar al-Jawli]."[49]

      In the early 1380s, the governor of Gaza, Akbuga Safawi, plotted to commit treason against Sultan az-Zahir Barquq. The plot was detected and Safawi was exiled to al-Karak, and replaced by Husam al-Din ibn Bakish. Soon after, the city fell into the hands of Emir Yalbugha an-Nasiri who revolted against Barquq. Gaza was retaken without violence, and Ibn Bakish met Yalbugha at its gates with gifts and proposals of peace. The unseated Barquq regained his throne in 1389, and retook Gaza the next year.[50] In 1401 a swarm of locusts destroyed Gaza's crops.[48] A battle between the rival Mamluk emirs Akbirdi and Qansuwa Khamsiyah occurred in Gaza; Khamsiyah had failed in usurping the Mamluk throne and fled to Gaza where he made his unsuccessful last stand.[51] Between 1428 and 1433, Gaza was governed by Emir Sayf ad-Din Inal, who would later become sultan in 1453.[52] During his sultanate, in 1455, Inal's dawadar (executive secretary) had the Madrasa of Birdibak built in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood.[53]

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    12. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:46 PM

      Ottoman era
      Early Ottoman rule and the Ridwan dynasty
      In 1516, Gaza—by now a small town with an inactive port, ruined buildings and reduced trade—was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.[48] The Ottoman army quickly and efficiently crushed a small-scale uprising,[54] and the local population generally welcomed them as fellow Sunni Muslims.[48] Shortly after Palestine's quick submission to the Ottomans, it was divided into six districts, including the Gaza Sanjak (District of Gaza) which stretched from Jaffa in the north to Bayt Jibrin in the east and Rafah in the south. The sanjak was a part of the larger Damascus Eyalet or the "Province of Damascus".[55]

      An early governor of Gaza Sanjak was Kara Shahin Mustafa, a former jannissary (member of a military corps) who rose to become an elite military officer and state minister and eventually a vizier and trusted aide of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.[56] He received the governorship of Gaza apparently as an interim appointment before he was appointed Governor of Egypt, although he was deposed three years later by Sultan Selim II. Mustafa died a short while later and his son Ridwan Pasha, who was the treasurer of Yemen, became governor shortly before Mustafa's death. The Ridwan dynasty, which would rule Gaza for over a century, derives its name from Ridwan Pasha. He was later appointed Governor of Yemen, but was deposed two years later and returned to the governorship of Gaza. After becoming governor of Ethiopia, Basra, and Diyarbakir in that order, he successfully led an Ottoman contingent against Safavid Persia in 1579. The sultan then awarded him the province of Anatolia where he died in 1585.[57]

      Although no explanation is provided in the biographies of the Ridwan family, it is evident they chose Gaza as their home and the place for their castle. Ridwan Pasha's son Ahmad Pasha succeeded him and governed Gaza for thirty years, sometimes incorporating the sanjaks of Nablus and Jerusalem. He became Governor of Damascus Eyalet in 1601 after bribing several viziers and bureaucrats in Istanbul and died in 1607. Next in line was Hasan Pasha ibn Ahmad who became known 'Arab Hasan ("Hasan the Bedouin") because by then, the Ridwans were identified with the control and knowledge of the Bedouin.[57] He successfully led his pro-Ottoman Bedouin troops against the army of the rebel Fakhr ad-Din in a series of battles. He was later appointed Governor of Tripoli in Lebanon, but he was deposed in 1644. 'Arab Hasan had many wives and concubines and 85 children. He led the Ridwans successfully militarily, however, he burdened the dynasty with heavy debt.[58]

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    13. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:49 PM

      Early Ottoman rule and the Ridwan dynasty continued
      'Arab Hasan's son Husayn Pasha was governor of Nablus and Jerusalem, and inherited the impoverished governorship of Gaza when his father died. He borrowed a large sum from the French in order to meet the heavy taxes imposed on the city by Hassan Aga, governor Sidon Eyalet—the province that Gaza briefly belonged to.[19] Husayn's period in office was peaceful and prosperous for the city, and he gained a good reputation for considerably reducing the strife between the nearby Bedouins and the settled population. He appointed his son Ibrahim to be governor of the Gaza and Jerusalem sanjaks, but when Ibrahim was killed during an expedition against the Druze in Mount Lebanon in 1660, Husayn resumed control of Gaza.[58] That year, Gaza was designated the capital of Palestine, indicating the city's rapid recovery. The Great Mosque was restored, and six other mosques constructed, while Turkish baths and market stalls proliferated.[48] Anonymous petitions from Damascus sent to Istanbul complaining about Husayn's failure to protect the Hajj caravan and his alleged pro-Christian tendencies,[19] however, served as an excuse for the Ottoman government to depose him. He was soon imprisoned in Damascus and his assets confiscated by provincial authorities. He was later sent to Istanbul and died in prison there in 1663.[58]

      Husayn's brother Musa Pasha then governed Gaza into the early 1670s, implementing an anti-French and anti-Christian regime to appease the Ottoman government.[19] Soon after his reign ended, Ottomans officials were appointed to govern. The Ridwan period is considered Gaza's last golden age during Ottoman rule and the city gradually dwindled after they were removed from office.[58]

      In 1723, the Ottomans appointed Salih Pasha Tuqan of the Nablus-based Tuqan family to govern Gaza and two other sanjaks until his death in 1742.[59] In the 1750s, a local Bedouin tribes disposed of the plunder from a Meccan caravan, consisting of 13,000 camel-loads of goods, into Gaza's markets, boosting the city's wealth. The attack on the caravan was a reprisal to the Ottomans who had recently replaced the governor of Damascus. In 1763, there was a revolt in Gaza against the Ottomans.[60] Then, in November 1770, Ali Bey al-Kabir, the rebellious Mamluk sultan of Egypt, sent troops to Gaza to aid Zahir al-Umar in the Galilee, helping him check the power of the Ottomans in the Levant.[61] Gaza was briefly occupied by the French Army under Napoleon Bonaparte, who referred to it as "the outpost of Africa, the door to Asia", in 1799.[62] Most of its inhabitants fled as a result. His forces easily razed the remains of the city walls (which had not been rebuilt since their destruction by Saladin), but abandoned the city after their failed siege of Acre that same year. The duration of French influence in Gaza was too short to have a palpable effect.[48]

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    14. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:51 PM

      Egyptian rule and Ottoman revival
      Gaza was culturally dominated by neighboring Egypt from the early 19th century; Muhammad Ali of Egypt conquered it and most of Palestine in 1832.[8] Strangely, in 1833, Muhammad Ali instructed his son Ibrahim Pasha not to purchase Gaza's cotton harvest (cotton production was Ali's main source of wealth and Egypt's production was low that year), instead allowing its residents to dispose of it how they wished.[63]

      American scholar Edward Robinson visited Gaza in 1838, describing it as a "thickly populated" town larger than Jerusalem, with its Old City lying upon a hilltop, while its suburbs laid on the nearby plain.[64] He further stated that its soil was rich and supported groves of "delicious and abundant" apricots and mulberries. Although Gaza's port was by then inactive, it benefited from trade and commerce because of its position on the caravan route between Egypt and Syria, as well as from the production of soap and cotton for trade with the Bedouin.[65] The governor of Gaza at the time was Sheikh Sa'id.[64] Robinson noted that virtually all of Gaza's vestiges of ancient history and antiquity had disappeared due to constant conflict and occupation.[66]

      The Bubonic Plague struck again in 1839 and the city stagnated, as it lacked political and economic stability. In 1840, Egyptian and Ottoman troops battled outside of Gaza, with the Ottomans emerging victorious, effectively ending Egyptian rule over Palestine. The battles brought about more death and destruction, just barely after the city began to recover from the plague.[48] The Church of Saint Porphyrius was renovated in 1856,[67] and in 1874, French orientalist Charles Clermont-Ganneau visited Gaza, gathering and cataloging a sizable collection of Byzantine inscriptions and describing the city's Great Mosque in detail.[48] Sultan Abdul Hamid II had the wells of Gaza restored in 1893.[67]

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    15. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:53 PM

      Although the first municipal council of Gaza was formed in 1893 under the chairmanship of Ali Khalil Shawa, modern mayorship began in 1906 with his son Said al-Shawa, who was appointed mayor by Ottoman authorities.[68] Like other regions and cities in Palestine at the time, Gaza was economically and politically dominated by a number of powerful clans, particularly the Shawa, Husseini, and Sourani families.[69] Two destructive earthquakes occurred in 1903 and 1914.[48]

      When World War I erupted in 1917, British forces were defeated by the Ottomans in the first and second Battle of Gaza. General Edmund Allenby, leading the Allied Forces, finally conquered Gaza in a third battle.[48]

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    16. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:55 PM

      British rule
      After the war, the League of Nations granted quasi-colonial authority over former Ottoman territories to Great Britain and France; Gaza was included in the British Mandate of Palestine.[70]

      The Jewish Quarter of Gaza was destroyed in the 1929 Palestine riots and most of Gaza's fifty Jewish families fled the city. In the 1930s and 1940s, Gaza underwent major expansion, with new neighborhoods, such as Rimal and Zeitoun being built along the coast, and the southern and eastern plains. Areas damaged in the riots also went through reconstruction. Most of the funding for these developments came from international organizations and missionary groups.[67]

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    17. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 11, 2018 at 11:56 PM

      Egyptian control
      See also: Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt
      As a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egypt obtained control of Gaza and the surrounding area. Gaza's growing population was augmented by an influx of refugees fleeing nearby cities, towns and villages that were captured by Israel. From 1948 through 1959, Gaza was nominally under the jurisdiction of the All-Palestine Government, an entity established by the Arab League during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, purportedly to provide a Palestinian government for Palestine.[71] However, the members of the Government were removed to Cairo, and had little or no influence over events in Gaza.[71] Egyptian occupation of the Gaza Strip was interrupted for four months during the 1956 Suez Crisis.[72]

      Upon the withdrawal of Israeli forces, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser issued several reforms in Gaza, including the expansion of educational opportunities and civil services, provision of housing and the establishment of local security forces. As in Egypt, political activity in Gaza was severely curtailed, but the government-sponsored Arab National Union was established in place of the All-Palestine Government that Nasser abolished in 1959, which gave the city's citizens a greater voice in national politics. In 1959, with the abolishment of the All-Palestine Government, Gaza had officially become a part of the United Arab Republic, a union of Syria and Egypt, under the pan-Arab policy of Nasser. In reality however, Gaza turned to be under direct Egyptian military governorship, which also continued upon the withdrawal of Syria from the UAR shortly afterwards. When the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964, Nasser formally, but not practically, proclaimed that it would hold authority over Gaza, and a year later, conscription was instituted for the Palestinian Liberation Army.[72]

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    18. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:01 AM

      Israeli control
      Gaza was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War after the defeat of a coalition of Arab armies. Under Israeli occupation, existing structures of administration in Gaza would be maintained and administrative tasks would continue to be executed by Arab-Palestinian civil servants. Although this policy of "government but not administration" was declared, some felt that the Israeli military frequently interfered in the city's administration in order to control local resistance to the occupation. In the immediate aftermath of the 1967 War, the military governor of Gaza threatened to dismiss the municipal council and cut off utility services if the local leadership was unable to force the residents of the city to turn in their weapons. This action was deemed excessive and was revoked by the Israeli military governor of the Gaza Strip, however. Organized armed struggle against Israel peaked between 1969 and 1971, but was largely crushed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) under the command of Ariel Sharon.[73] Ehud Yaari recounted that "by the beginning of 1970, 90% of Arab terrorism in Gaza was directed against Arab men and women employed by Israeli companies."[74]

      In 1971, the Israeli Army attempted to disperse the high concentration of Arab-Palestinian refugees in al-Shati camp and developed new housing schemes that resulted in the establishment of the northern Sheikh Radwan district. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the Arab PLO were vociferous in their opposition to the move, claiming it was forced resettlement.[75] In 1972, Gaza's military governor dismissed the city's mayor, Rashad al-Shawa, for refusing to annex al-Shati camp to the municipality of Gaza.[76] Since the 1970's, frequent conflicts erupted between Arab-Palestinians and the Israeli authorities in the city, leading to the First Intifada in 1987. Gaza became a center of confrontation during this uprising,[48] and consequently, economic conditions in the city worsened.[77]

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    19. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:06 AM

      Arab-Palestinian control
      See also: Arab Palestinian Authority and Israel-Gaza conflict
      Arab Palestinian Authority
      In September 1993, leaders of Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords calling for Arab-Palestinian administration of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho, which was implemented in May 1994. Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza, leaving a new Arab-Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to administer and police the city.[10] Led by Yasser Arafat, the PNA chose Gaza as its first provincial headquarters. The newly established Arab Palestinian National Council held its inaugural session in Gaza in March 1996.[67]
      In 2005 the Israeli cabinet withdrew its military and settlements from the Gaza Strip including the Philadelphi Route, a narrow strip adjacent to the border with Egypt, as part of its unilateral disengagement plan. Since the Arab-Palestinian organization, Hamas won a surprise victory in the Arab-Palestinian elections of 2006, it has been engaged in a violent power struggle with rival Arab-Palestinian organization Fatah.[78]
      Hamas administration
      See also: Hamas Government in Gaza
      In 2007, Hamas overthrew Fatah forces in the Gaza Strip and Hamas members were dismissed from the PNA government in the West Bank in response. Currently, Hamas has de facto control of the city and Strip.[78] Israel bombarded Gaza and nearby cities in the Gaza Strip in an air and ground assault codenamed "Operation Summer Rains" with the aim to end continued Qassam rocket attacks launched by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and to secure the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants.[79]

      In March 2008, a human rights coalition charged that the humanitarian situation in Gaza had reached its worst point since Israel occupied the territory in the 1967 Six-Day War.[80] On December 27–28, 2008 Israel commenced air strikes against Gaza, codenamed "Operation Cast Lead".[81] Israel stated the strikes were in response to repetitive rocket and mortar attacks from the Gaza Strip into Israel since 2005, while the Palestinians stated that they were responding to Israel's military excursions and the blockade of the Gaza Strip. By January 3, 2009, Israeli tanks and infantry were invading Gaza with air and naval support. Thirteen Israelis, including ten soldiers were killed, while, according to Palestinian sources, a total of more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed and 5,500 injured. In addition 4,000 buildings were destroyed and 20,000 damaged throughout the Gaza Strip.[82] Israel began an operation in Gaza on 14 November 2012, lasting eight days.[83] On 7 July 2014, Hamas took responsibility for rocket attacks against Israel after several of their members where killed, leading to Israel launching an operation the next day.[84]

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    20. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:08 AM

      List of rulers of Gaza
      From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
      The following is a list of rulers of Gaza. During Mamluk and early Ottoman rule, Gaza served as the capital of a province which at times included most of central and southern Palestine or the coastal plain up to Jaffa.

      Contents [hide]
      1 Ayyubids
      2 Mamluks
      3 Ottoman
      4 See also
      5 References
      6 Bibliography
      Ayyubids[edit]
      See also: Ayyubid dynasty
      Nasir al-Din (1244–1245)
      Mamluks[edit]
      See also: Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
      Shams el-Din al-Barli (1259-1264)
      Baybars al-Ala'i (1307–1309)[1][2]
      Baktamur (1310–1311)[3]
      Sanjar al-Jawli (1311–1320)[4]
      Muhammad ibn Baktamur (1320–1329)[3]
      Turuntay al-Jukandari (1329–1332)[5]
      Taynal al-Ashrafi (1332–1335)[6]
      Sanjar al-Jawli (1342)[4]
      Ahmad al-Hajji (1373-1375)[7]
      Muhammad al-Adili (1375)[8]
      Akbugha al-Safawi (1375–1381)[9]
      Husam ad-Din Bakish (1382)[10]
      Aqbugha al-Tulutumari (?-1398)[11]
      Sayf ad-Din Inal al-Ala'i (1428–1433)[12]
      Yalkhuja an-Nasiri (1445–1446)[13]
      Sibay az-Zahiri (ca. 1482)
      Aqbay al-Ashrafi (1482–1494)[14]
      Qani Bak (1494–1495)[14]
      Aqbay al-Ashrafi (1495–1496)[14]
      Dawlat Bay (1501–1517)[15]
      Ottoman[edit]
      See also: Damascus Eyalet
      Sharaf ad-Din Musa al-Muzaffari (1517–1524)[16]
      Kara Şahin Mustafa (1524–1550)[17] [18]
      Ridwan Pasha (1550–1565)[17][19]
      Sinan Bey (1565–1567)[17]
      Ridwan Pasha (1567–1572)[17][19]
      Ahmad ibn Ridwan (1572–1601)[17][19]
      Hasan Arab Ridwan (1601–1660)[17][19]
      Husayn Pasha (1660–1663)[17][20]
      Musa Pasha (1663–1679)[21]
      Ahmad ibn Musa Pasha (1679-1690)[21]
      Sayed Ahmad (1708–1723)
      Salih Pasha Touqan (1723–?)[22]
      Uthman Pasha (1760–1773)[23]
      Zahir al-Umar (1773–1774)[24]
      Suleiman Pasha (1804–1805)[25]
      Muhammad Abu Marraq (1805–1807)[25]
      Muhammad Abu-Nabbut (1807–1818)[25]
      Mustafa Bey (1818–1820)[26]
      Abdullah Pasha (1820–1831)[27]
      Mas'ud al-Madi (1831–1834)[28][29]
      Mahmud Abd al-Hadi (1849)[30]
      Ahmad Rifaat Bak ash-Sharkasi (ca. 1868)[31]

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    21. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:15 AM

      The Gaza Strip (/ˈɡɑːzəˈstrɪp/;[4] Arabic: قطاع غزة‎ Qiṭāʿ Ġazzah [qɪˈtˤɑːʕ ˈɣazza]), or simply Gaza, is a small self-governing Arab Palestinian territory[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, that borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km (32 mi) border. Gaza, together with the West Bank, constitute the Arab Palestinian territories claimed by the Arab-Palestinians as the State of Arab Palestine. The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory. Both fall under the jurisdiction of the Arab Palestinian Authority,[12] but Gaza has since June 2007 been governed by Hamas, a Arab Palestinian Islamic (terror) organization[13] which came to power in free elections in 2006. It has been placed under an Israeli and U.S.-led international economic and political boycott from that time onwards.[14]

      The territory is 41 kilometers (25 mi) long, and from 6 to 12 kilometers (3.7 to 7.5 mi) wide, with a total area of 365 square kilometers (141 sq mi).[15][16] With around 1.85 million Arab-Palestinians[3] on some 362 square kilometers, Gaza ranks as the 3rd most densely populated polity in the world.[17][18] An extensive Israeli buffer zone within the Strip renders much land off-limits to Gaza's Arab-Palestinians.[19] Gaza has an annual population growth rate of 2.91% (2014 est.), the 13th highest in the world, and is often referred to as overcrowded.[16][20] The population is expected to increase to 2.1 million in 2020. By that time, Gaza may be rendered unliveable, if present trends continue.[21] Due to the Israeli and Egyptian border closures and the Israeli sea and air blockade, the population is not free to leave or enter the Gaza Strip, nor allowed to freely import or export goods. Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Arab-Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.

      Despite the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza,[22] the United Nations, international human rights organisations, and the majority of governments and legal commentators consider the territory to be still occupied by Israel, supported by additional restrictions placed on Gaza by Egypt. Israel maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, and six of Gaza's seven land crossings. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory. Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.[22]

      When Hamas won the Arab Palestinian legislative election, 2006, Arab Palestinian political party Fatah refused to join the proposed coalition, until a short-lived unity government agreement was brokered by Saudi Arabia. When this collapsed under joint Israeli and United States pressure, the Arab Palestinian Authority instituted a non-Hamas government in the West Bank while Hamas formed a government on its own in Gaza.[23] Further economic sanctions were imposed by Israel and the European Quartet against Hamas. A brief civil war between the two groups had broken out in Gaza when, apparently under a U.S.-backed plan, Fatah contested Hamas’s administration. Hamas emerged the victor and expelled Fatah-allied officials and members of the PA's security apparatus from the Strip,[24][25] and has remained the sole governing power in Gaza since that date.[23]

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    22. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:16 AM

      Rule over Gaza, overview
      Gaza was part of the Ottoman Empire, before it was occupied by the United Kingdom (1918–1948), Egypt (1948–1967), and then Israel, which in 1994 granted the Palestinian Authority in Gaza limited self-governance through the Oslo Accords. Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by Hamas, which claims to represent the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people.

      The territory is still considered to be occupied by Israel by the United Nations, International human rights organisations, and the majority of governments and legal commentators, despite the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza.[22] Israel maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, and six of Gaza's seven land crossings. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory. Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.[22]

      The Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in the 1948 war, confirmed by the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement on 24 February 1949.[26] Article V of the Agreement declared that the demarcation line was not to be an international border. At first the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government, established by the Arab League in September 1948. All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority of Egypt, functioning as a puppet state, until it officially merged into the United Arab Republic and dissolved in 1959. From the time of the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government until 1967, the Gaza Strip was directly administered by an Egyptian military governor.

      Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967. Pursuant to the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, the Palestinian Authority became the administrative body that governed Palestinian population centers while Israel maintained control of the airspace, territorial waters and border crossings with the exception of the land border with Egypt which is controlled by Egypt. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip under their unilateral disengagement plan.

      In July 2007, after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas became the elected government.[27][28] In 2007, Hamas expelled the rival party Fatah from Gaza.[29] This broke the Unity Government between Gaza Strip and the West Bank, creating two separate governments for the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

      In 2014, following reconciliation talks, Hamas and Fatah formed a Palestinian unity government within the West Bank and Gaza. Rami Hamdallah became the coalition's Prime Minister and has planned for elections in Gaza and the West Bank.[30] In July 2014, a set of lethal incidents between Hamas and Israel led to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.

      Following the takeover of Gaza by Hamas, the territory has been subjected to a blockade, maintained by Israel and Egypt,[31] with Israel arguing that it is necessary to impede Hamas from rearming and to restrict Palestinian rocket attacks and Egypt preventing Gaza residents from entering Egypt. The blockades by Israel and Egypt extends to drastic reductions in basic construction materials, medical supplies, and food stuffs.[32][33][unreliable source?][34][35][36] Under the blockade, Gaza is viewed by some critics as an "open-air prison",[37] although the claim is contested.[38]

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    23. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:18 AM

      Prior to 1923
      Further information: History of Gaza
      1923–48 British Mandate
      The Palestine Mandate was based on the principles contained in Article 22 of the draft Covenant of the League of Nations and the San Remo Resolution of 25 April 1920 by the principal Allied and associated powers after the First World War.[39] The mandate formalized British rule in the southern part of Ottoman Syria from 1923–1948.

      1948 All-Palestine government
      On 22 September 1948, towards the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the All-Palestine Government was proclaimed in the Egyptian-occupied Gaza City by the Arab League. It was conceived partly as an Arab League attempt to limit the influence of Transjordan in Palestine. The All-Palestine Government was quickly recognized by six of the then seven members of the Arab League: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, but not by Transjordan.[40] It was not recognized by any country outside the Arab League.

      After the cessation of hostilities, the Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement of 24 February 1949 established the separation line between Egyptian and Israeli forces, and established what became the present boundary between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Both sides declared that the boundary was not an international border. The southern border with Egypt continued to be the international border which had been drawn in 1906 between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire.[41]

      Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip or Egypt were issued All-Palestine passports. Egypt did not offer them citizenship. From the end of 1949, they received aid directly from UNRWA. During the Suez Crisis (1956), the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula were occupied by Israeli troops, who withdrew under international pressure. The government was accused of being little more than a façade for Egyptian control, with negligible independent funding or influence. It subsequently moved to Cairo and dissolved in 1959 by decree of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser.

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    24. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:20 AM

      1959–67 Egyptian occupation
      Main article: Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt

      Che Guevara visiting Gaza in 1959
      After the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government in 1959, under the excuse of pan-Arabism, Egypt continued to occupy the Gaza Strip until 1967. Egypt never annexed the Gaza Strip, but instead treated it as a controlled territory and administered it through a military governor.[42] The influx of over 200,000 refugees from former Mandatory Palestine, roughly a quarter of those who fled or were expelled from their homes during, and in the aftermath of, the 1948 Arab–Israeli War into Gaza[43] resulted in a dramatic decrease in the standard of living. Because the Egyptian government restricted movement to and from the Gaza Strip, its inhabitants could not look elsewhere for gainful employment.[44]

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    25. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:22 AM

      1967 Israeli occupation
      In June 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel Defense Forces captured the Gaza Strip.

      According to Tom Segev, moving the Arab-Palestinians out of the country had been a persistent element of Zionist thinking from early times.[45] In December 1967, during a meeting at which the Security Cabinet brainstormed about what to do with the Arab population of the newly occupied territories, one of the suggestions Prime Minister Levi Eshkol proffered regarding Gaza was that the people might leave if Israel restricted their access to water supplies, stating: "Perhaps if we don't give them enough water they won't have a choice, because the orchards will yellow and wither."[46][47][undue weight? – discuss]A number of measures, including financial incentives, were taken shortly afterwards to begin to encourage Gazans to emigrate elsewhere,[45][48]

      Subsequent to this military victory, Israel created the first settlement bloc in the Strip, Gush Katif, in the southwest corner near Rafah and the Egyptian border on a spot where a small kibbutz had previously existed for 18 months between 1946–48.[49] In total, between 1967 and 2005, Israel established 21 settlements in Gaza, comprising 20% of the total territory.

      The economic growth rate from 1967 to 1982 averaged roughly 9.7 percent per annum, due in good part to expanded income from work opportunities inside Israel, which had a major utility for the latter by supplying the country with a large reserve of unskilled and semi-skilled manpower. Gaza's agricultural sector was adversely affected as one-third of the Strip was appropriated by Israel, competition for scarce water resources stiffened, and the lucrative cultivation of citrus declined with the advent of Israeli policies, such as prohibitions on planting new trees and taxation that gave breaks to Israeli producers, factors which militated against growth. Gaza's direct exports of these products to Western markets, as opposed to Arab markets, was prohibited except through Israeli marketing vehicles, in order to assist Israeli citrus exports to the same markets. The overall result was that large numbers of farmers were forced out of the agricultural sector. Israel places quotas on all goods exported from Gaza, while abolishing restrictions on the flow of Israeli goods into the Strip. Sara Roy characterized the pattern as one of structural de-development [50]

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    26. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:23 AM

      1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty
      On March 26, 1979, Israel and Egypt signed the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.[51] Among other things, the treaty provided for the withdrawal by Israel of its armed forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had captured during the Six-Day War. The Egyptians agreed to keep the Sinai Peninsula demilitarized. The final status of the Gaza Strip, and other relations between Israel and Palestinians, was not dealt with in the treaty. Egypt renounced all territorial claims to territory north of the international border. The Gaza Strip remained under Israeli military administration until 1994. During that time, the military was responsible for the maintenance of civil facilities and services.

      After the Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty 1979, a 100-meter-wide buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt known as the Philadelphi Route was established. The international border along the Philadelphi corridor between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is 7 miles (11 km) long.

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    27. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:23 AM

      1994: Gaza under Palestinian Authority
      In September 1992, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told a delegation from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy "I would like Gaza to sink into the sea, but that won't happen, and a solution must be found."[52]

      In May 1994, following the Palestinian-Israeli agreements known as the Oslo Accords, a phased transfer of governmental authority to the Palestinians took place. Much of the Strip (except for the settlement blocs and military areas) came under Palestinian control. The Israeli forces left Gaza City and other urban areas, leaving the new Palestinian Authority to administer and police those areas. The Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat, chose Gaza City as its first provincial headquarters. In September 1995, Israel and the PLO signed a second peace agreement, extending the Palestinian Authority to most West Bank towns.

      Between 1994 and 1996, Israel built the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier to improve security in Israel. The barrier was largely torn down by Palestinians at the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000.[53]


      View of Gaza in 2003.
      2000 Second Intifada
      The Second Intifada broke out in September 2000 with waves of protest, civil unrest and bombings against Israeli military and civilians, many of them perpetrated by suicide bombers. The Second Intifada also marked the beginning of rocket attacks and bombings of Israeli border localities by Palestinian guerrillas from Gaza Strip, especially by the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad movements.

      Between December 2000 and June 2001, the barrier between Gaza and Israel was reconstructed. A barrier on the Gaza Strip-Egypt border was constructed starting in 2004.[54] The main crossing points are the northern Erez Crossing into Israel and the southern Rafah Crossing into Egypt. The eastern Karni Crossing used for cargo, closed down in 2011.[55] Israel controls the Gaza Strip's northern borders, as well as its territorial waters and airspace. Egypt controls Gaza Strip's southern border, under an agreement between it and Israel.[56] Neither Israel or Egypt permits free travel from Gaza as both borders are heavily militarily fortified. "Egypt maintains a strict blockade on Gaza in order to isolate Hamas from Islamist insurgents in the Sinai."[57]

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    28. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:26 AM

      2005 Israel's unilateral disengagement
      Main article: Israeli disengagement from Gaza
      In February 2005, the Knesset approved a unilateral disengagement plan and began removing Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005. All Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the joint Israeli-Palestinian Erez Industrial Zone were dismantled, and 9,000 Israelis, most living in Gush Katif, were forcibly evicted.

      Barrier fence
      On 12 September 2005, the Israeli cabinet formally declared an end to Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip.

      "The Oslo Agreements gave Israel full control over Gaza's airspace, but established that the Arab-Palestinians could build an airport in the area..." and the disengagement plan states that: "Israel will hold sole control of Gaza airspace and will continue to carry out military activity in the waters of the Gaza Strip." "Therefore, Israel continues to maintain exclusive control of Gaza's airspace and the territorial waters, just as it has since it occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967."[58] Human Rights Watch has advised the UN Human Rights Council that it (and others) consider Israel to be the occupying power of the Gaza Strip because Israel controls Gaza Strip's airspace, territorial waters and controls the movement of people or goods in or out of Gaza by air or sea.[59][60][61] The EU considers Gaza to be occupied.[62] Israel also withdrew from the Philadelphi Route, a narrow strip of land adjacent to the border with Egypt, after Egypt agreed to secure its side of the border. Under the Oslo Accords, the Philadelphi Route was to remain under Israeli control to prevent the smuggling of weapons and people across the Egyptian border, but Egypt (under EU supervision) committed itself to patrolling the area and preventing such incidents. With the Agreement on Movement and Access, known as the Rafah Agreement in the same year Israel ended its presence in the Philadelphi Route and transferred responsibility for security arrangements to Egypt and the PA under the supervision of the EU.[63] The Egyptian army has since destroyed some Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels "in order to fight any element of terrorism", according to an Egyptian security official.[64] The Gaza border crossing into Egypt remains under the full control of Egypt. Egypt has alternately restricted or allowed goods and people to cross that terrestrial border. Israel maintained control over the crossings in and out of Gaza, and the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was monitored by special surveillance cameras.

      The Israel Defense Forces left the Gaza Strip on 1 September 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan and all Israeli citizens were evicted from the area. In November 2005, an "Agreement on Movement and Access" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was brokered by then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to improve Palestinian freedom of movement and economic activity in the Gaza Strip. Under its terms, the Rafah crossing with Egypt was to be reopened, with transits monitored by the Arab Palestinian National Authority and the European Union. Only people with Arab-Palestinian ID, or foreign nationals, by exception, in certain categories, subject to Israeli oversight, were permitted to cross in and out. All goods, vehicles and trucks to and from Egypt passed through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, under full Israeli supervision.[65] Goods were also permitted transit at the Karni crossing in the north.

      After the Israeli withdrawal in 2005 the Oslo Accords give the Arab Palestinian Authority administrative authority in the Gaza Strip. The Rafah Border Crossing has been supervised by EU Border Assistance Mission Rafah under an agreement finalized in November 2005.[66] The Oslo Accord permits Israel to control the airspace and sea space.[67]

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    29. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:29 AM

      Post-2006 elections violence
      Main article: Fatah–Hamas conflict
      In the Arab Palestinian parliamentary elections held on 25 January 2006, Hamas won a plurality of 42.9% of the total vote and 74 out of 132 total seats (56%).[68][69] When Hamas assumed power the next month, Israel, the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations demanded that Hamas accept all previous agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce violence; when Hamas refused,[70] they cut off direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, although some aid money was redirected to humanitarian organizations not affiliated with the government.[71] The resulting political disorder and economic stagnation led to many Palestinians emigrating from the Gaza Strip.[72]

      In January 2007, fighting erupted between Hamas and Fatah. The deadliest clashes occurred in the northern Gaza Strip, where General Muhammed Gharib, a senior commander of the Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Force, died when a rocket hit his home.

      On 30 January 2007, a truce was negotiated between Fatah and Hamas.[73] However, after a few days, new fighting broke out. On 1 February, Hamas killed 6 people in an ambush on a Gaza convoy which delivered equipment for Abbas' Arab Palestinian Presidential Guard, according to diplomats, meant to counter smuggling of more powerful weapons into Gaza by Hamas for its fast-growing "Executive Force". According to Hamas, the deliveries to the Presidential Guard were intended to instigate sedition (against Hamas), while withholding money and assistance from the Arab-Palestinian people.[74] Fatah fighters stormed a Hamas-affiliated university in the Gaza Strip. Officers from Abbas' presidential guard battled Hamas gunmen guarding the Hamas-led Interior Ministry.[75]

      In May 2007, new fighting broke out between the factions.[76] Interior Minister Hani Qawasmi, who had been considered a moderate civil servant acceptable to both factions, resigned due to what he termed harmful behavior by both sides.[77]

      Fighting spread in the Gaza Strip, with both factions attacking vehicles and facilities of the other side. Following a breakdown in an Egyptian-brokered truce, Israel launched an air strike which destroyed a building used by Hamas. Ongoing violence prompted fear that it could bring the end of the Fatah-Hamas coalition government, and possibly the end of the Arab Palestinian authority.[78]

      Hamas spokesman Moussa Abu Marzouk blamed the conflict between Hamas and Fatah on Israel, stating that the constant pressure of economic sanctions resulted in the "real explosion."[79] Associated Press reporter Ibrahim Barzak wrote an eyewitness account stating: "Today I have seen people shot before my eyes, I heard the screams of terrified women and children in a burning building, and I argued with gunmen who wanted to take over my home. I have seen a lot in my years as a journalist in Gaza, but this is the worst it's been."

      From 2006–2007 more than 600 Arab-Palestinians were killed in fighting between Hamas and Fatah.[80] In the aftermath of the Gaza War, a series of violent acts killed 54 Arab-Palestinians, while hundreds have claimed they were tortured.[81] 349 Arab-Palestinians were killed in fighting between factions in 2007. 160 Arab-Palestinians killed each other in June alone.[82]

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    30. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:31 AM

      2007 Hamas takeover
      Main article: Fatah–Hamas battle in Gaza

      The Al Deira Hotel on the Gaza coast, 2009
      Following the victory of Hamas in the 2006 Arab Palestinian legislative election, Hamas and Fatah formed the Arab Palestinian authority national unity government headed by Ismail Haniya. Shortly after, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the course of the Battle of Gaza,[83] seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other government officials with its own.[84] By 14 June, Hamas fully controlled the Gaza Strip. Arab Palestinian President Mahmmoud Abbas responded by declaring a state of emergency, dissolving the unity government and forming a new government without Hamas participation. PNA security forces in the West Bank arrested a number of Hamas members.

      In late June 2008, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan declared the West Bank-based cabinet formed by Abbas as "the sole legitimate Arab Palestinian government". Egypt moved its embassy from Gaza to the West Bank.[85]

      Saudi Arabia and Egypt supported reconciliation and a new unity government and pressed Abbas to start talks with Hamas. Abbas had always conditioned this on Hamas returning control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority. Hamas visited a number of countries, including Russia, and the EU member states. Opposition parties and politicians called for a dialogue with Hamas as well as an end to the economic sanctions.

      After the takeover, Israel and Egypt closed their border crossings with Gaza. Palestinian sources reported that European Union monitors fled the Rafah Border Crossing, on the Gaza–Egypt border for fear of being kidnapped or harmed.[86] Arab foreign ministers and Palestinian officials presented a united front against control of the border by Hamas.[87]

      Meanwhile, Israeli and Egyptian security reports said that Hamas continued smuggling in large quantities of explosives and arms from Egypt through tunnels. Egyptian security forces uncovered 60 tunnels in 2007.[88]

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    31. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:38 AM

      2007 issues
      After Hamas' June win, it ousted Fatah-linked officials from positions of power and authority (such as government positions, security services, universities, newspapers, etc.) and strove to enforce law by progressively removing guns from the hands of peripheral militias, clans, and criminal groups, and gaining control of supply tunnels. According to Amnesty International, under Hamas rule, newspapers were closed down and journalists were harassed.[89] Fatah demonstrations were forbidden or suppressed, as in the case of a large demonstration on the anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death, which resulted in the deaths of seven people, after protesters hurled stones at Hamas security forces.[90]

      Hamas and other militant groups continued to fire Qassam rockets across the border into Israel. According to Israel, between the Hamas takeover and the end of January 2008, 697 rockets and 822 mortar bombs were fired at Israeli towns.[91] In response, Israel targeted Qassam launchers and military targets and declared the Gaza Strip a hostile entity. In January 2008, Israel curtailed travel from Gaza, the entry of goods, and cut fuel supplies, resulting in power shortages. This brought charges that Israel was inflicting punishment on the Gaza population, leading to international condemnation. Despite multiple reports from within the Strip that food and other essentials were in supply,[92] Israel said that Gaza had enough food and energy supplies for weeks.[93]

      The Israeli government uses economic means to pressure Hamas. Among other things, it caused Israeli commercial enterprises like banks and fuel companies to stop doing business with the Gaza Strip. The role of private corporations in the relationship between Israel and the Gaza Strip is an issue that has not been extensively studied.[94]

      Due to continued rocket attacks including 50 in one day, in March 2008, air strikes and ground incursions by the IDF led to the deaths of over 110 Arab-Palestinians and extensive damage to Jabalia.[95]

      Violence
      Violence against Christians was recorded. The owner of a Christian bookshop was abducted and murdered[96] and, on 15 February 2008, the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) library in Gaza City was bombed.[97]

      Watchtower on the border between Rafah and Egypt.
      Egyptian border barrier breach
      On 23 January 2008, after months of preparation during which the steel reinforcement of the border barrier was weakened,[98] Hamas destroyed several parts of the wall dividing Gaza and Egypt in the town of Rafah. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans crossed the border into Egypt seeking food and supplies. Due to the crisis, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered his troops to allow the Palestinians in but to verify that they did not bring weapons back across the border.[99] Egypt arrested and later released several armed Hamas militants in the Sinai who presumably wanted to infiltrate into Israel. At the same time, Israel increased its state of alert along the length of the Israel-Egypt Sinai border, and warned its citizens to leave Sinai "without delay."

      The EU Border Monitors initially monitored the border because Hamas guaranteed their safety, but they later fled. The Arab Palestinian Authority demanded that Egypt deal only with the Authority in negotiations relating to borders. Israel eased restrictions on the delivery of goods and medical supplies but curtailed electricity by 5% in one of its ten lines.[100] The Rafah crossing remained closed into mid-February.[101]

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    32. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:39 AM

      In February 2008, 2008 Israel-Gaza conflict intensified, with rockets launched at Israeli cities. Aggression by Hamas led to Israeli military action on 1 March 2008, resulting in over 110 Arab-Palestinians being killed according to BBC News, as well as 2 Israeli soldiers. Israeli human rights group B'Tselem estimated that 45 of those killed may not not have been involved in hostilities, and 15 were minors used as human shields.[102]

      After a round of tit-for-tat arrests between Fatah and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the Hilles clan from Gaza were relocated to Jericho on 4 August 2008.[103] Retiring Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on 11 November 2008, "The question is not whether there will be a confrontation, but when it will take place, under what circumstances, and who will control these circumstances, who will dictate them, and who will know to exploit the time from the beginning of the ceasefire until the moment of confrontation in the best possible way.” On 14 November 2008, Israel blockaded its border with Gaza after a five-month ceasefire broke down.[104] In 2013 Israel and Qatar brought Gaza’s lone power plant back to life for the first time in seven weeks, bringing relief to the Arab-Palestinian coastal enclave where a lack of cheap fuel has contributed to the overflow of raw sewage, 21-hour blackouts and flooding after a ferocious winter storm. "Arab-Palestinian officials said that a $10 million grant from Qatar was covering the cost of two weeks’ worth of industrial diesel that started entering Gaza by truckload from Israel."[105]

      On 25 November 2008, Israel closed its cargo crossing with Gaza after Qassam rockets were fired into its territory.[106] On 28 November, after a 24-hour period of quiet, the IDF facilitated the transfer of over thirty truckloads of food, basic supplies and medicine into Gaza and transferred fuel to the area's main power plant.[107]

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    33. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:43 AM

      2008 Gaza War
      Main article: Gaza War (2008–09)

      Buildings damaged during Operation "Cast Lead".

      Monthly rocket and mortar hits in Israel, 2008.

      Israelis killed by Arab-Palestinians in Israel (blue) and Arab-Palestinians killed by Israelis in Gaza (red)
      On 27 December 2008,[108] Israeli F-16 fighters launched a series of air strikes against targets in Gaza following the breakdown of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.[109] Israeli defense sources said that Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the IDF to prepare for the operation six months before it began, using long-term planning and intelligence-gathering.[110]

      Various sites that Israel claimed were being used as weapons depots were struck: police stations, schools, hospitals, UN warehouses, mosques, various Hamas government buildings and other buildings.[111] Israel said that the attack was a response to Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel, which totaled over 3,000 in 2008, and which intensified during the few weeks preceding the operation. Israel advised people near military targets to leave before the attacks. Palestinian medical staff claimed at least 434 Arab-Palestinians fighters were killed, and at least 2,800 wounded, consisting of some civilians and an large number of Hamas members, in the first five days of Israeli strikes on Gaza. The IDF denied that the majority of the dead were civilian. Israel began a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip on 3 January 2009.[112] Israel rebuffed many cease-fire calls but later declared a cease fire although Hamas vowed to fight on.[113][114]

      A total of 1,100–1,400[115] Arab-Palestinians (295–926 civilians) and 13 Israelis were killed in the 22-day war.[116]

      The conflict damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes,[117] 15 of Gaza’s 27 hospitals and 43 of its 110 primary health care facilities,[118] 800 water wells,[119] 186 greenhouses,[120] and nearly all of its 10,000 family farms;[121] leaving 50,000 homeless,[122] 400,000–500,000 without running water,[122][123] one million without electricity,[123] and resulting in acute food shortages.[124] The people of Gaza still suffer from the loss of these facilities and homes, especially since they have great challenges to rebuild them.

      By February 2009, food availability returned to pre-war levels but a shortage of fresh produce was forecast due to damage sustained by the agricultural sector.[125]

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    34. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:46 AM

      A 2014 unity government with Fatah
      On 5 June 2014 Fatah signed a unity agreement with Hamas political party.[126]

      2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
      See also: 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
      Connections to Sinai insurgency
      See also: Sinai Insurgency
      Egypt's Sinai Peninsula borders the Gaza Strip and Israel. Its vast and desolate terrain has transformed it into a hotbed of illicit and militant activity.[127] Although most of the area's inhabitants are tribal Bedouins, there has been a recent increase in al-Qaeda inspired global jihadi militant groups operating in the region.[127][128] Out of the approximately 15 main militant groups operating in the Sinai desert, the most dominant and active militant groups have close relations with the Gaza Strip.[129]

      According to Egyptian authorities, the Army of Islam, a U.S. designated "terrorist organization" based in the Gaza Strip, is responsible for training and supplying many militant organizations and jihadist members in Sinai.[129] Mohammed Dormosh, the Army of Islam's leader, is known for his close relationships to the Hamas leadership.[129] Army of Islam smuggles members into the Gaza Strip for training, then returns them to the Sinai Peninsula to engage in militant and jihadist activities.[130]

      Governance
      Hamas government
      Main articles: Governance of the Gaza Strip and Hamas Government of 2012

      Damaged UN school and remmants of the Ministry of Interior in Gaza City, December 2012
      The Hamas government of 2012 was the second Palestinian Hamas-dominated government, ruling over the Gaza Strip, since the split of the Palestinian National Authority in 2007. It was announced in early September 2012.[131] The reshuffle of the previous government was approved by Gaza-based Hamas MPs from the Arab Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) or parliament.[131]

      Other political and militant groups in Gaza
      The Islamic Jihad Movement in Arab Palestine, also known as the Arab Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a Arab-Palestinian militant organization operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.[132] The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States,[133] the European Union,[134] the United Kingdom,[135] Japan,[136] Canada,[137] Australia[138] and Israel. Iran is a major financial supporter of the PIJ.[139][140] Islamic Jihad is the second largest militant Islamic group in Gaza with 8,000 fighters present in the Gaza strip.[141] In June 2013, the Islamic Jihad broke ties with Hamas leaders after Hamas police fatally shot the commander of Islamic Jihad's military wing.[141]

      Deal with Fatah
      On September 25, 2014, Hamas agreed to let the Arab-Palestinian Authority resume control over the Gaza Strip and its border crossings with Egypt and Israel.[citation needed]

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    35. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:55 AM

      Status
      Military occupation
      The international community regards all of the Arab Palestinian territories including Gaza as occupied (without any legal sound basis).[142] Human Rights Watch has declared at the UN Human Rights Council that it views Israel as a de facto occupying power in the Gaza Strip, even though Israel has no military or other presence, because the Oslo Accord authorizes Israel to control the airspace and the territorial sea.[59][60][61]

      In his statement on the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur wrote that international humanitarian law applied to Israel "in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war (without any legal sound basis)."[143] Amnesty International, the World Health Organization, Oxfam, the International Committee of the Red Cross, The United Nations, the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Fact Finding Mission to Gaza, international human rights organizations, US government websites, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and a significant number of legal commentators (Geoffrey Aronson, Meron Benvenisti, Claude Bruderlein, Sari Bashi and Kenneth Mann, Shane Darcy and John Reynolds, Yoram Dinstein, John Dugard, Marc S. Kaliser, Mustafa Mari, Iain Scobbie, and Yuval Shany maintain that Israel's extensive direct external control over Gaza, and indirect control over the lives of its internal population mean that Gaza remained occupied (without any legal sound basis).[144][145]

      Israel states that it does not exercise effective control or authority over any land or institutions in the Gaza Strip and thus the Gaza Strip is no longer subject to the former military occupation/control.[146][147] Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel Tzipi Livni stated in January 2008: "Israel got out of Gaza. It dismantled its settlements there. No Israeli soldiers were left there after the disengagement."[148] In spite of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the Hamas Government in Gaza considers Gaza as occupied territory.[149]

      Control over airspace
      As agreed between Israel and the Arab Palestinian Authority in the Oslo Accords, Israel has exclusive control over the airspace. It can interfere with radio and TV transmissions, and the Arab Palestinian Authority cannot engage in independent initiatives for operating a seaport or airport.[150] The Accords also permitted Arab-Palestinians to construct an airport, which was duly built and opened in 1998. Israel destroyed Gaza's only airport in 2001 and 2002, during the Second Intifada.[151][152]

      The Israeli army makes use of drones, which can launch precise missiles. They are equipped with high-resolution cameras and other sensors. In addition, the missile fired from a drone has its own cameras that allow the operator to observe the target from the moment of firing. After a missile has been launched, the drone operator can remotely divert it elsewhere. Drone operators can view objects on the ground in detail during both day and night.[153] Israeli drones routinely patrol over Gaza.

      Buffer Zone
      Part of the territory is depopulated because of the imposition of buffer zones on both the Israeli and Egyptian borders.[154][155][156]

      Initially, Israel imposed a 50-meter buffer zone in Gaza.[157] In 2000, it was expanded to 150 meters.[155] Following the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, an undefined buffer zone was maintained, including a no-fishing zone along the coast.

      In 2009/2010, Israel expanded the buffer zone to 300 meters.[2][157][158] In 2010, the UN estimated that 30 percent of the arable land in Gaza had been lost to the buffer zone.[154][157]

      On 25 February 2013, pursuant to a November 2012 ceasefire, Israel declared a buffer zone of 100 meters on land and 6 nautical miles offshore. In the following month, the zone was changed to 300 meters and 3 nautical miles. The 1994 Gaza Jericho Agreement allows 20 nautical miles, and the 2002 Bertini Commitment allows 12 nautical miles.[2][155]

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    36. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:56 AM

      In August 2015, the IDF confirmed a buffer zone of 300 meters for residents and 100 meters for farmers, but without explaining how to distinguish between the two.[159] As of 2015, on a third of Gaza's agricultural land, residents risk Israeli attacks. According to PCHR, Israeli attacks take place up to approximately 1.5 km (0.9 mi) from the border, making 17% of Gaza's total territory a risk zone.[155]

      Israel says the buffer zone is needed to protect Israeli communities just over the border from sniper fire and rocket attacks. In the 18 months until November 2010, one Thai farm worker in Israel was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza, and in 2010, according to IDF figures, 180 rockets and mortars had been fired into Israel by militants. In 6 months, however, 11 Arab-Palestinians civilians, including four children, had been killed by Israeli fire and at least 70 Arab-Palestinian civilians were injured in the same period, including at least 49 who were working collecting rubble and scrap metal.[154]

      A buffer zone was also created on the Egyptian side of the Gaza–Egypt border. In 2014, scores of homes in Rafah were destroyed for the buffer zone.[160] According to Amnesty International, more than 800 homes had been destroyed and more than 1,000 families evicted.[161] Palestinian President Mahmmoud Abbas agreed with the destruction of smuggling tunnels by flooding them, and then punishing the owners of the houses that contained entrances to the tunnels, including demolishing their houses, arguing that the tunnels had produced 1,800 millionaires, and were used for smuggling weapons, drugs, cash, and equipment for forging documents.[161]

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    37. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:00 AM

      Gaza blockade
      Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade of the Gaza Strip, although Israel allows in limited quantities of medical humanitarian aid. The Red Cross claimed that the blockade harms the economy and causes a shortage of basic medicines and equipment such as painkillers and x-ray film.[162]

      Israel claims the blockade is necessary to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. For example, in 2014, a Panamanian-flagged ship claiming to be carrying construction materials was boarded by the IDF and was found to contain Syrian produced rockets.[163] Israel maintains that the blockade is legal and necessary to limit Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on its cities and to prevent Hamas from obtaining other weapons.[34][35][32][164][165][166]

      Director of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Yuval Diskin did not oppose easing trade restrictions, but said that smuggling tunnels in Sinai and an open seaport in the Gaza Strip endangered Israel's security. According to Diskin, Hamas and Islamic Jihad had smuggled in over "5,000 rockets with ranges up to 40 km (25 mi)." Some of the rockets could reach as far as the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area.[167]

      Israeli spokesman Mark Regev described Israel's actions as "sanctions," not a blockade, but a Gazan legal consultant for UNRWA called the blockade "an action outside of international law.”[168]

      In July 2010, British Prime Minister David Cameron said, "humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp."[169] In response, the spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said, "The people of Gaza are the prisoners of the terrorist organization Hamas. The situation in Gaza is the direct result of Hamas' rule and priorities."

      Tent camp, April 2009, after Cast Lead.
      The Arab League accused Israel of waging a financial war.[170] The IDF strictly controlled travel within the area of the crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and sealed its border with Gaza. U.S. government travel guides warned tourists that the region was dangerous.

      Facing mounting international pressure, Egypt and Israel lessened the restrictions starting in June 2010, when the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza was partially opened by Egypt. Egypt’s foreign ministry said that the crossing would remain open mainly for people, but not for supplies.[171] Israel announced that it would allow the passage of civilian goods but not weapons and items that could be used for dual purposes.[172] In December 2015, Egypt asked Israel not to allow Turkish aid to get through to the Gaza Strip.[173] Benjamin Netanyahu said that it is impossible to lift the siege on Gaza and that the security of Israel is the primary issue for him. He confirmed "that Israel is the only country that currently sends supplies to the coastal enclave".[174]

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    38. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:01 AM

      In January and February 2011, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) assessed measures taken to ease the blockade[175] and concluded that they were helpful but not sufficient to improve the lives of the local inhabitants.[175] UNOCHA called on Israel to reduce restrictions on exports and the import of construction materials, and to lift the general ban on movement between Gaza and the West Bank via Israel.[175] After Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak resigned on 28 May 2011, Egypt permanently opened its border with the Gaza Strip to students, medical patients, and foreign passport holders.[175][176] Following the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état, Egypt's military has destroyed most of the 1,200 tunnels which are used for smuggling food, weapons, and other goods to Gaza.[177] After the August 2013 Rabaa Massacre in Egypt, the border crossing was closed 'indefinitely.'[178]

      Israel has alternately restricted or allowed goods and people to cross the terrestrial border and handles vicariously the movement of goods into and out of Gaza by air and sea. Israel largely provides for Gaza's water supply, electricity, and communications infrastructure. While the import of food is restricted through the Gaza blockade, the Israeli military destroys agricultural crops by spraying toxic chemicals over the Gazan lands, using aircraft flying over the border zone.[179][180] Also Gaza's agricultural research and development station was destroyed in 2014 and again in January 2016, while import of new equipment is obstructed.[181]

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    39. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:01 AM

      Movement of people
      Because of the Israeli–Egyptian blockade, the population is not free to leave or enter the Gaza Strip. Only in exceptional cases are people allowed to pass through the Erez Crossing or the Rafah Border Crossing.[2][182][183][184] In 2015, a Gazan woman was not allowed to travel through Israel to Jordan on her way to her own wedding. The Israeli authorities found she did not meet the criteria for travel, namely only in exceptional humanitarian cases.[185]

      Under the long-term blockade, the Gaza Strip is often described as a "prison-camp or open air prison for its collective denizens". The comparison is done by observers, ranging from Roger Cohen and Lawrence Weschler to NGOs, such as B'tselem, and politicians and diplomats, such as David Cameron, Noam Chomsky, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, David Shoebridge and Sir John Holmes[186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193] In 2014 French President François Hollande called for the demilitarization of Gaza and a lifting of the blockade, saying "Gaza must neither be an open prison nor a military base."[194]

      An anonymous Israeli analyst has called it "Israel's Alcatraz".[195] While Lauren Booth,[196][197] Philip Slater,[198] Giorgio Agamben[199] compare it to a "concentration camp". For Robert S. Wistrich,[200] and Philip Mendes,[201] such analogies are designed to offend Jews, while Philip Seib dismisses the comparison as absurd, and claims that it arises from sources like Al Jazeera and statements by Arab leaders.[202]

      ReplyDelete
    40. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:02 AM

      Economy
      See also: Economy of Gaza City, Economy of the Palestinian territories, and Blockade of the Gaza Strip

      Sea-view from the Al Deira Hotel on the Gaza coast
      The economy of the Gaza Strip is severely hampered by Egypt and Israel's almost total blockade, the high population density, limited land access, strict internal and external security controls, the effects of Israeli military operations, and restrictions on labor and trade access across the border. Per capita income (PPP) was estimated at US$3,100 in 2009, a position of 164th in the world.[203] Seventy percent of the population is below the poverty line according to a 2009 estimate.[203] Gaza Strip industries are generally small family businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs.

      The main agricultural products are olives, citrus, vegetables, Halal beef, and dairy products. Primary exports are citrus and cut flowers, while primary imports are food, consumer goods, and construction materials. The main trade partners of the Gaza Strip are Israel and Egypt.[203]

      The EU described the Gaza economy as follows: "Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 and following the closure imposed by Israel, the situation in the Strip has been one of chronic need, de-development and donor dependency, despite a temporary relaxation on restrictions in movement of people and goods following a flotilla raid in 2010. The closure has effectively cut off access for exports to traditional markets in Israel, transfers to the West Bank and has severely restricted imports. Exports are now down to 2% of 2007 levels."[62]

      According to Sara Roy, one senior IDF officer told an UNWRA official in 2015 that Israel's policy towards the Gaza Strip consisted of: "No development, no prosperity, no humanitarian crisis."[204]

      ReplyDelete
    41. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:07 AM

      After Oslo (1994–2007)
      Economic output in the Gaza Strip declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996. This downturn was attributed to Israeli closure policies and, to a lesser extent, corruption and mismanagement by Yasser Arafat. Economic development has been hindered by Israel refusing to allow the operation of a sea harbour. A seaport was planned to be built in Gaza with help from France and The Netherlands, but the project was bombed by Israel in 2001. Israel said that the reason for bombing was that Israeli settlements were being shot at from the construction site at the harbour. As a result, international transports (both trade and aid) had to go through Israel, which was hindered by the imposition of generalized border closures. These also disrupted previously established labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the Strip. A serious negative social effect of this downturn was the emergence of high unemployment.

      For its energy, Gaza is largely dependent on Israel either for import of electricity or fuel for its sole power plant. The Oslo Accords set limits for the Arab-Palestinian production and importation of energy. Pursuant to the Accords, the Israel Electric Corporation exclusively supplies the electricity (63% of the total consumption in 2013).[21] The amount of electricity has consistently been limited to 120 megawatts, which is the amount Israel undertook to sell to Gaza pursuant to the Oslo Accords.[205]

      Backyard industry
      Israel's use of comprehensive closures decreased over the next few years. In 1998, Israel implemented new policies to ease security procedures and allow somewhat freer movement of Gazan goods and labor into Israel. These changes led to three years of economic recovery in the Gaza Strip, disrupted by the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in the last quarter of 2000. Before the second Arab-Palestinian uprising in September 2000, around 25,000 workers from the Gaza Strip (about 2% of the population) worked in Israel on a daily basis.[206]

      The Second Intifada led to a steep decline in the economy of Gaza, which was heavily reliant upon external markets. Israel—which had begun its occupation by helping Gazans to plant approximately 618,000 trees in 1968, and to improve seed selection—over the first 3-year period of the second intifada, destroyed 10 percent of Gazan agricultural land, and uprooted 226,000 trees.[207] The population became largely dependent on humanitarian assistance, primarily from UN agencies.[208]

      The al-Aqsa Intifada triggered tight IDF closures of the border with Israel, as well as frequent curbs on traffic in Arab-Palestinian self-rule areas, severely disrupting trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more so in early 2002, internal turmoil and Israeli military measures led to widespread business closures and a sharp drop in GDP. Civilian infrastructure, such as the Palestine airport, was destroyed by Israel.[209] Another major factor was a drop in income due to reduction in the number of Gazans permitted entry to work in Israel. After the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the flow of a limited number of workers into Israel resumed, although Israel said it would reduce or end such permits due to the victory of Hamas in the 2006 parliamentary elections.

      ReplyDelete
    42. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:08 AM

      The Israeli settlers of Gush Katif built greenhouses and experimented with new forms of agriculture. These greenhouses provided employment for hundreds of Gazans. When Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005, more than 3,000 (about half) of the greenhouses were purchased with $14 million raised by former World Bank president James Wolfensohn, and given to Arab-Palestinians to jump-start their economy. The rest were demolished by the departing settlers.[210] The farming effort faltered due to limited water supply, Arab-Palestinian looting, restrictions on exports, and corruption in the Arab-Palestinian Authority. Many Arab-Palestinian companies repaired the greenhouses damaged and looted by the Arab-Palestinians after the Israeli withdrawal.[211]

      In 2005, after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Gaza businessmen envisaged a "magnificent future". $1.1 million was invested in an upscale restaurant, Roots, and plans were made to turn one of the Israeli settlements into a family resort.[212]

      ReplyDelete
    43. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:11 AM

      Following Hamas takeover (2007–present)
      The European Union states: "Gaza has experienced continuous economic decline since the imposition of a closure policy by Israel in 2007. This has had serious social and humanitarian consequences for many of its 1.7 million inhabitants. The situation has deteriorated further in recent months as a result of the geo-political changes which took place in the region during the course of 2013, particularly in Egypt and its closure of the majority of smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza as well as increased restrictions at Rafah."[62] Israel, the United States, Canada, and the European Union have frozen all funds to the Palestinian government after the formation of a Hamas-controlled government after its democratic victory in the 2006 Arab Palestinian legislative election. They view the group as a terrorist organization, and have pressured Hamas to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and make good on past agreements. Prior to disengagement, 120,000 Arab-Palestinians from Gaza had been employed in Israel or in joint projects. After the Israeli withdrawal, the gross domestic product of the Gaza Strip declined. Jewish enterprises shut down, work relationships were severed, and job opportunities in Israel dried up. After the 2006 elections, fighting broke out between Fatah and Hamas, which Hamas won in the Gaza Strip on 14 June 2007. Israel imposed a blockade, and the only goods permitted into the Strip through the land crossings were goods of a humanitarian nature, and these were permitted in limited quantities.

      An easing of Israel's closure policy in 2010 resulted in an improvement in some economic indicators, although exports were still restricted.[208] According to the Israeli Defense Forces and the Arab Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the economy of the Gaza Strip improved in 2011, with a drop in unemployment and an increase in GDP. New malls opened and local industry began to develop. This economic upswing has led to the construction of hotels and a rise in the import of cars.[213] Wide-scale development has been made possible by the unhindered movement of goods into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The current rate of trucks entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom is 250 trucks per day. The increase in building activity has led to a shortage of construction workers. To make up for the deficit, young people are being sent to learn the trade in Turkey.[214]

      In 2012, Hamas leader Mahmmoud Zahar said that Gaza's economic situation has improved and Gaza has become self-reliant "in several aspects except petroleum and electricity" despite Israel's blockade. Zahar said that Gaza's economic conditions are better than those in the West Bank.[215] In 2014, the EU's opinion was: "Today, Gaza is facing a dangerous and pressing humanitarian and economic situation with power outages across Gaza for up to 16 hours a day and, as a consequence, the closure of sewage pumping operations, reduced access to clean water; a reduction in medical supplies and equipment; the cessation of imports of construction materials; rising unemployment, rising prices and increased food insecurity. If left unaddressed, the situation could have serious consequences for stability in Gaza, for security more widely in the region as well as for the peace process itself."[62]

      ReplyDelete
    44. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:14 AM

      2012 fuel crisis
      Usually, diesel for Gaza came from Israel,[216] but in 2011, Hamas started to buy cheaper fuel from Egypt, bringing it via a network of underground tunnels, and refused to allow it from Israel.[217]

      In early 2012, due to internal economic disagreement between the Arab Palestinian Authority and the Hamas Government in Gaza, decreased supplies from Egypt and through tunnel smuggling, and Hamas's refusal to ship fuel via Israel, the Gaza Strip plunged into a fuel crisis, bringing increasingly long electricity shut downs and disruption of transportation. Egypt had attempted for a while to stop the use of underground tunnels for delivery of Egyptian fuel purchased by Arab Palestinian authorities, and had severely reduced supply through the tunnel network. As the crisis broke out, Hamas sought to equip the Rafah terminal between Egypt and Gaza for fuel transfer, and refused to accept fuel to be delivered via the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza.[218]

      In mid-February 2012, as the crisis escalated, Hamas rejected an Egyptian proposal to bring in fuel via the Kerem Shalom Crossing between Israel and Gaza to reactivate Gaza's only power plant. Ahmed Abu Al-Amreen of the Hamas-run Energy Authority refused it on the grounds that the crossing is operated by Israel and Hamas' fierce opposition to the existence of Israel. Egypt cannot ship diesel fuel to Gaza directly through the Rafah crossing point, because it is limited to the movement of individuals.[217]

      In early March 2012, the head of Gaza's energy authority stated that Egypt wanted to transfer energy via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, but he personally refused it to go through the "Zionist entity" (Israel) and insisted that Egypt transfer the fuel through the Rafah Crossing, although this crossing is not equipped to handle the half-million liters needed each day.[219]

      In late March 2012, Hamas began offering carpools for people to use Hamas state vehicles to get to work. Many Gazans began to wonder how these vehicles have fuel themselves, as diesel was completely unavailable in Gaza, ambulances could no longer be used, but Hamas government officials still had fuel for their own cars. Many Gazans said that Hamas confiscated the fuel it needed from petrol stations and used it exclusively for their own purposes.

      Egypt agreed to provide 600,000 liters of fuel to Gaza daily, but it had no way of delivering it that Hamas would agree to.[220]

      In addition, Israel introduced a number of goods and vehicles into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, as well as the normal diesel for hospitals. Israel also shipped 150,000 liters of diesel through the crossing, which was paid for by the Red Cross.

      In April 2012, the issue was resolved as certain amounts of fuel were supplied with the involvement of the Red Cross, after the Arab Palestinian Authority and Hamas reached a deal. Fuel was finally transferred via the Israeli Kerem Shalom Crossing, which Hamas previously refused to transfer fuel from.[221]

      ReplyDelete
    45. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:16 AM

      Current budget
      Most of the Gaza Strip administration funding comes from outside as an aid, with large portion delivered by UN organizations directly to education and food supply. Most of the Gaza GDP comes as foreign humanitarian and direct economic support. Of those funds, the major part is supported by the U.S. and the European Union. Portions of the direct economic support have been provided by the Arab League, though it largely has not provided funds according to schedule. Among other alleged sources of Gaza administration budget is Iran.

      A diplomatic source told Reuters that Iran had funded Hamas in the past with up to $300 million per year, but the flow of money had not been regular in 2011. "Payment has been in suspension since August," said the source.[222]

      In January 2012, some diplomatic sources said that Turkey promised to provide Haniyeh's Gaza Strip administration with $300 million to support its annual budget.[222]

      In April 2012, the Hamas government in Gaza approved its budget for 2012, which was up 25 percent year-on-year over 2011 budget, indicating that donors, including Iran, benefactors in the Islamic world, and Arab-Palestinian expatriates, are still heavily funding the movement.[223] Chief of Gaza's parliament's budget committee Jamal Nassar said the 2012 budget is $769 million, compared to $630 million in 2011.[223]

      ReplyDelete
    46. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:17 AM

      Geography and climate
      The Gaza Strip is located in the Middle East (at 31°25′N 34°20′ECoordinates: 31°25′N 34°20′E). It has a 51 kilometers (32 mi) border with Israel, and an 11 km (7 mi) border with Egypt, near the city of Rafah. Khan Yunis is located 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) northeast of Rafah, and several towns around Deir el-Balah are located along the coast between it and Gaza City. Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun are located to the north and northeast of Gaza City, respectively. The Gush Katif bloc of Israeli settlements used to exist on the sand dunes adjacent to Rafah and Khan Yunis, along the southwestern edge of the 40 kilometers (25 mi) Mediterranean coastline. Al Deira beach is a popular venue for surfers.[224]

      The Gaza Strip has a hot semi-arid climate, with warm winters during which practically all the annual rainfall occurs, and dry, hot summers. Despite the dryness, humidity is high throughout the year. Annual rainfall is higher than in any other part of Egypt at around 300 to 400 millimetres (12 to 16 in), but almost all of this falls between November and February. The terrain is flat or rolling, with dunes near the coast. The highest point is Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda), at 105 meters (344 ft) above sea level. Environmental problems include desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne diseases; soil degradation; and depletion and contamination of underground water resources.

      Natural resources
      Natural resources of Gaza include arable land—about a third of the strip is irrigated. Recently, natural gas was discovered. Environmental problems include desertification; salination of fresh water; water-borne disease; soil degradation; lack of adequate sewage treatment; and depletion and contamination of underground water resources. The Gaza Strip is largely dependent on water from Wadi Gaza, which also supplies Israel.[225]

      Main article: Natural gas in the Gaza Strip
      Gaza's marine gas reserves extend 32 kilometres from the Gaza Strip's coastline[226] and were calculated at 35 BCM.[227]

      ReplyDelete
    47. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:18 AM

      Demographics
      Main article: Demographics of the Palestinian territories

      Schoolgirls in Gaza lining up for class, 2009
      In 2010 approximately 1.6 million Palestinians lived in the Gaza Strip,[203] almost 1.0 million of them UN-registered refugees.[228] The majority of the Arab-Palestinians descend from refugees who were driven from or left their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Strip's population has continued to increase since that time, one of the main reasons being a total fertility rate of 4.24 children per woman (2014 est). In a ranking by total fertility rate, this places Gaza 34th of 224 regions.[203] According to the UN, unless remedial steps are taken to repair the basic infrastructure by 2020, with a further demographic increase of 500,000 and intensified housing problems, the Gaza Strip will become effectively uninhabitable.[229] Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Arab-Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.

      Most of the inhabitants are Sunni Muslims, with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Arab Christians,[230] making the region 99.8 percent Sunni Muslim and 0.2 percent Christian.[203]

      ReplyDelete
    48. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:22 AM

      Religion and culture
      Gaza Strip Religions (2012 est.)[231]
      Islam
       
      98%
      Christianity
       
      1%
      other
       
      1%
      Religious compliance of population to Islam
      Main article: Islamization of the Gaza Strip
      Islamic law in Gaza
      From 1987 to 1991, during the First Intifada, Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the hijab head-cover and for other measures (such as the promotion of polygamy, segregating women from men and insisting they stay at home).[citation needed] In the course of this campaign, women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed by Hamas activists, leading to hijabs being worn "just to avoid problems on the streets".[232]

      In October 2000, Islamic extremists burned down the Windmill Hotel, owned by Basil Eleiwa, when they learned it had served alcohol.[233]

      Since Hamas took over in 2007, attempts have been made by Islamist activists to impose "Islamic dress" and to require women to wear the hijab.[234][235] The government's "Islamic Endowment Ministry" has deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the dangers of immodest dress, card playing and dating.[236] However, there are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students.[234] There has also been successful resistance[by whom?] to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women.[237]

      According to Human Rights Watch, the Hamas-controlled government stepped up its efforts to "Islamize" Gaza in 2010, efforts it says included the "repression of civil society" and "severe violations of personal freedom."[238]

      Arab-Palestinian researcher Khaled Al-Hroub has criticized what he called the "Taliban-like steps" Hamas has taken: "The Islamization that has been forced upon the Gaza Strip—the suppression of social, cultural, and press freedoms that do not suit Hamas's view[s]—is an egregious deed that must be opposed. It is the reenactment, under a religious guise, of the experience of [other] totalitarian regimes and dictatorships."[239] Hamas officials denied having any plans to impose Islamic law. One legislator stated that "[w]hat you are seeing are incidents, not policy" and that "we believe in persuasion".[236]

      In October 2012 Gaza youth complained that security officers had obstructed their freedom to wear saggy pants and to have haircuts of their own choosing, and that they faced being arrested. Youth in Gaza are also arrested by security officers for wearing shorts and for showing their legs, which have been described by youth as embarrassing incidents, and one youth explained that "My saggy pants did not harm anyone." However, a spokesman for Gaza's Ministry of Interior denied such a campaign, and denied interfering in the lives of Gaza citizens, but explained that "maintaining the morals and values of the Arab-Palestinian society is highly required".[240]


      Muslim worshippers in Gaza
      Islamic politics
      Iran was the largest state supporter of Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood also gave support, but these political relationships have recently been disrupted following the Arab Spring by Iranian support for and the position of Hamas has declined as support diminishes.[62]

      ReplyDelete
    49. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:22 AM

      Salafism
      In addition to Hamas, a Salafist movement began to appear about 2005 in Gaza, characterized by "a strict lifestyle based on that of the earliest followers of Islam".[241] As of 2015, there are estimated to be only "hundreds or perhaps a few thousand" Salafists in Gaza.[241] However, the failure of Hamas to lift the Israeli blockade of Gaza despite thousands of casualties and much destruction during 2008-9 and 2014 wars has weakened Hamas's support and led some in Hamas to be concerned about the possibility of defections to the Salafist "Islamic State".[241]

      The movement has clashed with Hamas on a number of occasions. In 2009, a Salafist leader, Abdul Latif Moussa, declared an Islamic emirate in the town of Rafah, on Gaza's southern border.[241] Moussa and 19 other people were killed when Hamas forces stormed his mosque and house. In 2011, Salafists abducted and murdered a pro-Arab/Palestinian Italian activist, Vittorio Arrigoni. Following this Hamas again took action to crush the Salafist groups.[241]

      ReplyDelete
    50. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:23 AM

      Archaeology
      The Gaza Museum of Archaeology was established by Jawdat N. Khoudary in 2008.[242]

      Education

      University College of Applied Sciences, the largest college in Gaza
      In 2010, illiteracy among Gazan youth was less than 1%. In 2012, there were five universities in the Gaza Strip and eight new schools are under construction.[243] According to UNRWA figures, there are 640 schools in Gaza: 383 government schools, 221 UNRWA schools and 36 private schools, serving a total of 441,452 students.[244]

      In 2010, Al Zahara, a private school in central Gaza introduced a special program for mental development based on math computations. The program was created in Malaysia in 1993, according to the school principal, Majed al-Bari.[245]

      The Community College of Applied Science and Technology (CCAST) was established in 1998 in Gaza City. In 2003, the college moved into its new campus and established the Gaza Polytechnic Institute (GPI) in 2006 in southern Gaza. In 2007, the college received accreditation to award BA degrees as the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS). In 2010, the college had a student population of 6,000 in eight departments offering over 40 majors.[246]

      In June 2011, some Gazans, upset that UNRWA did not rebuild their homes that were lost in the Second Intifada, blocked UNRWA from performing its services and shut down UNRWA's summer camps. Gaza residents also closed UNRWA's emergency department, social services office and ration stores.[247]

      ReplyDelete
    51. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:25 AM

      Health

      Islamic University of Gaza
      Statistics
      In Gaza, there are hospitals and additional healthcare facilities. Because of the high number of young people the mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world, at 0.315% per year.[248] The infant mortality rate is ranked 105th highest out of 224 countries and territories, at 16.55 deaths per 1,000 births.[249] The Gaza Strip places 24th out of 135 countries according to Human Poverty Index.

      A study carried out by Johns Hopkins University (U.S.) and Al-Quds University (in Abu Dis) for CARE International in late 2002 revealed very high levels of dietary deficiency among the Arab-Palestinian population. The study found that 17.5% of children aged 6–59 months suffered from chronic malnutrition. 53% of women of reproductive age and 44% of children were found to be anemic. Insecurity in obtaining sufficient food as of 2016 affects roughly 70% of Gaza households, as the number of people requiring assistance from UN agencies has risen from 72,000 in 2000, to 800,000 in 2014[250]

      After the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip health conditions in Gaza Strip faced new challenges. World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its concerns about the consequences of the Palestinian internal political fragmentation; the socioeconomic decline; military actions; and the physical, psychological and economic isolation on the health of the population in Gaza.[251] In a 2012 study of the occupied territories, the WHO reported that roughly 50% of the young children and infants under two years old and 39.1% of pregnant women receiving antenatal services care in Gaza suffer from iron-deficiency anemia. The organization also observed chronic malnutrition in children under five "is not improving and may be deteriorating."[252]

      Dr. Mohammed Abu Shaban, director of the Blood Tumors Department in Al-Rantisy Hospital in Gaza witnessed an increase in blood cancer. In March 2010 the department had seen 55 cases that year, compared to 20 to 25 cases normally seen in an entire year.[253][dubious – discuss]According to the United Nations Development Programme, the average life expectancy in the Gaza Strip is 72.[254][255]

      Healthcare availability
      See also: Khalida Jarrar § Israeli denial of medical treatment
      According to Palestinian leaders in the Gaza Strip, the majority of medical aid delivered are "past their expiration date." Mounir el-Barash, the director of donations in Gaza's health department, claims 30% of aid sent to Gaza is used.[256]

      Gazans who desire medical care in Israeli hospitals must apply for a medical visa permit. In 2007, State of Israel granted 7,176 permits and denied 1,627.[257][258]

      In 2012, two hospitals funded by Turkey and Saudi Arabia were under construction.[259]

      ReplyDelete
    52. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:27 AM

      Culture and sports

      Gaza amusement park.
      Fine arts
      The Gaza Strip has been home to a significant branch of the contemporary Palestinian art movement since the mid 20th century. Notable artists include painters Ismail Ashour, Shafiq Redwan, Bashir Senwar, Majed Shalla, Fayez Sersawi, Abdul Rahman al Muzayan and Ismail Shammout, and media artists Taysir Batniji (who lives in France) and Laila al Shawa (who lives in London). An emerging generation of artists is also active in nonprofit art organizations such as Windows From Gaza and Eltiqa Group, which regularly host exhibitions and events open to the public.[260]

      Athletics
      In 2010, Gaza inaugurated its first Olympic-size swimming pool at the As-Sadaka club. The opening ceremony was held by the Islamic Society.[261] The swimming team of as-Sadaka holds several gold and silver medals from Arab-Palestinian swimming competitions.[262]

      Transport and communications

      Damaged part of Gaza airport, May 2002
      Transport
      The Oslo Accords ceded control of the airspace and territorial waters to Israel. Any external travel from Gaza requires cooperation from either Egypt or Israel.

      Highways
      Salah al-Din Road (also known as the Salah ad-Deen Highway) is the main highway of the Gaza Strip and extends over 45 km (28 mi), spanning the entire length of the territory from the Rafah Crossing in the south to the Erez Crossing in the north.[263] The road is named after the 12th-century Ayyubid general Salah al-Din.[56]

      Rail transport
      Former railway: see Palestine Railways#Railway in the Gaza Strip

      Marine transport
      The Port of Gaza has been an important and active port since antiquity. Despite plans under the Oslo Peace Accords to expand the port, it has been under a blockade since Hamas was elected as a majority party in the 2006 elections. Both the Israeli Navy and Egypt enforce the blockade, which continues currently and has limited many aspects of life in Gaza, especially, according to Human Rights Watch, the movement of people and commerce, with exports being most affected. The improvement and rebuilding of infrastructure is also negatively impacted by these sanctions.[264] Plans to expand the port were halted after the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada.

      Air transport
      The Yasser Arafat International Airport opened on 24 November 1998 after the signing of the Oslo II Accord and the Wye River Memorandum. It was closed by Israel in October 2000. Its radar station and control tower were destroyed by Israel Defense Forces aircraft in 2001 during the al-Aqsa Intifada, and bulldozers razed the runway in January 2002.[151][152] The only remaining runway in the strip, at the Gush Katif Airport, fell into disuse following Israeli disengagement. The airspace over Gaza may be restricted by the Israeli Air Force as the Oslo Accords authorized.

      ReplyDelete
    53. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 1:30 AM

      Telecommunications
      Telephone service
      The Gaza Strip has rudimentary land line telephone service provided by an open-wire system, as well as extensive mobile telephone services provided by PalTel (Jawwal) and Israeli providers such as Cellcom. Gaza is serviced by four internet service providers that now compete for ADSL and dial-up customers.

      Television and radio
      Most Gaza households have a radio and a TV (70%+), and approximately 20% have a personal computer. People living in Gaza have access to FTA satellite programs, broadcast TV from the Arab Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, the Israel Broadcasting Authority, and the Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority.[265]

      See also
      Al-Bustan resort
      Enclave and exclave
      Gaza Security Force
      Governance of the Gaza Strip
      Hamastan
      Human rights in the Arab-Palestinian territories
      International recognition of the State of Palestine?
      Israeli-occupied territories?
      Israeli settlement
      Military equipment of Israel
      Arab-Palestinian Declaration of Independence?
      Arab Palestinian National Security Forces
      Philistia
      Southern District (Israel)

      ReplyDelete
    54. YJ Draiman ArticlesJanuary 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM

      If you are in the United States illegally, you violated the law and you must leave our country. How many times we have given amnesty to illegals, they are counting on those amnesties that is why illegal immigration thrives. No more amnesty to illegals.

      ReplyDelete

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