Gaza Strip: Getting to the point

Posted August 24th, 2005 by Prometheus 6

Some recent silliness in the comments has inspired me to make note of a couple of facts:

In 2002 there were 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank, 42 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 25 in the Gaza Strip, and 29 in East Jerusalem. The Gaza Strip was the least gesture possible, and still wasn't done to conform with the UN resolutions they have been in defiance of for so long, but to consolidate their grip on the land.

Speech by PM Sharon to Jewish Agency Assembly

An essential step in ensuring the Jewish majority of the State of Israel is determining the borders of the state which will assure it an established Jewish majority, while also assuring the security of its citizens.

Welcome to Jerusalem, the eternal and united capital of the Jewish people and the State of Israel forever.

...I do not want to rehash the statistical argument between demographers as to the size of the national communities in the Land of Israel. It is obvious that we do not have the ability to ensure a Jewish majority in every area, and that we have no desire to rule over millions of Palestinians - to provide sanitation in Rafah, medical services in Gaza and veterinary services in Khan Yunis. We had the dream of a Jewish state in all the territories of the Land of Israel, but, unfortunately, we do not have the ability to realize the entire dream.

What we do have is the ability to realize considerable and important parts of the dream, and we must concentrate our efforts on this.

Out of this rationale, I also initiated the Disengagement Plan, which was approved by the government and the Knesset. We are withdrawing from the Gaza Strip - an area in which there is no chance of establishing a Jewish majority, and which is clear to us all, will never be part of the State of Israel in any final agreement. At the same time, we are directing the majority of our efforts to the most important areas to ensure our existence - the Galilee, the Negev, greater Jerusalem, the settlement blocs and the security zones.

A week before that speech (via Juan Cole)

While US Secretary of State Condi Rice was meeting with the Israeli foreign minister to encourage Israel's adherence to the "Road Map" toward Israeli-Palestinian peace and Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was out assuring the Israeli colonists on the West Bank that he was going to unilaterally annex even more Palestinian land, along with the holy city of Jerusalem, permanently.

' During a visit to the West Bank settlement of Ariel yesterday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that in the future an expanded Ariel would be an integral part of Israel.

"I reiterate and clarify that this bloc is one of the most important. It will forever be part of the State of Israel. There is no other thought and no other direction of thinking.

"I came here today to see how the city can be expanded and the bloc strengthened, as I do and shall do in the other blocs. This bloc will forever be an inseparable part of the State of Israel, territorially contiguous with the State of Israel like the other blocs," he said. . .

No wonder so many Israelis are afraid the West Bank will be a source of future problems...they are still actively pursuing the policies that caused the problems. The only difference is Sharon is smarter than Netanyahu...he recognizes you can't get away with overextending yourself.

Come to think of it, that makes him smarter than Bush too.