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Why Aren’t People Fleeing Gaza?
First off, I want to be clear — I am saddened by the deaths of innocent civilians on on both sides of the conflict. Children dying in war is always a tragedy.
Also, the situation in that region of the world is very complex. There is no way I can adequately cover it in one article, and there are no easy solutions, if there are any solutions at all.
My understanding is that British and French foreign policy determined that Europe’s Jews be sent to a region that, at the time, was only about 10% Jewish.
To make room for them, about 750,000 Arabs were displaced in 1948. This is referred to as the Nakba in Arabic, which means catastrophe. Two-thirds of the area’s population became refugees in their own homeland.
Today, there are two areas that are under Palestinian control — the West Bank, and the Gaza strip. Egypt ruled Gaza and Lebanon ruled the West Bank until the Six-Day War in 1967.
During the 1970s and ’80s, according to older friends of mine, people could travel between Gaza and Israel. Some of the best nightlife was in Gaza, and Israeli and international firms financed businesses there. Also, many people in Gaza held work visas for jobs in Israel.
In fact, before the First Intifada, in 1987, there were nearly 70,000 Palestinians that were registered as working…
