The handover of Gaza to Palestinian control is a step towards ending 38 years’ occupation of Palestinian land vital for the establishment of a future State. Although United Nations Security Council resolutions condemned Israel's settlements in Gaza and the West Bank as illegal, these settlements continued to grow and develop through the years.
Gaza is home to some 1.5 million Palestinians and has been devastated by frequent battles between the Israeli forces and the Palestinian resistance. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon concluded that the Gaza settlements were too difficult to defend and that keeping Gaza posed a threat to the Jewish State. The Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip is significant and potentially a historic moment in the Middle East peace process, one that could signal the beginning of the end of Israel's history of occupation. For the first time, the Zionist dream of a Greater Israel is being shattered as demonstrated in the long-overdue retreat from the Gaza strip.
The meeting of the Council of the Arab League declared that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be founded on international law, and it called on Israel for its total withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories to the lines drawn on 4 June 1967. The Israeli occupation of the Gaza strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights and other occupied Arab areas is a crime. This is a breach of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from moving its civilians into the land it occupies. Just as there is a virtually unanimous international consensus on the illegal nature of the Israeli settlements, there is also a global agreement that Israel must leave the territories occupied since 1967. Palestinians were joyous to see the end of the Israeli civilian presence in the strip that Israel captured from Egypt in the 1967 war. The US Secretary of State Ms Condoleezza Rice stated that Washington wants to see freedom of movement in the strip following the Israeli pullout, but she gave no clear-cut answers on several important issues.
Will there be a safe passage into the West Bank, a new harbour and the re-opening of Gaza International Airport? Will borders be kept open for the free movement of goods and people? Will the plan to seal the Gaza strip with the building of an underwater barrier stop? What will happen to the US$220 million project to build a further 60km fence surrounding the Gaza strip? The present wall has had a devastating effect on the lives and livelihoods of the Palestinians, and added to this, it prevents the opportunity for interaction for people who desperately want peace. It seems to be a habit of the Israeli government not to publicise its operational plans, and decision making is carried out behind closed doors.
The US United Church of Christ called on the Israeli government to stop construction of this illegal barrier around Palestinian territories and called for its dismantling. Unfortunately, they ended up being called anti-Semitic. There are different people who have clearly understood the true nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and sympathise with the Palestinian people. However, if they are Western they end up being branded as anti-Semitic, and if they are Muslims or Arabs they are labelled as terrorists to be punished like criminals.
The historical political chaos in the region contributed to frequent foreign interference and instability in the Middle East, and this is mainly due to the shortcomings of the unqualified leaders in the Arab world. Only a just and lasting peace in the Middle East including peace between Israel and the Palestinians will bring long term security for all.
Moustafa Megawer
QAWRA