Israel Shamir | Unz Review
Two years passed since this memorable morning raid, when the Hamas fighters realised the wildest fantasy of our lifetime, and escaped on the eagle wings from the prison of Gaza. They flew over the barbed wire and mine fields where their cruel prison guards kept them jailed for fifteen long years, and attacked the jailers. This was the bravest, most noble deed of the Hamas warriors. Let us do the fast forward of Gaza fate previous to this fateful day.
Palestine’s fate is the most bitter, in violation of all norms. It is ruled by Israel, which does not allow its inhabitants to live peacefully, to enter or leave, use the airport, while its own airport and seaport had been destroyed. Palestinians are killed for no reason — there is always a justification and explanation for the killing. If the explanation collapses, there is an oops, but never restitution, not to mention justice. Palestine is an anomaly, the only colony in our time where the local population is under complete colonial oppression. Attempts to decolonise Palestine have failed, and people around the world who seek justice cannot accept this situation.
Gaza is the most unfortunate part of Palestine. It’s a rather small Bantustan, surrounded by Israeli territory and Israel’s dependency, Egypt. The city, located on the Mediterranean coast, is not allowed to have its own port, even though this very port existed here 1,000 years before the birth of Christ. Ptolemy and Strabo wrote about it. It was one of the main ports of the Eastern Mediterranean, known throughout the ancient world. Incense from the south of the Arabian Peninsula was brought here — frankincense and myrrh, popular in ancient times, as well as other aromatic oils and spices. So, when life was bustling here, trade flourished.
It was the site of a great battle, from March to November 1917 the Brits fought for Gaza, and with great difficulty took it. In 1948, the Jews couldn’t take it, and not for the lack of trying, but they pushed into Gaza thousands of Palestinian dwellers of villages and towns south of Jaffa.
Incidentally, this is why, when Yasser Arafat agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the ‘peaceful coexistence’ of the two peoples (the so-called Oslo Accords, signed in 1993), the Israelis assured that Gaza would become the main metropolis of Palestine. Unfortunately, this did not happen. It is very difficult to negotiate with the Israelis. If they do not like an agreement, it is a ‘bad deal’ and they are not obliged to comply with it. This applies not only to politics, but also to business, and indeed to anything else. And they simply threw the Oslo Accords out the window.
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