Gaza, 10 Years After ''Disengagement''
Friday, 21 August 2015 00:00 By David Palumbo-Liu, Truthout | Op-Ed
Palestinians, standing in Beit Hanoun town, which witnesses said was
heavily hit by Israeli shelling and air strikes, in Gaza Strip, July 26,
2014. (Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times)
Want to challenge injustice and make real change happen? That's Truthout's
goal - support our work with a donation today!
Ten years ago, the Israeli government enacted a policy of "disengagement"
from Gaza that was first proposed in December 2003 by then-Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon. The intent was, according to The Washington Post, to "increase
security of residents of Israel, relieve pressure on the Israeli Defense
Forces (IDF) and reduce friction between Israelis and Palestinians."
Benjamin Netanyahu, then the finance minister, resigned in protest: "We have
reached the moment of truth today ... There is a way to achieve peace and
security, but a unilateral withdrawal under fire and with nothing in return
is certainly not the way."
The plan called for the removal of 21 settler communities and the Israeli
Defense Forces from Gaza and is constantly cited even today as a testament
to Israel's commitment to peace. But the "disengagement" was meant to
alleviate international pressure on Israel to negotiate a two-state solution
with the Palestinians, allowing for the continued colonization of occupied
Palestinian East Jerusalem and the West Bank. As senior Sharon advisor Dov
Weisglass explained in October 2004:
The significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace
process ... And when you freeze that process, you prevent the establishment
of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the
borders and Jerusalem. Effectively, this whole package called the
Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed indefinitely
from our agenda. And all this with ... a [US] presidential blessing and the
ratification of both houses of Congress.
So it would be a grave mistake to think that the removal of the settlements
brought about a major change in the lives of Palestinians. The
administration of Gaza fell to the Palestinian National Authority, but
Israel controls its borders, coastline and airspace and maintains an illegal
blockade that has imposed a chokehold on Gaza.
Those who say that Gaza is now "free" of Israeli control and who blame the
Palestinian National Authority for all the woes in that territory need to be
reminded of the chokehold and its effects. The analogy has often been made:
To consider Gaza "free" is like looking at a prison yard and saying that
because the prisoners seem to be moving about at will, they are free. To say
that ignores the entire overwhelming apparatus that imprisons them. If even
David Cameron can call Gaza an "open air prison," then we should attend to
the actual status of life in Gaza 10 years after Israeli "disengagement."
Israel remains an occupying power over Gaza, and its blockade has crippled
Gaza. This was, in fact, the plan, as evident in this statement from
Weisglass, acting as an advisor to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert: "The idea is
to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger ...
The hunger pangs are supposed to encourage the Palestinians to force Hamas
to change its attitude towards Israel or force Hamas out of government." He
was not speaking only metaphorically. In 2012, it was revealed that in early
2008, Israeli authorities drew up a document calculating the minimum caloric
intake necessary for Palestinians to avoid malnutrition so Israel could
limit the amount of foodstuffs allowed into Gaza without causing outright
starvation.
In fact, years into this terrible regime, many Palestinians are dying of
hunger and other causes. As the Institute for Middle East Understanding
reports, according to a 2012 joint report by Save the Children and UK-based
Medical Aid for Palestinians:
. 10 percent of children under age 5 experienced stunted growth caused by
prolonged malnutrition due to the blockade and siege.
. 58.6 percent of Gaza's schoolchildren were anemic, as were more than 68
percent of children aged 9 to 12 months and nearly 37 percent of pregnant
women.
. According to UNICEF, more than 90 percent of the water from Gaza's only
aquifer is unsafe for human consumption due to pollution, while repairs to
Gaza's sewage and water infrastructure cannot be carried out because of
Israeli restrictions on the entry of building materials and equipment.
. Gaza suffered from severe shortages of electricity due to Israeli
restrictions on imports of equipment needed to replace and repair the
electrical infrastructure, even before Israel bombed Gaza's only power plant
during its latest assault.
And in August 2012, the UN released a report entitled "Gaza in 2020: A
Liveable Place?" which noted that unless Israel ends its siege and urgent
action is taken to reverse its effects:
[By 2020 there] will be virtually no reliable access to sources of safe
drinking water, standards of healthcare and education will have continued to
decline, and the vision of affordable and reliable electricity for all will
have become a distant memory for most. The already high number of poor,
marginalized and food-insecure people depending on assistance will not have
changed, and in all likelihood, will have increased.
The horrible truth is that the Palestinians in Gaza are facing either a slow
torturous death by means of the blockade and strangulation by deprivation of
utilities, water and sanitation, or by bombardment and military attack. We
need to be clear on the strategies of control and domination that have been
in place for more than a decade after "disengagement" and lend our voices
and energies to the cause of Palestinian freedom.
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
DAVID PALUMBO-LIU
David Palumbo-Liu is the Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, and Professor of
Comparative Literature, and, by courtesy, English, at Stanford University.
He has written three scholarly books and edited three academic volumes on
issues relating to cultural studies, ethnic studies, and literary theory.
His recent books are: The Deliverance of Others: Reading Literature in a
Global Age (Duke UP, 2012), and a co-edited volume, Immanuel Wallerstein and
the Problem of the World: System, Scale, Culture (Duke UP, 2011). He is part
of the Public Intellectual Project at Truthout, and blogs for the Boston
Review, Al Jazeera America, and The Huffington Post.
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Gaza, 10 Years After ''Disengagement''
Friday, 21 August 2015 00:00 By David Palumbo-Liu, Truthout | Op-Ed
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reference not valid.
. Palestinians, standing in Beit Hanoun town, which witnesses said
was heavily hit by Israeli shelling and air strikes, in Gaza Strip, July 26,
2014. (Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times)
. Want to challenge injustice and make real change happen? That's
Truthout's goal - support our work with a donation today!
Ten years ago, the Israeli government enacted a policy of "disengagement"
from Gaza that was first proposed in December 2003 by then-Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon. The intent was, according to The Washington Post, to "increase
security of residents of Israel, relieve pressure on the Israeli Defense
Forces (IDF) and reduce friction between Israelis and Palestinians."
Benjamin Netanyahu, then the finance minister, resigned in protest: "We have
reached the moment of truth today ... There is a way to achieve peace and
security, but a unilateral withdrawal under fire and with nothing in return
is certainly not the way."
The plan called for the removal of 21 settler communities and the Israeli
Defense Forces from Gaza and is constantly cited even today as a testament
to Israel's commitment to peace. But the "disengagement" was meant to
alleviate international pressure on Israel to negotiate a two-state solution
with the Palestinians, allowing for the continued colonization of occupied
Palestinian East Jerusalem and the West Bank. As senior Sharon advisor Dov
Weisglass explained in October 2004:
The significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace
process ... And when you freeze that process, you prevent the establishment
of a Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on the refugees, the
borders and Jerusalem. Effectively, this whole package called the
Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed indefinitely
from our agenda. And all this with ... a [US] presidential blessing and the
ratification of both houses of Congress.
So it would be a grave mistake to think that the removal of the settlements
brought about a major change in the lives of Palestinians. The
administration of Gaza fell to the Palestinian National Authority, but
Israel controls its borders, coastline and airspace and maintains an illegal
blockade that has imposed a chokehold on Gaza.
Those who say that Gaza is now "free" of Israeli control and who blame the
Palestinian National Authority for all the woes in that territory need to be
reminded of the chokehold and its effects. The analogy has often been made:
To consider Gaza "free" is like looking at a prison yard and saying that
because the prisoners seem to be moving about at will, they are free. To say
that ignores the entire overwhelming apparatus that imprisons them. If even
David http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-10778110Cameron can call
Gaza an "open air prison," then we should attend to the actual status of
life in Gaza 10 years after Israeli "disengagement."
Israel remains an occupying power over Gaza, and its blockade has crippled
Gaza. This was, in fact, the plan, as evident in this statement from
Weisglass, acting as an advisor to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert: "The idea is
to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger ...
The hunger pangs are supposed to encourage the Palestinians to force Hamas
to change its attitude towards Israel or force Hamas out of government." He
was not speaking only metaphorically. In 2012, it was revealed that in early
2008, Israeli authorities drew up a document calculating the minimum caloric
intake necessary for Palestinians to avoid malnutrition so Israel could
limit the amount of foodstuffs allowed into Gaza without causing outright
starvation.
In fact, years into this terrible regime, many Palestinians are dying of
hunger and other causes. As the Institute for Middle East Understanding
http://imeu.org/article/putting-palestinians-on-a-diet-israels-siege-blockad
e-of-gazareports,
http://www.ibtimes.com/israels-blockade-gaza-puts-palestinian-childrens-heal
th-risk-report-702821according to a 2012 joint report by Save the Children
and UK-based Medical Aid for Palestinians:
. 10 percent of children under age 5 experienced stunted growth caused by
prolonged malnutrition due to the blockade and siege.
. 58.6 percent of Gaza's schoolchildren were anemic, as were more than 68
percent of children aged 9 to 12 months and nearly 37 percent of pregnant
women.
. According to UNICEF, more than 90 percent of the water from Gaza's only
aquifer is unsafe for human consumption due to pollution, while repairs to
Gaza's sewage and water infrastructure cannot be carried out because of
Israeli restrictions on the entry of building materials and equipment.
. Gaza suffered from severe shortages of electricity due to Israeli
restrictions on imports of equipment needed to replace and repair the
electrical infrastructure, even before Israel bombed Gaza's only power plant
during its latest assault.
And in August 2012, the UN released a report entitled "Gaza in 2020: A
Liveable Place?" which noted that unless Israel ends its siege and urgent
action is taken to reverse its effects:
[By 2020 there] will be virtually no reliable access to sources of safe
drinking water, standards of healthcare and education will have continued to
decline, and the vision of affordable and reliable electricity for all will
have become a distant memory for most. The already high number of poor,
marginalized and food-insecure people depending on assistance will not have
changed, and in all likelihood, will have increased.
The horrible truth is that the Palestinians in Gaza are facing either a slow
torturous death by means of the blockade and strangulation by deprivation of
utilities, water and sanitation, or by bombardment and military attack. We
need to be clear on the strategies of control and domination that have been
in place for more than a decade after "disengagement" and lend our voices
and energies to the cause of Palestinian freedom.
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
David Palumbo-Liu
David Palumbo-Liu is the Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, and Professor of
Comparative Literature, and, by courtesy, English, at Stanford University.
He has written three scholarly books and edited three academic volumes on
issues relating to cultural studies, ethnic studies, and literary theory.
His recent books are: The Deliverance of Others: Reading Literature in a
Global Age (Duke UP, 2012), and a co-edited volume, Immanuel Wallerstein and
the Problem of the World: System, Scale, Culture (Duke UP, 2011). He is part
of the Public Intellectual Project at Truthout, and blogs for the Boston
Review, Al Jazeera America, and The Huffington Post.
Related Stories
Gaza Blockade Hangs Fire in Cairo: Where Is the Antiwar Left?
By Robert Naiman, Truthout | Op-EdIsraeli Report Finds Gaza War "Lawful" and
"Legitimate" Ahead of Critical UN Investigation
By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! | Video InterviewIsraeli Settlers Demand
Demolition of Palestinian Village
By Charlotte Silver, Electronic Intifada | Report
Show Comments
