Gaza is not Israel
Reader comment on item: The Forcible Removal of Israelis from Gaza

Submitted by Rony Guldmann (United States), Apr 29, 2005 at 09:30

What many of the Gaza settlers seem to have forgotten is that Gaza is not Israel, but merely Israeli-occupied territory. This is not merely the view of the Palestinians, but of the Israeli government itself, which has never annexed Gaza. Annexing Gaza would give its Arab residents the vote, which no Israeli, including the settlers, want. The more fanatical of the settlers want to have it both ways. They want that they, the settlers, be treated as though Gaza was Israel, yet they do not the Palestinians to be so treated. This is because they wish not merely to live in Gaza but to rule over it. While they may criticize Sharon's decision in pragmatic terms, as a weakening of Israel's strategic position, the truth is that they would insist in remaining in Gaza even if Hamas became Gandhi-like, and they would also insist that Gaza's Arab residents either leave or resign themselves to permanent second-class citizenship.

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