On Wednesday night (rather than studying for my ulpan final exam!) I attended another event put on my JStreet, the American lobbying group committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The night's topic was Gaza. Again, the panel consisted of two speakers--a woman named Tania Hary who represents the Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, and an official Israeli Defense Force (IDF) spokesperson, Captain Barak Raz.
Since the rise of Hamas (the Palestinian political party/terrorist organization) in Gaza in 2006, Israel has maintained a kind of blockade which controls the movement of people in and out of Gaza, as well as regulates imports and exports. The Gisha representative explained that the Israeli government used blocked the import of basic supplies into the region--from coriander to children's toys--under the premise that such imports constitute a security threat. The closure of the border especially affects building supplies, thereby preventing Gaza residents (and, Israel would remind us, Hamas terrorists) from building infrastructure. Changes in regulation (effective June 2010) have brought some improvement to Gaza, but some major issues still exist--for example, Israel does not currently allow students from Gaza to travel to the West Bank (even though a joint university system was set up in the two territories).
After the talk from the Gisha representative, Captain Barak Raz from the IDF spoke about the security issues surrounding Gaza. The ousting of Fatah (the party in power before Hamas) triggered a sharp rise in Gaza violence against Israel, mostly in the form of rockets. According to IDF intelligence, Gaza now possesses state-of-the-art rockets which can reach Tel Aviv. The border blockade, according to Raz, is in place to prevent the import of weapons and "dual use items" (items that could be used in home-made weapons, for example, batteries).
The night's discussion reached its peak when someone asked Captain Raz about the Gaza students who are unable to study in the West Bank due to Israeli border laws. Raz's justification of this policy was to suggest that allowing Gaza residents into the West Bank would allow for the "flow of information"--that is, Gaza residents who support Hamas could potentially teach West Bank residents to build rockets. This explanation seems hypocritical. After spending so much of his time complimenting JStreet for encouraging such important dialogue, and expressing his sincere concern for the well-being of the people of Gaza, Raz will not allow Gaza students to study at universities in the West Bank.
As with the West Bank, Gaza is a complicated issue (one about which I will have to read up)! I am glad I got the chance to learn more, and look forward to the next JStreet events: a discussion with Ami Ayalon (former Knesset Member), and a tour of Taybeh (an Area A city in the West Bank... home of the only Palestinian microbrewery).
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