Spring has sprung!

Greetings loyal readers!

It’s a warm spring night in Ramallah. I’m currently at my home away from home, Café La Vie. It’s a cozy hangout with the best lentil soup in town and a kind wait staff. It sometimes reminds me of the infamous Purple Onion in Minneapolis, except that instead of pining over econ problem sets, I’m writing blogposts and communicating with people here and away. There are still comforting parallels. The Beatles and other old music frequent the music playlist and there is a wide selection of desserts I shouldn’t be eating. Ahhhh nostalgia.

Today marks the Israeli Memorial Day followed by Independence Day tomorrow. I was in Jerusalem last night as Israel welcomed in Memorial Day at sundown. A horn rang throughout the city and everything stopped. People stopped their cars (some in the middle of the highway) and just stood still. Many people get out of their cars and stood next to them while they observed the loss of 23,000 Israelis who have fallen in combat since the state’s creation in 1948. No matter what my opinion is of Israel’s fallen and military record, I truly was touched by this gesture of observance. In America, I feel there is an immense amount of pride and appreciation for the services that soldiers and veterans provide, but rarely does the public stop (literally stop) everything and reflect on the sacrifices made by others to maintain our security and freedom. It was an amazing sight to see.

Unfortunately a holiday for Israel usually means a day of morning for Palestine. Palestinians commemorate May 14 as the “Naqba” or catastrophe. which usually aligns with the Israeli independence day. As for why Israel is celebrating Independence Day a month early is beyond me, but according to the Gregorian calendar, the state of Israel was created on May 14, 1948….hmmmm. It was the events where Israel was granted its independence that many Palestinians lost their homes, their livelihoods, and even their lives, so it would only be appropriate that this day brings great sadness, and at times anger to the Palestinian people. I’ve been told that tensions run high throughout May, as the anniversary of the Naqba grows closer. With tensions already as high as they are, I imagine it will be a tumultuous month.

Politically, the peace process continues to be at a standstill. Palestine refuses to come to the negotiation table unless Israel suspends the building of all settlements – West Bank and Jerusalem. Israel has issued a 10-month suspension of building permits in West Bank settlements, but refuses to quit building in East Jerusalem. The argument that East Jerusalem is fair game for the Israelis to build in carries about as much weight as me annexing my neighbor’s yard and building a shed on it and claiming it as my own. Internationally speaking, Jerusalem is a divided city with East Jerusalem explicitly being designated as Palestinian territory. So the saga continues. Other international heavyweights, namely the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia have called for a halt to settlement building with the hopes of reaching a peace agreement in 2 years At the rate it’s going, this may be a difficult objective to reach.

While relations are icy between Israel and the West Bank’s governing body, relations between Gaza and Israel are still hostile. It’s important to remember that the West Bank is under the governing control of the political party, Fatah. Fatah, once an internationally recognized terror group, has gained legitimacy on a worldwide scale. Fatah, unlike Hamas, recognizes Israel is a state and is willing to negotiate peace provided that the existing preconditions are met (namely the halt to all settlement building) and represents a more politically moderate stance. Hamas, the main opposition party to Fatah, is recognized as an international terrorist organization. In its 1988 charter it calls for replace Israel with an Islamic Palestinian state in present day Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. The terrorist accusations against Hamas mainly come from the organized launching of suicide attacks in Israelis during the second intifada and more recently frequent rocket attacks that are launched from Gaza, over the separation wall and into Israel. Though casualties are rare in such attacks (last month there were 20 independent attacks with one casualty), it often prompts IDF military action.

December 2008/January 2009 marked the deadliest military action since the invasions during the second intifada. Over the course of three weeks, 1400 Gazans were killed and billions of dollars of damage ensued. Though the IDF asserts that it was targeting militia outposts, three of Gaza’s four hospitals were leveled, the heart of Gaza’s sewage infrastructure was destroyed (this later led to a “sewage tsunami” that killed 8 people literally drowning in sewage) and countless private homes and businesses. Following these air strikes, Hamas ceased to launch rockets into Israel, though other smaller militant factions continue to do so, as I’ll explain later.

Israel has instilled a staunch blockade on Gaza since Hamas came to power in 2006, meaning there is a list of 30 items that Israel allows into the region legally. Most of these 30 items are primitive and include food, medicine, and detergent, forget about coffee, tea, musical instruments, anything made of wood, appliances, light bulbs, fabric or probably anything else you can name – their entry is forbidden. After the air strikes concluded, Gaza was in ruins. Furthermore, because it largely targeted the civilian population (a direct violation of UN international law), people were without homes and unable to gain any materials (think wood, glass, concrete – nothing) to rebuild their lost homes and businesses. Many people are still living among the rubble of what used to be their home. The blockade also means that Gaza is not allowed to export any goods, without access to any sort of commerce, goods in Gaza are extremely expensive (can anyone say around $12 for a gallon of gas?) and the unemployment rate is astronomical, around 85 percent.

Though it’s difficult, goods (and weapons) are getting into Gaza through a sophisticated tunnel system from Egypt into the blockaded region. Items as big as furniture and cars are smuggled through the tunnels to Gazans. It’s actually quite impressive. Recently though, with the help of the US Army Corps of Engineers, Egypt is building a wall between the Gaza/Egypt border that will extend some 18 meters below the surface to hopefully curtail much of the tunnel activity. Though they are well aware that the tunnels will be rebuilt, it will severely halt tunnel activity for the near future. There is no telling what this means for the people of Gaza.

Hamas has shown small signs of wishing cooperate with the Israeli government. It’s no secret that the wellbeing of Gaza is directly related to the frequency of rockets launched into Israel. Due to the Israeli casualty last month, Israel launched a small-scale air strike targeting militia outposts. The most recent rocket launches have been initiated by smaller military groups like the Islamic Jihad and others. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya stated in a BBC article “We are contacting other Palestinian factions in order to reach an internal consensus as to the measures we may take in order to protect our people and strengthen our unity.” In other words, Hamas is trying to maintain the smaller factions in order to maintain calm in Gaza for the “national interest.” Though small, I believe this to be a significant gesture on behalf of Hamas to suspend militant action directed at Israel. Ayman Taha, a spokesman for the Hamas government said that “The government of Gaza is in charge of the situation, and it does know clearly who launches the rockets…it is working hard to deter any faction from acting individually.” The IDF responded saying it would “not tolerate terroristic activity inside Gaza that threatens Israeli citizens.”

When thinking about a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians, it’s entirely possible that negotiations will take place between the people of the West Bank and Israel and the status quo of Gaza will remain, due to it’s unwillingness to negotiate. Unfortunately, the rift between Fatah and Hamas is so great that they may require a peace process of sorts between themselves. As Gaza and Hamas are more and more separated from the rest of the world, extremism is becoming more and more prevalent. With one of the highest birthrates and population densities in the world, Gaza’s population is growing quickly which could lead to further instability. Only time will tell.

Thanks for reading. As always, I am overwhelmed by the feedback and comments I receive from my readers. I truly appreciate you keeping me in your thoughts are prayers. Pictures from Easter and Turkey to come!

 

Ma Salma!