Tuesday, December 12th, 2023

Enough is enough. When I hear anti-Semites talk about the “Occupation”, it’s bad enough.  But when I hear Jewish people use that word as the reason for the October 7th Massacre, I know it’s time for me to share with them the facts. First, you need to know that the Jewish connection to Gaza is ancient. Gaza is mentioned more than once in the Torah as part of the Holy Land. Old Gaza even had a Jewish quarter. But we’re not fighting over land. We just want the hostages home and we want the world to know the real story.

Below is a whole bunch of information I’ve put together which is good to know and which may help clarify some things.  By the way, I always hated history in school, so even if you hate history, you really should know this!

What is Gaza? Gaza is a coastal strip of land that lies on ancient trading and maritime routes along the Mediterranean shore. The Ottoman Empire was in charge until 1917, and then — over the last century — it passed from British to Egyptian to Israeli military to HAMAS rule. Today it is a fenced-in enclave inhabited by over 2 million Palestinians.

1948: The War of Independence. Israel fights off five Arab armies and survives. After the war, Jordan has the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Gaza Strip goes to Egypt. Egypt holds it under a military governor, and it stays that way for the next 19 years.

1967: The Six-Day War. Again, Israel fights multiple Arab armies and this time comes out with four times as much land as before, including the Gaza Strip. Gazans will now be under Israeli rule. When people talk abut the “Gaza Occupation”, that is what they are referring to. (Spoiler: this occupation will end long before the Oct 7 massacre.)

1967 – 1987. The Israeli government encourages Israeli citizens to build communities (“settlements”) in the West Bank and in Gaza. With the Egyptians gone, many Gazan workers now take jobs in Israel. The roads are open, there’s income from these jobs, many Israelis and Palestinians are friends. But many other Palestinians are not okay with Israel. Israeli troops remain to administer the territory and to guard the settlements that Israel builds in the following decades.

1987: First Intifada (or uprising). After 20 years of Israeli rule, though, tensions in the West Bank and Gaza are high. For some Palestinians it’s the combination of Israeli military rule, economic dependence on Israel, and the growth of Israeli settlements. For others – and this has never changed – the problem is Israel’s existence. Period. Intifada is their solution.

HAMAS: An acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS is born amid the chaos. The thing is, their “resistance” is extremely violent, and they are dedicated to Israel’s destruction and restoration of Islamic rule in the area. HAMAS becomes a rival to Yasser Arafat’s secular Fatah party that leads the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Not everyone in Gaza supports HAMAS. A lot of Palestinians are more than okay with the situation with Israel because they work and earn money there.

1993: The Oslo Accords. Israel and the Palestinians sign an historic peace accord that leads to the creation of the Palestinian Authority, the new government led by Yasser Arafat. The deal gives the Palestinians some measure of autonomy for the first time, with the plan of statehood within five years. Unfortunately, the promise of peace never materializes. Hamas and Islamic Jihad carry out bombings to try to derail the peace process, leading Israel to impose more restrictions on movement of Palestinians out of Gaza. Plus, there are two major problems with the PA and its ruling political party, Fatah: (1) Legendary corruption, and (2) Their record on terrorism. 

2000: Second Intifada. Introducing suicide bombings (who ever heard of such a thing?!) and shooting attacks by Palestinians. Then Israeli air strikes, demolitions, no-go zones and curfews. For five years. Over 1,000 Israelis die. Many more are permanently injured. On the Palestinian side, Israeli reprisals claim 5,000 lives. (Note: Our enemies always compare numbers, as if the side with more casualties is the victim. Be aware that Israel only “fights back” after a terror attack. We really REALLY want peace, and we keep giving up land for the promise of peace. I can’t say that enough!).

2002 – 2005 The IDF re-enter the West Bank and parts of Gaza in an effort to crack down on terror.

The airport & fishing zone. In case you hear about this. Gaza International Airport was not controlled by Israel or Egypt. It opened in 1998, but Israel deemed it a security threat and destroyed its radar antenna and runway shortly after 9-11. The fishing zone in Gaza was at one point a source of income for many Gazans. Israel reduced it when they discovered that “fishing” boats were being used to smuggle weapons.

2005: End of the Occupation. End. Finish. Israel’s security situation is terrible and Israel evacuates ALL of its troops and settlers from Gaza, which is by now completely fenced off by Israel for security. (Gotta stop those suicide bombers just wandering in.) Jews of Gaza don’t want to leave their homes, and the IDF physically removes the Israeli citizens. We also dig up our Jewish cemeteries in Gaza and take the bodies into Israel for burial, preventing the Gazans from desecrating them later. By mid-September, not a single Israeli remains in Gaza.

2006. After the Occupation. Fatah is in charge (but not for long). Palestinians tear down the abandoned buildings, greenhouses, and infrastructure for scrap. Armed groups, smugglers and entrepreneurs quickly dig scores of tunnels into Egypt. Factories, greenhouses, and workshops that had employed many Gazans are now destroyed. (Do you see how stupid they are?! They could have had a gorgeous life there! Make sure you know this!)

2006. The Election. Palestinians vote, many wanting to get rid of the corruption from Fatah. Everyone around the world expects Fatah to win, but nope. HAMAS, publicly vocal about its feelings for the Jewish People, is elected with Palestinians believing that HAMAS has the organizational strength to deliver social services and govern transparently. HAMAS has been ruling Gaza ever since.

2007 and Beyond. Much of the international community cuts aid to the Palestinians in HAMAS-controlled areas because they regard HAMAS as a terrorist organization. HAMAS and other groups launch rockets at heartland cities in Israel. Israel carries out air strikes in retaliation. Viewing HAMAS as a threat, Egypt closes the border with Gaza and blows up most of the tunnels. Israel and Egypt restrict the movements of people and goods through the Gaza crossings. Once again isolated, Gaza’s economy goes into reverse. The rockets keep coming into Israel from Gaza. Daily. Hourly.  The world news rarely covers this.

2023. The October 7 Massacre. No excuse. No justification. Completely unacceptable. Bring the hostages home.

I know this was a long post. You can skim it, or focus on the parts that fill in gaps in your own knowledge. But when some protesting ignoramus (or former president Obama on TV) talks about the massacre being in retaliation for the Occupation, now you know better!so