RE: Palestinian Talks, lectures, & interviews.
⁜→ P F Tinmore, et al,
BLUF: These two presentations, one on Gaza and one on the West Bank, are common on the level of foreign outreach programs. That is not so unusual to see projecting their voice towards America when trying to reshape opinion. The problem in both presentations is that they attempt to modify and remold the truth in a way that sterilizes the voice into a propaganda tool. They are electronic pep-rallies for the two Arab Palestinian enclaves. Pretending that they are territories that are entirely surrounded by Israel for none other than selfish reasons.
These Chains Will Be Broken: Ramzy and Zarefah Baroud on Gaza's History of Resistance
Nadia Ben-Youssef: "A New Day? Organizing to Change US Policy on Israel and Palestine"
(COMMENT)
These two Palestinian host lands, one in the Gaza Strip and one in the West Bank, are two different kinds of political conditions.
Gaza is not surrounded by Israel. Has a border in common with Egypt. And Gaza was not originally under strict border controls in 2005 when Israel unilaterally withdrew from that small land.
◈ The border
security barrier was not constructed by Israel in 1994. "The Palestinians destroyed large portions of the security barrier during the Al-Aqsa Intifada and began a terrorist campaign. The al-Aqsa (September 2000) was a religiously-motivated outbreak of hostilities over Ariel Sharon's Temple Mount visit. The barrier was rebuilt between December 2000 and June 2001.
◈ The
Naval Blockade was not imposed until 2007. The blockade was employed to reduce the continuous rocket and mortar attacks, when an internationally recognized terrorist group established control over the Gaza Strip, turning security concerns into reality. While Egypt periodically opened its Rafah border crossing, ultimately they ended-up closing it for substantial periods of time security concerns.
When these little presentations are made, they seldom present the reasoning behind the controls put in place. It is not just Israel that imposes border controls, two Arab League states (Egypt and Jordan) do so as well. What that do try to frame is the presentation of International Human Rights Law without the exceptions presented in the law on the grounds of "protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals." And they certainly do not discuss the prohibition against the propaganda for - or - the incitement or advocacy concerning racial inequality, religious hatred, discrimination, hostility and violence. These restrictions are found in the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) with is one of the nine
Core International Instruments for Human Rights.
Another point that these presentations so often skip over is that, in 1967, Israel did NOT cease the Gaza Strip or the West Bank from the Arab Palestinians. For the two previous decades, these territories were occupied by Arab League states. And in regards to the West Bank, Jordan abandoned the West Bank by cutting all political ties with it, in 1988, before the Arab Palestinians even had a government.
Just my thoughts,
Most Respectfully,
R