Partners for Peace<\/a> Interim Executive Director, Phil Anderson, is currently in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and attended Christmas clebrations and the International Conference on Nonviolence<\/a> in Bethlehem. Phil had the rare opportunity to visit the Gaza Strip earlier this week and filed this report (links to more information on Gaza follows<\/em>): I visited Gaza from Jan 3-5; three packed days. A short visit does not an expert make, but given the situation there and in wider Palestine\/Israel I would like to share with you some observations and impressions regarding the present scene in Gaza. <\/p>\n My contacts included meetings and conversations with: the Middle East Council of Churches; various women’s organizations; various human rights organizations; organized sectors of unemployed workers; various legislative candidates; employed and unemployed professionals; persons living in refugee camps; the Commission General and the Principal Field Officer for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; an employee with the UN Peace Process Liaison (headed by Alvaro de Soto, who I recall from the El Salvador peace process); students of university and high school.<\/p>\n 1. Recent kidnappings and internal violence<\/strong> The motive of this recent rash of kidnapping and other internal violence among Palestinians is not entirely clear, though most experts in the area speculate that it comes from some powerful sectors within the Fatah party in Gaza. Fatah is fragmented, and there is a struggle for power. That said, there was anonymity among my sources that such kidnapping of foreigners is not part of the Gazan culture, which for years has been hospitable to international workers and visitors. Some faction is trying to manipulate the situation prior to the legislative elections scheduled for Jan 25, and may want to cause enough chaos to have them called off. <\/p>\n One scare tactic was the burning of the UN Beach Club in Gaza in the early hours of New Year’s Day (about 2:30 a.m.), a site frequented by UN staff and others. The site was bombed and burned by masked armed men, and left the impression that they objected to the drinking of alcohol at the location, an offense to the Muslim population. This is unusual, since the location has existed for years with no problem, and in fact there is tolerance in Gaza for persons who use alcohol. That reason alone is insufficient to explain the violence.<\/p>\n The major ‘message’ from the Gazan people with whom I spoke is that this violence is “not of our culture,” and they are afraid that it is being orchestrated precisely to give Gaza and the Palestinians a bad name at the moment.<\/p>\n 2. Elections<\/strong> The sentiment I gathered from those with whom I spoke is that virtually all the people of Gaza want the elections to happen, and will be very discouraged if they do not. Such a setback would only play into the chaos some want for Gaza and Palestine, something the Gazan people want to overcome. <\/p>\n 3. Israeli control<\/strong> Palestinian militants succeeded in knocking out a section of the southern wall with Egypt on Jan 4. Somehow this resulted in Egyptian confrontations, in which some Egyptian soldiers were killed and many injured. Such a flare-up of security there could bring more reaction from the Israelis, though it may come in the form of a surrogate military force of Egyptians or others entering Gaza ostensibly to control the Palestinians. Such a move is not welcomed by most Gazans, and seen as another step in losing their sovereignty, which is already excessively limited at best.<\/p>\n 4. Social factors<\/strong> 5. The Peace Process<\/strong> For peace to happen for the Gazans, one human rights expert summarized the bottom-line needs:<\/p>\n 6. Conclusion<\/strong> (Rev.) Phil Anderson For more information on the situation in the Gaza Strip, Partners for Peace recommends these sites:<\/p>\n The Electronic Intifada<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights<\/a> B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n Rafah Pundits<\/a> Rafah Today<\/a> Raising Yousef<\/a> To make a Tax-deductible donation to Partners for Peace please visit Partners for Peace (http:\/\/partnersforpeace.org\/who_donate.shtml<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (from my e-mail) Partners for Peace Interim Executive Director, Phil Anderson, is currently in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and attended Christmas clebrations and the International Conference on Nonviolence in Bethlehem. Phil had the rare opportunity to visit the … Continue reading
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\nFriends,<\/p>\n
\nThere have been a series of kidnappings of foreigners over the last several months, among them high-profile cases such as the British human rights woman and her parents, an Italian journalist, and others. Most all of these have been in the south, near Rafah and the Egyptian border, though the threat is felt throughout the area. On Tuesday or Wednesday Jan 3 or 4 the parents of Rachel Corrie, the US volunteer killed in Rafah trying to block a bulldozer about two years ago, were reportedly also nearly abducted<\/a>. Craig and Cindy Corrie attended the same International Conference on Nonviolence<\/a> I did from Dec 27-30 in Bethlehem. I had planned to meet them if possible in Rafah, but in a phone call to Craig on the morning of Jan 4 he encouraged me to not visit Rafah, and he said he and his wife would be leaving that day.<\/p>\n
\nI arrived in Gaza on the first day of official election campaigning for the national legislative council, and was able to attend three political forums in which candidates laid out there views and listened to in-put from a cross section of interested public, including women, young people, professionals and unemployed, and persons in a refugee camp. There was a flurry of activity putting up posters and banners for candidates of both the ruling Fatah party and the opposition Hamas party (which is running for the first time), as well as independent parties and coalitions. There clearly is a spirit and desire for the elections to happen. Much of the talk especially in Gaza is to elect a base of candidates that will challenge the ruling Fatah party, which is perceived as inefficient, corrupt, too nepotistic, and unable to challenge the Israeli government and ‘win’ anything for the Palestinians. I saw European Union election observers in the West Bank, but as of Jan 4 they had not yet been deployed to Gaza, and will probably be delayed in starting there due to the current violence.<\/p>\n
\nThough Israel pulled out about 6,000 Israeli Jewish settlers in August 2005, they maintain absolute control of access for people and goods to and from Gaza by any and all means, continue to have the final say about many matters of daily life and commerce, and continue to use military pressure and retaliation within Gaza. While I was there, Israeli air force jets crisscrossed the city at night to awaken people, and they bombed and rocketed targets especially in the north near the Erez border crossing, in a three-kilometer strip considered a ‘no-go zone.” Indeed, the area from the Erez crossing into Gaza City looks and feels like a war zone, with destroyed homes and blocked roads, making day to day living and travel in the area very problematic. This is the area Israel alleges that mortar attacks are being made into Israel near Ashkelon, about 30 kilometers south of Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n
\nCompared to the West Bank, Gaza is much poorer and isolated; it has an extremely high unemployment rate, and those who live under the poverty line exceed well over 50% of the population. This despite the fact that the population is quite literate, and boasts one of the highest per capita university graduation rates in the world. Professional employment for many is limited to UN or other humanitarian agencies; businesses are severely impeded by the closed borders and the lack of investment in the area; the Palestinian Authority has moved very slowly on creating jobs; the impact of closing the border to Israel for some 120,000 Gazan workers a couple years ago has accentuated the problems. Ill persons seeking to go to hospitals in Israel or Amman are subject to delays and rejections at the borders. The opening southern border crossing at Rafah is seen as very positive, but again it is often restricted and is still problematic and under ultimate Israeli control, though ‘monitored’ by the European Union.<\/p>\n
\nThere has been little to no bi-lateral progress on the Peace Process over the last 2-3 years. Prime Minister Sharon has been acting unilaterally, including with regard to the pull-out from Gaza (while he expands settlements and further confiscates land inside a future Palestinian territory — to be determined by bi-lateral “Final Status” negotiations, accompanied by the Quartet – the US; Russia; European Union; and the United Nations). Even the recent Rafah crossing agreement in which US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was involved proved the lack of serious peace talks bi-laterally among Israelis and Palestinians. It also underscores the weakness of the Quartet, and the role of former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, who has been working in the area since he left the Bank in the middle of 2005, assuming a position as special envoy of President Bush on behalf of the Quartet for Gazan affairs. It should not take the US Secretary of State or President Bush to personally intervene to make progress if both parties are serious about achieving effective steps towards a comprehensive peace.<\/p>\n
\nThe Gazans with whom I spoke do not see much hope for the near run, especially in light of the uncertainty of both Palestinian and Israeli elections (and as of two days ago the failure of PM Sharon’s health to the point of inability to function, making for an unanticipated and earlier-than-expected transition in power). The Gazans remain patient, courageous, and dignified in their just attempts to resist the oppression of the occupation primarily through nonviolent means, denouncing the violence of the few. Yet they are also anxious, embittered and disheartened that they have become so isolated, and made to feel like the pariahs of the world. When one South African who lived through the apartheid regime in his homeland recently visited Gaza he said that even South Africa under apartheid wasn’t as severe as this. <\/p>\n
\nInterim Executive Director
\nPartners for Peace
\nELCA<\/p>\n
\nThe web’s number one resource on news and information from occupied Palestine<\/em>.
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\nOne of Palestine’s most respected human rights organizations. Based in Gaza<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nIsrael’s largest Human Rights organization<\/em>.
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\nNews, information and commentary from Gaza’s southern-most city<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nMore information from a Rafah resident<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nA Palestinian mother shares her experiences as under occupation in the Gaza Strip<\/em>.<\/p>\n