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A Senior Seminar Editorial by Liam Fox, MHS 2010
A recent article in Time Magazine discussed the Gaza Strip, and how Israeli blockades around the area keep it shut out from the rest of the world. Because of this, many have turned to digging tunnels under the blockades, so that they can get supplies and the basic necessities for everyday life. Israelis have targeted these tunnels, destroying them when possible, but the tunnel workers go right back to digging them. A potato-chip and clothing smuggler, Abu Obeida stated that “We are just trying to earn a living here. We have no other choice.” Simply blocking off the Gaza Strip border will not solve Israel’s conflicts with the Palestinians. The act itself only shuts the Palestinians off from the rest of the world, and thus, will only create more hatred between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The blockades around the Gaza Strip do not work. Using the tunnels, Palestinians living in this area are still able to get out of the Gaza Strip undetected, rendering the blockades a waste of time and money. This, coupled with the fact that the blockades keep families living in this area from receiving basic supplies and necessities, only makes the Israelis look bad. This gives more fuel to the Palestinian extremists who are responsible for the attacks against Israel, and may give them the power to plan future attacks.
It has been shown that through the tunnels, the Palestinians are able to smuggle in items. John Ging, head of the U.N. relief and Works agency in Gaza states that, “You have zero exports and zero imports through the [Israeli controlled] crossing points.” This means that the only real thing that the Israeli blockade is doing is preventing Gaza from importing and exporting goods, an act which will only make the poor citizens of the Gaza Strip even poorer. As relations between the people in the Gaza Strip and the Israelis plummets, the tunnel workers might find themselves smuggling in mass amounts of weapons, something that, in the hands of some extremists groups living in the Gaza Strip, will only result in more violence.
In fact, the only side that benefits from the blockade are the terrorist groups that are located within the Gaza Strip. Groups, such as Hamas, feed off the anti-Israeli sentiment, and it is the only way they are able to stay in power. The Israeli government put the blockades up for the sole purpose of keeping these groups from attacking Israel, yet, ironically, the blockade only give the groups more power over the Israelis.
Though they may not feel this way, Israel is indirectly funding Palestinian terrorism by keeping the blockades up. The Palestinians are still able to leave the Gaza Strip through tunnels; the blockades simply act as an obstacle. If Israel really wants to stop terrorism in the Gaza Strip, they should look to the Palestinian people. Instead of building walls and blocking the Palestinians away from Israeli society, they should spend some money in the poor areas where the Palestinians live, fixing up neighborhoods and improving the Palestinian quality of life. If the Palestinians did not live in such a state of poverty, terrorist groups such as Hamas would not be able to rouse up as much anti-Israeli sentiment as they are currently able to. Through helping the Palestinian people, the Israelis would be effectively limiting the power that terrorist organizations hold over them.