Soccer Dad

Tough life in gaza

Steven Erlanger catalogues the problems of life in Gaza in today's Week in Review.

Hopes were high in 2005, when Israel unilaterally withdrew its troops and 9,000 Jewish settlers, and the international community lined up to help the Palestinians make Gaza a model for their potential state.

But happy endings are rare in this part of the world. In the last year, life in Gaza has been plagued by criminal gangs as well as fighting among Palestinian groups. Some rocket barrages aimed at Israel fall on Gaza itself, and Israeli retaliation for the rest ranges from military strikes to economic quarantine.

Erlanger finds fault with Israel for retaliating against the rockets, but he fails to provide any context for Israel's retaliation. When thousands of Israeli citizens flee from a nearby city, that would seem to be ample reason for Israel to strike back militarily at Gaza.

The people of Gaza elected Hamas. Hamas has been more interested in providing guns than butter. If Sderot wasn't a regular recipient of rocket fire, would Israel retaliate or declare Gaza a "hostile entity?" That's the context that missing from Erlanger's article.

And he doesn't mention the press restrictions either. One could reasonably ask if his report was approved by Hamas.

UPDATE: More via memeorandum.

Crossposted at Yourish.

gaza, hamas.