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Withdrawal
from Gaza Won't End the Occupation
Lama Hourani
Charlotte Observer (08/13/05)
AlterNet (08/15/05)
Gaza City -- "I'll go visit Auntie
Lina in Ramallah after I obtain a tasreeh (an Israeli
permit) and when Erez checkpoint is open, OK mama?"
This is what my son, who is almost three years old, told me the
other day after having a chat with his cousin Laila who lives in
Ramallah, in the West Bank. The problem is that during the last
five years I have received permission to go to the West Bank only
four or five times. Although I have a West Bank identity card from
Nablus, I live and work with my husband and son in Gaza City. My
son already knows the world: tasreeh , tukh (shoot)
and Erez checkpoint is closed.
But
now, as implementation of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's
Gaza disengagement plan approaches, I fear that Gaza will become
even more of a prison than it is already. While some may think of
disengagement as setting Gaza free, in reality there is to be no
sovereignty for Gazans. This is not a "withdrawal" from
Palestinian land – but actually a redeployment of forces. Israel
will still control the sea, air and borders while reserving the
right to invade. The only thing the government is relinquishing
direct control over is the people. This is not the end of the occupation.
Of
course we are happy to see Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers
leave Gaza, but no Palestinian believes Israel is going to now turn
to the "road map" sponsored by the US, EU, Russia and
the UN to negotiate a final status agreement. We are having trouble
even imagining an independent state these days as the
Israeli "security barrier" marches through West Bank Palestinian
villages and Jerusalem itself. Hundreds of checkpoints and road
blocks tightly constrict our movements within the West Bank and
Gaza. Land is still being confiscated for the wall, settlements
and settler-only roads, eroding any hope of a viable contiguous
state. The legitimate need for Israeli security cannot justify these
practices.
Our
internal problems are not helped either by this unilateral redeployment,
disconnected as it is from a strong, hopeful peace process. The
chaos from the power struggle between Hamas and the Palestinian
Authority hurts us all, Israelis and Palestinians. The easiest way
to deflate Hamas is to truly end the occupation. This can be achieved
by implementing UN resolutions leading to a Palestinian state on
the land occupied in 1967 including East Jerusalem with a just solution
for the refugee problem.
People
who voted for Hamas in recent municipal elections did not vote for
their political program but against the corruption and mismanagement
of the PA. Our presidential elections in January demonstrated that
about 80% of Palestinians support leaders who back peaceful solutions
and negotiations. We want the PA to move forward with steps to improve
our laws, security and governance.
As I raise my young son I teach him
about Israelis, that they are people like us. I teach him that we
must reach out and connect. But all my words and the example of
my friendships with Israelis evaporate when he sees neighbors denied
access to the hospital due to Israeli curfews and his school damaged
by Israeli missiles.
Despite
our feeling that redeployment is meant to divide Gazans from West
Bankers – who knows how we will visit and work with each other after
August 17 – we continue to hold on to our common identity as Palestinians.
Our unity is strong – this is not fanaticism or some anti-Israel
sentiment, it's just who we are.
Despite the hardships of the occupation,
Palestinians do recognize the Israeli state. Even refugees from
what is now Israel accept that they would become Israeli citizens
if allowed to return. Why can't Israel accept our equally valid
right to a state of our own?
--
Lama Hourani is Gaza Branch Coordinator of one of the first Palestinian
NGOs, the Palestinian Working Women
Society for Development, which advocates for women's rights
as equal citizens, especially in the areas of election, labor and
family law. 
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