(Washington Times) Clifford D. May - In 1967, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations launched what became known as the Six-Day War. Its aim was Israel's extermination. Its failure left Gaza and the West Bank in Israeli hands. In 2005, Israelis conducted a bold experiment. They withdrew every soldier, every farmer, every grave from Gaza. But Hamas waged and won a civil war against the PA. Since 2007, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has not dared set foot in Gaza. Turning Gaza into a Mediterranean Singapore was never on Hamas' to-do list. Hamas exists to fight Israel, firing missile salvos that ignited wars in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2021. Israelis try to limit the weapons that Hamas receives. Israel's enemies call that a "blockade" and pretend it's the cause - not the result - of Hamas' terrorism. But food, medicine, and other non-military goods move into Gaza daily from both Israel and Egypt. Although the Israelis gave Gaza to the Palestinians, the Israelis never took Gaza from the Palestinians. It was an Ottoman possession and then a British possession until those empires exited. In 1948, when the Arab states launched a war to drive the Jews into the sea, Egypt conquered Gaza. But it never attempted to transform the territory into a Palestinian state. The writer is founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
2021-10-28 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive