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Manipulating the Truth about Gaza

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker - In "American Jews Have Abandoned Gaza - and the Truth" (Forward, April 26, 2018), Peter Beinart manipulates and misrepresents what he claims is "the truth." The thousands of Palestinians who "risk their lives by running toward the Israeli snipers who guard the fence" do so not because Gaza is becoming uninhabitable and Israel is responsible for its plight, as he claims, but because the "protesters" are driven and incited by those who send them in a futile and symbolic act to "drive the Jews out of Palestine." To claim, as he does, that Israel is "denying Gaza's people the water, electricity, education, and food they need to live decent lives," is grossly inaccurate to the point of being a vicious lie. Israel provides water and electricity to Gaza despite the objections of Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority. As for education - the responsibility for education passed to the Palestinian Authority when the PLO entered into the Oslo Accords with Israel. As for food, over 500 trucks enter Gaza every day from Israel with flour, rice, and other foodstuffs. Israel limits only those products that could be used for the construction of offensive tunnels or the production of rockets and other weapons. The 1995 Interim Agreement (Oslo 2) stated: "There will be a security perimeter along the Delimiting Line inside the Gaza Strip...[and] the Palestinian Police will enforce special security measures aimed at preventing infiltrations across the Delimiting Line." Since the attempted breaching and infiltration through the fence are organized by Hamas and their police do not act to prevent the violence, Israel has the responsibility to protect its border from those Palestinians who are sent to attach explosive devices to the fence, lob grenades and explosives at Israel's soldiers, and attempt to dismantle the fence and infiltrate into Israel. The writer participated in the negotiation and drafting of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians and served as deputy director-general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2018-05-04 00:00:00
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