THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 194, September 3, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
GAZA: HOW IT ALL GOT STARTED
By Asaf Romirowsky
THE ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL FROM THE GAZA STRIP: THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE 1967 SIX DAY WAR THAT ISRAEL HAS
SURRENDERED TERRITORIES CLAIMED BY PALESTINIANS AS PART OF THEIR FUTURE STATE -- UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:
WILL HAMAS & THE ISLAMISTS TAKE CONTROL OF GAZA, OR WILL PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS
MANAGE TO ESTABLISH & MAINTAIN THE RULE OF LAW? -- THE BIGGER QUESTION: HOW DOES DISENGAGEMENT FROM
GAZA AFFECT THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE STATE OF ISRAEL & THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
FULL STORY:
The Gaza withdrawal marks the first time since the 1967 Six Day War that Israel has surrendered territories claimed by Palestinians as
part of their future state, but there are still many unanswered questions. Will Hamas take control of Gaza, or will Abbas manage to
instill a rule of law? These are the two big unknowns. However, the bigger question is how does disengagement from Gaza affect the
U.S.-Israeli alliance?
The Jewish settlements in Gaza and the West Bank have always been a source of tension between America and Israel ever since
Israel gained control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in aftermath of the Six Day War in 1967. The ties between the two
countries have become tighter over the years, especially since 9-11. As Victor Davis Hanson comments, "in a world that is almost
uniformly opposed to the democratic Jewish state, Israel has no better friend than Bush." [1]
The other side of the coin is that those who think that the relationship is too tight will try to compromise the friendship, as
Congressman John Bryant from Dallas, Texas, suggested in 1991, by withholding aid from Israel unless she froze all construction
in the settlements. All this was done in order to promote his bill, where Bryant claimed he wanted, "to protect the people of Israel
from the extreme policies of the Likud government." [2]
Interestingly enough, one can tell how a U.S. presidential administration felt about the settlements through consideration of the
language it used to describe them.
The Johnson administration referred to settlements as "civilian or quasi-civilian outposts in the occupied areas."
The Nixon administration referred to settlements as an "occupied area."
The Ford administration referred to settlements as "occupied territories."
The Carter administration referred to settlements as "settlements."
The Reagan administration referred to settlements as "settlements."
The George H.W. Bush administration referred to settlements as an "occupying power in the occupied territories, which includes the
West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights."
The Clinton administration referred to settlements as "settlements."
The George W. Bush administration referred to settlements as "settlements."
When the phrase settlement is used it connotes an acceptance, not always an agreement, that the Israeli government has the right to
act any way it sees fit to protect the safety and security of Israeli citizens. As Nadav Safran explains, "[Israel developed] the
hedgehog-settlement system, intended to provide Israel with some ‘strategic depth' to compensate for the lack of territorial depth." [3]
The other phrases translated into the post-1967 era, where America and the world came to terms with Israel as a true military force.
Lyndon Johnson's 1968 agreement to sell Phantom jets to Israel illustrated this change.
And in late 1967, then Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol created the foundation for Israeli-Jewish settlements to form a Jewish buffer
zone on Israel's southwestern border. This was followed by the government's initial decision to establish settlements in Gaza in June
of 1970; and, in 1972, Israel created two army posts which later became Netzarim and Kfar Darom, the two settlements that Ariel
Sharon thought would be in Israeli hands "forever." [4]
Though the U.S.A. might not always agree with Israel's actions, the alliance between the two countries is deep and broad as well as
varied, from social and economic ties to defense ties. These serve as the building blocks for the continuing friendship. And even now,
when Israel undergoes a monumental change that is affecting the very fabric of Israeli society, the ties must be secured. Moreover,
the terror threat is still on the table and it is not going away because Israel is disengaging from the Gaza Strip. We must make sure that
the residents of Gaza who are now sacrificing their homes are not doing so in vain. And those Palestinians who are celebrating are not
expressing the same type of joy they expressed when the towers fell on 9-11. What makes the current Bush administration standout
more than former American administrations is Bush's policies towards the Middle East, from overthrowing Saddam Hussein to the
fight against radical Islam. This is what convinced Sharon that he has a true friend in the U.S. White House. That said, now we must
bolster support to prevent Gaza from becoming a training camp for Islamists.
NOTES:
[1] http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson031805.html.
[2] http://www.meforum.org/article/349.
[3] Safran, Nadav. Israel the Embattled Ally, Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1978, p. 236.
[4] http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/612943.html.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Israeli-Arab Conflict
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- Radical Islam & Islamic Terrorism
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Asaf Romirowsky is a Campus Watch Associate Fellow for the Middle East Forum and the Israel Affairs Associate for the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
The foregoing article by Asaf Romirowsky was originally published in Front Page Magazine (FrontPageMagazine.Com),
August 26, 2005, and can be found on the Internet website maintained by the
Middle East Forum.
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
August 29, 2005
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