Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

Why Gaza Is In Rebellion
Monday, June 18, 2007

The NYT provides a helpful primer on the differences between Gaza and the West Bank and why the dispute is likely limited to Gaza. I rarely use the phrase "must read," but this article is superb.

A look at the history of these territories, how they developed differently over time, and what their populations still share, shows why they are at odds now but also why it might be too early to write off the possibility that this breach can be bridged.

They have always had distinct traits, culturally and geographically — the West Bank supporting a landlocked urban and agricultural society, Gaza facing the sea.

Those differences increased after the creation of Israel in 1948, when Gaza fell under the administration of Egypt and the West Bank was annexed by Jordan.

Egypt treated Gaza as a Palestinian enclave and encouraged a strong sense of Palestinian identity. Many Gazans who studied in Egypt during those years were influenced, in turn, by the Muslim Brotherhood, whose goal is to establish Islamic theocracies across the Arab world.

Back in Gaza, some of those men founded Hamas in 1987.

Jordan, on the other hand, suppressed Palestinian nationalism in favor of Jordanian identity and Palestinians in the West Bank were more influenced by the secular societies of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, where many went to study. Others traveled even further abroad, bringing back a liberal view of the world.

By the time the two territories came under Israeli occupation together after the 1967 war, they were very different places. Their separate legal and educational systems weren’t consolidated until after the Palestinian Authority was established in the mid-1990s.

And then this:

Gaza, which has suffered the most economically in the past few years, has become increasingly conservative and increasingly religious, largely due to the growing influence of Hamas.

Women in Gaza are more likely to be wear full Islamic dress and much less likely to work outside the home than their counterparts in the West Bank. Even in Gaza’s large garment factories, the vast majority of the workers sitting behind the sewing machines are men.

Gaza’s cultural life tends to center on the local mosque, and its small anemic economy consists almost entirely of small-scale businesses and jobs provided by the Palestinian Authority.

The West Bank, meanwhile, has a far richer economic life that includes industry, farming and a service sector. Its cities even have a few cinemas, art exhibitions, decent restaurants and a few night clubs.

Labels: Middle East

Posted by B Feiler at 7:15 AM
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