Gaza, the Hell on Earth

Ahmed Abu Muatak with his wife, Miyasar Abu Muatak and four children were living in Gaza City during the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2008. One fateful day, Ahmed’s life changed forever. While on his way to a nearby market, he hears an explosion. Being startled, he rushes back to see if there is any damage to his house. The missile that exploded has destroyed his house. His wife and children, who were inside the house, are killed. A husband has lost his wife and a father has lost his children.

An inconsolable Ahmed told, “It was my house, and I knew that everyone was inside, no one had escaped. What a black day, they have killed my family”. The grief in Ahmed’s heart is unexplainable, but he is not the only one suffering because of this ongoing conflict that started decades ago.

Gaza Strip is a region that is 40km long and 10km wide, along the Mediterranean Sea.The Palestinian National Authority claims it to be a part of Palestinian territories. The international community does not recognize it being part of any country. It borders Israel on south and east and Egypt on south-west. Gaza City, with a population of around 410,000, is the largest city in Gaza Strip. The region has one of the oldest known remains of a man-made bonfire and also some of the world’s oldest human skeletons.

The conflict has its roots in the contradictory views expressed by the Jews in Israel and the Palestinians. The land between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan is claimed by both the groups, as part of theirs. The religious significance of this land is what makes the two groups to wage war against each other, to acquire this land.

In 1964, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded with the aim of liberating Palestine through armed struggle. They insisted on a two-state solution, where both Israel and Palestine live side by side subject to certain terms such as making East Jerusalem the capital of Palestinian state and granting Palestinians the right to return.

During the 1968 Six-Day War, Israel captured Gaza Strip from Egypt, West Bank from Jordan and also captured East Jerusalem and integrated it with its western neighbourhood.

After Yasser Arafat, the PLO chairman, recognized the State of Israel in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin in 1993. Consecutively, Israel recognized PLO as the legitimate representative of Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced a disengagement plan in 2003. According to this plan Israel was to remove all its civilian and military presence in the Gaza Strip. The plan was implemented in 2005.

In 2006, The Palestinian parliamentary elections were held that resulted in a Hamas victory-Hamas is an Islamic Palestinian political and social organization-This led to a fierce fighting between Hamas and Fatah. Founded by Yasser Arafat, Fatah is the political party and the largest faction of PLO, which was governing Gaza before the Hamas victory. Although Hamas is considered to be a terrorist outfit by Israel, the US and the EU, Fatah is not considered to be a terror organization by any country.

Hamas gained control of Gaza in 2007. Israel immediately reacted with an economic blockade on Gaza and this provoked Hamas to fire rockets into Israel to remove the blockade.

The conflict escalated with Israel invading Gaza after the end of the six-month ceasefire in December 2008. As always there were many human casualties, altogether about 1314 Palestinians were killed, including 410 children. A ceasefire has been achieved in January 2009 with Ehud Olmert’s Israeli government and Palestinian factions agreeing to stop firing at each other.

The consequences of this conflict between Israel and Palestine have affected many innocent civilians like Ahmed. The violence in this region will continue to claim lives as far as a satisfactory solution is developed. Until then bloodsheds will continue, creating many more Ahmeds.

Check out the dreadful images of this crisis:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7837155.stm

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