Israel cannot shirk its responsibility

January 25, 2008


Israel cannot shirk its responsibility

Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai's suggestion that his country should relinquish all responsibility for the Gaza Strip, including the supply of electricity and water, seems to be a test of international receptiveness to such idea. It signals a yet another dramatic turn in the history of the Palestinian struggle that has seen so much unexpected developments in recent months.
Vilani's call follows the forced opening of Gaza's southern border with Egypt, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said he ordered his border security forces to allow Gazans to enter Egyptian territory so that they could get their essential supplies and thus partially offset Israel's total lockdown on the territory.
Essentially, Israel should be seeing the opening of the border as a blessing in disguise because it eases pressure on the Jewish state to allow basic supplies to enter the Gaza Strip and eventually lead to a total disconnection from the territory. That would mean a link between Egypt and the Gaza Strip — a return of sorts to the pre-1967 situation. Egypt wants no part of it, as its government made it clear on Thursday commenting on Vilani's suggestion.
It has never been a secret that Israel had always seen the Gaza Strip — whichit accupied in the 1967 war — as a burden for itself. The coastal strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and Palestinian resistance to Israel's occupation of the land has always been verry intense there, making it ungovernable for the occupation authorities. The former Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, was only grabbing the opportunity when he decided to withdraw the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip and remove the Jewish settlements built there since 1967.
No doubt, Israel will press ahead with moves to somehow disconnect itself completely from the Gaza Strip as soon as it assures itself that Palestinian based in the territory do not pose a threat. We would see the manifestations of the Israeli idea in the days and weeks ahead.
However, Israel cannot shirk its responsibility. Its occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank has been devastating for the Palestinians. The territories have seen very little development in any sector under Israel's occupation — except of course frustration-fuelled militancy contributing to strengthening Palestinian resistance. It has to be part and parcel of any solution to the problem it created. No one wants the Gazans to be dependent on Israel for anything, but the dependence is a reality now in view of Israel's territorial control of the area — it was not created by Egypt or the Palestinians —  and it is incumbent upon the Jewish state to bear the responsibilty for the Gaza Strip until an equitable solution is found.