The Palestinian population was terrorized by Haganah and other militias, and forcibly expelled in the first wave of ethnic cleansing that accompanied the formation of the Israeli state.
To the Conversation editorial team,Thank you for your interesting article, “Hamas is battling powerful clans.” The article provides important historical background to the recent violence between Hamas and other armed groups in the devastated Gaza strip, and explains how repeated Israeli attacks have purposefully undermined the rule of law and the exercise of coherent governance in the occupied territories.
Unfortunately, I thought the article also slipped into some of less thoughtful, conventional anti-Palestinian media framings. You mention that in 1948, “750,000 Palestinians fled Israel to the Gaza Strip, West bank and neighboring Arab states,” but fail to mention that this exodus was not voluntary or what the population was fleeing. The Palestinian population was terrorized by Haganah and other militias, and forcibly expelled in the first wave of ethnic cleansing that accompanied the formation of the Israeli state.
You also refer to the events of the last two years as a “war”, a term usually reserved for belligerent action between two armies. The United Nations and mainstream humanitarian organizations have been unanimous that the destruction of Gaza by the Israeli Defense Forces is in fact a genocide, decimating the population, and making the territory uninhabitable for the survivors.
Nonetheless, the article deals with the complexities of Gaza, sadly ignored in most mainstream media accounts.
Tim McCaskell
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