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The 41st kilometer
By Amira Hass

A zoo. This is one of the ways that Palestinians describe the conditions under which nearly 1.5 million of them have been living: in an area of some 360 square kilometers, closed in on three sides by sophisticated barbed-wire fences, concrete walls and military lookout towers, and to the west by Israeli navy ships that seal them off from the sea. Overhead, in the sky, unmanned aircraft and hot air balloons continually photograph whatever happens inside this closed cage, which has seven gates connecting it to the world, all of which are sealed off almost hermetically.

During the past four months, Israel has permitted about 2,000 people to leave the Gaza Strip - a minority of them were ill; more than half were Fatah senior activists or loyalists who were fleeing from the Strip; and the rest were individuals holding dual citizenship or visas for prolonged stays abroad. For the sake of comparison: In 1999, 1,400 people a day went through the Rafah crossing point alone, in addition to the thousands who passed though the Erez crossing point, despite the permanent closure policy. Now, 1.5 million human beings are living with the knowledge that the length of their world is at most 41 kilometers long and 12 kilometers wide.

The comparison to a zoo was made by Dr. Mamdouh al Aker, a doctor who heads the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights. For another Gazan, a prominent businessman whose food plant is working at about 5 percent of its capacity, the situation is reminiscent of a hospital: Like patients, the inhabitants do not work, but they receive food. They do not work, because for four months Israel has prohibited not only the exit of any Gazan products to market, but also the entry of any raw materials or means of production. If the prices of goods continue to rise and the cash crisis worsens because of the severing of contact between banks in Israel and the banks in Gaza, the international aid organizations will soon increase the quantities of food that they donate, which today account for about 10 percent of the supplies that are brought in. Perhaps the day will come when they will drop food packages from helicopters.
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The governments of Israel, the United States and Europe see the hermetic imprisonment of 1.5 million human beings and the final destruction of Gaza's economic infrastructure as a suitable answer to Hamas, at least until it falls. It appears that the Ramallah "government" agrees with them. Indeed, the head of the Gazan "government," Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, has hinted that the exclusive Hamas regime in Gaza is temporary. But, this temporary nature depends on the success of a dialogue between Hamas and Fatah, whereas Israel and the United States are forbidding Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from carrying on such a dialogue. And Abbas, in any case, is for the moment sticking to the approach that Hamas is a hostile entity.

As always, the students who are not being allowed to leave are a minority whose imprisonment reflects the extent of the destruction inflicted upon the Palestinian future. For years now Israel has been preventing Gazans from studying in the West Bank. As a consequence, those who want to undertake advanced studies at the university level must go abroad. Take, for example, 10 outstanding students who have received scholarships for master's and doctoral studies in Germany. Take another several hundred students who are already studying abroad and got stuck in the Gaza Strip over the summer, and others who registered for studies abroad this year. The essential future contribution by all of these students to their community is ensured. But if they do not leave the Gaza Strip today, right now, some of them will lose their scholarships, others the first semester of the school year and still others the entire year. Thousands of other young people have simply given up on their aspiration to study abroad because of the closed-gates policy. And when they do not receive the opportunity to get to know the world, the world according to Hamas and the religious horizons that it offers are the most persuasive.

Since 1991, Israel has been using the partial or total imprisonment of the Gazans in their cage, for longer or shorter periods, as a political strategy: Sometimes it is depicted as punishment, sometimes as a deterrent action and always as a preface to a political plan. Until not long ago, it seemed as though the terms of imprisonment could not be any worse. The past four months have proven that there is always "worse."
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  1.   Dear Amira : keep on the good work 09:25  |  Sam (UK) 15/10/07
  2.   A ZOO??? 09:34  |  Jack 15/10/07
  3.   Gaza = Warsaw Ghetto 09:39  |  Natallie Durson 15/10/07
  4.   Haza Zoo 09:50  |  Ralph 15/10/07
  5.   These "people" in that zoo were animals long before Israel came 09:58  |  GrossedOut 15/10/07
  6.   Amira, you never cease to amaze me 10:07  |  Nechama 15/10/07
  7.   IT IS A ZOO : AND THE ANIMALS ARE RUNNING IT 10:26  |  I.N.Vertebrate 15/10/07
  8.   A tendentious article! 10:26  |  S 15/10/07
  9.   Oh brother. What nonsense. 10:33  |  SDHD 15/10/07
  10.   Amira & her zoo 10:34  |  Linette H 15/10/07
  11.   Thanks Amira 10:35  |  Truely yours 15/10/07
  12.   prior to intifada gazans worked in israel in large numbers 10:35  |  victor hardman 15/10/07
  13.   #1-Leon, is that you?? 10:38  |  nina 15/10/07
  14.   The Palestinian bandits turned Gaza into zoo 10:47  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 15/10/07
  15.   # 11 The Zoo of Amira 10:58  |  Emanuel C 15/10/07
  16.   # 8 Vertebrate 11:02  |  Roxana from Iran 15/10/07
  17.   12# Truley yours : all u have to do 11:08  |  Sam (UK) 15/10/07
  18.   Truely yours 11:10  |  Big 15/10/07
  19.   #3 Joe and #6 11:10  |  bill 15/10/07
  20.   Natalie Durson #4 - great post and unfortunately too true 11:25  |  dana 15/10/07
  21.   Oiy, oiy, oiy, don`t INSULT ANIMALS! 11:32  |  mary for jews 15/10/07
  22.   Nataly Durson: still off her rocker 11:38  |  Star of David 15/10/07
  23.   CORRECTION: Hamas has turned Gaza into a zoo 11:42  |  charles soper 15/10/07
  24.   For Big #19 11:45  |  Small 15/10/07
  25.   arabist apologists and neo-revisionism 11:55  |  peter 15/10/07
  26.   SORRY AMIRA HASS it was a MISTAKE 11:55  |  Gil 15/10/07
  27.   Gaza zoo developed economically under Israel 11:56  |  Shlomo 15/10/07
  28.   Israel shining star ! but for whom 12:00  |  Refugee 15/10/07
  29.   Israeli Degenerates 12:04  |  Walid 15/10/07
  30.   Your thinking is a zoo. 12:09  |  Henry 15/10/07
  31.   Star of David 12:19  |  Walid 15/10/07
  32.   Zoo profile: pals as pooches? 12:23  |  Star of David 15/10/07
  33.   Time to throw the book at those sick Israelis... 12:26  |  Dutch 15/10/07
  34.   S 12:32  |  Walid 15/10/07
  35.   Durston you are 12:33  |  Nerys 15/10/07
  36.   Israelis are the barbarians at the gate today.. 12:36  |  Dutch 15/10/07
  37.   Dana 12:37  |  Walid 15/10/07
  38.   so is it a zoo or a prison? 12:42  |  matt 15/10/07
  39.   For Walid 12:46  |  Star of David 15/10/07
  40.   WRONG ZOOS ARE SAFE TO VISIT. IN GAZA THE ANIMALS EAT JEWIS FLESH 12:49  |  Mitch Iginer 15/10/07
  41.   planet of the Apes 12:51  |  Jo Jo 15/10/07
  42.   3 walls a prison doesn`t make 12:52  |  Ilan 15/10/07
  43.   For Walid again: re `S` and fence sitting 12:54  |  Star of David 15/10/07
  44.   AMIRA HASS and Palestinian Education 13:02  |  Gil 15/10/07
  45.   amira is a parody of herself 13:15  |  bob 15/10/07
  46.   Open Border With Enemy State? Sheer Idiocy 13:17  |  dyinglikeflies 15/10/07
  47.   Animal Farm: A Fairy Story 13:25  |  George Orwell 15/10/07
  48.   Walid 38 13:27  |  Nerys 15/10/07
  49.   the warsaw ghetto.... the right comparison 13:31  |  ravi 15/10/07
  50.   Walid 13:35  |  Nerys 15/10/07
  51.   I`d compare Gaza with Darfur 13:48  |  Chris Linthwaite 15/10/07
  52.   Dutch is the idiot at the gate today 13:52  |  Hastaroth 15/10/07
  53.   Zookeepers take care of their animals 13:52  |  Donald 15/10/07
  54.   Star of David 13:54  |  Walid 15/10/07
  55.   Shame on Israelis 13:57  |  Walid 15/10/07
  56.   Enough with the "Warsaw Ghetto" crap 14:03  |  Hastaroth 15/10/07
  57.   Taming the zoo 14:04  |  Leo 15/10/07
  58.   FYI Roxana from Iran 14:05  |  Nechama 15/10/07
  59.   45 Amira, Pay little attention to bullying mindset of Gil 14:07  |  Dutch 15/10/07
  60.   to Big 14:07  |  nina 15/10/07
  61.   Hamas says it will destroy Israel if Israel lets them get weapons 14:14  |  Yitzhak 15/10/07
  62.   Walid 14:14  |  S 15/10/07
  63.   #37 Dutch 14:14  |  Chris 15/10/07
  64.   You wanted "Disengagement" You Got it!! 14:16  |  Yaakov Ish Tam 15/10/07
  65.   Walid in Beirut 14:16  |  Nechama 15/10/07
  66.   The Warsaw ghetto -- a poor comparison indeed 14:17  |  bbl 15/10/07
  67.   No zoo and no ghetto 14:18  |  Esther 15/10/07
  68.   Star of David in Perth: Bravo! 14:18  |  Nechama 15/10/07
  69.   Taming the (Israeli) zoo (II) 14:19  |  Leo 15/10/07
  70.   Taming the (Israeli) zoo (III) 14:22  |  Leo 15/10/07
  71.   Gil in Haifa #45 14:22  |  Nechama 15/10/07
  72.   The Zoo 14:24  |  Eric 15/10/07
  73.   Chris Linthwaite 14:26  |  Nechama 15/10/07
  74.   Amira: they did it all by themselves! 14:26  |  Hard Talk 15/10/07
  75.   Walid in Beirut 14:28  |  Nechama 15/10/07
  76.   Dutch: spreading lies again! 14:32  |  Nechama 15/10/07
  77.   Gaza is Jewish version of CONCENTRATION CAMP 14:32  |  Joe 15/10/07
  78.   Hastaroth 14:37  |  Walid 15/10/07
  79.   Walid in Beirut 14:38  |  Star of David 15/10/07
  80.   Nechama: It is time for supporters of 14:41  |  Star of David 15/10/07
  81.   The utter disgrace of the Jews of Israel 14:43  |  Clickfool