Ms Bond'Gaza has often been referred to as a huge open prison.'By you I know, but by whom else ?Gaza was once part of Israel in the sense that it came under Israeli control during the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israeli forces captured the territory from Egypt after being invaded by it.1) Before that, Gaza was under British colonial rule and later occupied by Egypt.2) In 2005, Israel withdrew its military and settlers from Gaza, leaving it to be governed by the Palestinian Authority.3) Thus, while Gaza is not currently part of Israel, it has a complex history of control and occupation by Israel.4) After Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, there was a period of turmoil followed by Hamas governance beginning in 2007.5) It was in January 2006 that the Palestinian territories held what turned out to be their last parliamentary elections. Hamas won a bare plurality of votes (44 percent to the more moderate Fatah party’s 41 percent) but, given the electoral system, a strong majority of seats (74 to 45). Neither party was keen on sharing power. Fighting broke out between the two. When a unity government was finally formed in June 2007, Hamas broke the deal, started murdering Fatah members, and, in the end, took total control of the Gaza Strip. Those who weren’t killed fled to the West Bank, and the territories have remained split ever since.6) 2006 was the last free election.Perhaps Gaza would be ruled by the Palestinians if Hamas put governance and societal development ahead of its declared objective to annihilate Israel and kill all Jews.'Israel restricts the movement of Palestinians within the Occupied Territories, between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, into Israel, and abroad'.Because of the stated attitudes and intentions of some Palestinians towards Israel this is not wholly unreasonable.None the less, there seem to be plenty of Palestinians in London if the turn out for their marches is any indicator
John Hawkes ● 51d