Gaza Then and Now

Gaza’s history, and evaporating support for Hamas there, suggests that integrating Gazans into mainstream Palestinian life would not be difficult. But it also suggests that maintaining the current siege would merely punish a peace-loving population while strengthening the grip of its worst elements on society and public life.

When the Gaza Strip was plunged into darkness last week as a result of the Israeli fuel blockade, many people around the world were surprised. But the optimism produced by the Annapolis peace process, which included President George W. Bush’s promise of an agreement in 2008 to create a Palestinian state, was clearly unrealistic.

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