Sach's Notes

Israel & Palestine - General Info

5 min read

Israel-Palestine

West Bank

West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord - Wikipedia

  • 3 administrative divisions, Areas A B and C

Areas A and B - “The enclaves”

  • 18% and 22% of the West Bank, respectively*
  • 165 non-contiguous enclaves
  • Area A is exclusively administered by the PNA
    • After the second intifada (2005), Israel said “Fuck it, we’re allowed to come in now”
  • Area B is administered by both PA and Israel

Area C - “Other”

  • 63% of the West Bank*
  • “Important”
  • Contiguous
  • Administered solely by Israel??
  • A lot of the natural resources of the West Bank are in here, but Israel has to approve all constructions
      • I know that doesn’t add up to 100%, I don’t understand either
  • John Kerry (US Secretary of State under Obama): Area C “is effectively restricted for any Palestinian development, and that few building permits had been granted to Palestinian residents of the area”
    • Secretary of state is analogous to a minister of foreign affairs
    • Israel decides on what can and cannot be developed within Area C, and they essentially veto anything Palestine and allow only Israeli stuff
  • Supposedly Area C was supposed to be handed to the Palestinians by the end of 1999. Look how that turned out

Why is the Rafta border (Egyptian/Palestinian) closed?

Reuters: Why is the Rafah border crossing important and when will it open?

  • Controlled by Egypt
  • Only non-Israeli land route
  • Egypt said “Israel bombardments made it inoperable”
  • Biden is pushing Egypt to get shit through
  • “Before the current violence erupted on Oct. 7, about 100 trucks carrying aid would enter each day, according to the United Nations.”
  • lmao Israel tells Gazans to move closer to border, no ulterior motivations there
  • Egypt has been restricting it ever since 2007 when Gaza came to power with the rise of Islamist insurgency
  • In 2008 Gaza blew up the border and tens of thousands of Gazans left, so Egypt built a proper concrete wall
  • Israel occupied Gaza from 1967-2005 I think?
  • Biden(US)/EU successfully got them to open the border up a little bit. Not lots though, they’re still running low on supplies

Terms

  • Kapo - a prisoner in a Nazi camp who was assigned by the SS to supervise forced labor
  • BDS - Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
    • Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments and economic sanctions against Israel
    • Formed in 2005, probably started in 2001 during Israel’s involvement in the South Africal apartheid

Miscellaneous Notes

  • Claims of babies being beheaded
    • lots of claims, I’m not seeing any evidence (Snopes)
    • Apparently some Israeli soldiers have said this, but no photos/videos
    • Blinken (US secretary of State) claims to have seen pictures of dead children, dead infants, charred bodies of children, beheaded soldiers
  • Apparently Netanyahu (Israel’s PM) might be losing power due to this conflict?
  • Funded by Iran (The Conversation, not the best source probably)
  • TODO: Why were the Israeli borders drawn that way?
  • PLO - Palestine Liberation Organization
    • Internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people
    • In 1993 they recognized Israeli sovereignty and now just want Gaza/West Bank statehood
      • Based on the Oslo I Accord, which was an attempt to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict
      • jfc “In a 2001 video, Netanyahu, reportedly unaware he was being recorded, said: “They asked me before the election if I’d honor [the Oslo accords]… I said I would, but [that] I’m going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the ‘67 borders. How did we do it? Nobody said what defined military zones were. Defined military zones are security zones; as far as I’m concerned, the entire Jordan Valley is a defined military zone. Go argue.” - Wikipedia
  • Shireen Abu Akleh
    • Prominent Palestinian-American journalist who worked as a reporter for Al Jazeera
    • Shot dead by an Israeli soldier while covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank
    • Wearing a blue press vest
    • Israel denied responsibility until the NYT and WaPo did their investigation
    • CNN found it was a “targeting Israeli killing”
    • During her funeral, Israeli police officers attacked pallbearers with batons and stun grenades
      • Saint Joseph Hospital in East Jerusalem
      • Attacked patients and staff too, big oof
    • tbf she was present in the middle of a raid, but I’m gonna trust NYW and WaPo on this one
  • “Roof knocking” / knock bombs
    • The general idea is Israel drops non-explosive or low-yield devices onto roofs as a warning of imminent bombing attacks
    • Usually gives them like 10-15 minutes to run
    • Apparently some civies climb up on their roofs as to say “We ain’t leaving”
      • NATO says Hamas makes them do it, but the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian say Hamas doesn’t
    • Some people are fairly saying it’s not effective/enough, but some people are saying it’s bullshit or it’s killing civilians
      • That’s stupid, even if a couple die it still seems like a net positive

TODO: