GOOD-BYE, GAZA

(continued from the cover)

Arabs. Jewish settlements in Gaza, including Elazar Cohen's town, Neve Dekalim, angered Palestinians. Many Palestinian groups claim that not only the Gaza Strip but all the land now occupied by Israel rightfully belongs to them, not the Jews. Jews and Arabs have fought over this land, which Arabs call Palestine, since the founding of Israel in 1948,

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the evacuation of all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip late last month to help ease tensions with the Palestinians. "[The withdrawal will] reduce animosity ... and advance us along the path of peace with the Palestinians," he said when he announced his plan last October. Despite Sharon's vision, many IsraeH settlers refused to leave, some claiming it was God's plan for them to live in the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers descended History of Hate on the settlements on August 17 to relo- The roots of the conflict between Jews cate the settlers. The removal took six and Arabs in the Middle East go back days. Some settlers were carried out of thousands of years. More than 3.000 years ago, Jews

their homes kicking and screaming. "The government is making a terrible mistake," Benny Eisner, a Jewish settler, told reporters. "Jews will retum here and build a holy state." The response was quite different, however, among Gaza's 1.4 million Palestinians. Many flooded into the streets to rejoice. Some shot bullets into the air in celebration. Others danced and sang, waving Palestinian flags in the air. "Let [the Jewish settlers] taste the bitterness," says Amona Aksham, a Palestinian. Aksham was forced to flee her home during fighting between Israel and its Arab neighbors. "No, I can't sympathize with them," she says. "They didn't sympathize with us."

Palestinian boys cheer after Morag, an Israeli settlement, was evacuated last month.

inhabited the region. The Romans took control of the land about 2,000 years ago and called it Palestine. Muslim Arabs conquered Palestine in A.D. 636. Over the following centuries, the land passed through a number of hands. Great Britain took control of the area at the end of World War I (1914^1918). Starting in the 1880s and continuing af^er World War II (1939-1945), Jews immigrated to Palestine, seeking to retum to the homeland of their ancestors. In 1947, the United Nations voted

Time Trip ^ Creation of Israel

Independent state, effective the next The creation of Israel was just asrackyas day. The new citizens proudly unfurled a the decades of fighting that have foilowed. fiag showing the Star of David, the ancient In November 1947, the United Nations symboi of the Jewish people and their General Assembly voted to partition biblical homeland (pictured below). British-controlled Palestine into two Officials from the United States and states; one for Jevi/s and one for Arabs. the Soviet Union both voiced support for The Jewish state took up more than half of the new nation. Palestine, including most Many Palestinians still of the region's coast. Jews solemnly remember that supported the U.N. pian, day,May15,asa/-A/a/f&a, but Arabs rejected it. or "the catastrophe." The Arabs argued that Soon after Israei's orebecause Paiestinian Arabs ation, armies from Egypt, made up the majority Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and of Palestine's population, Transjordan (now Jordan) they should retain more poured over the new than half of the area, if not all of it. country's borders, determined to reciaim Arab leaders vowed to oppose the iJ.N, the Palestinians' land. Bloody battles plan with violence. Voiunteer soldiers from ensued, but the newly formed israeli army neighboring Arab countries arrived to help repelied the Arab fighters. the Palestinian Arabs fight, but they were During the fighting, Israel seized control defeated by Jewish soldiers. By May 13, of half the land the United Nations 1948, the Jews had secured their U.N.- had given to the Arab Palestinians. aliotted share of Palestine. Egypt took control of the Ga2a Strip, and On May 14, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's Transjordan annexed the area now known first prime minister, proclaimed Israel an as the West Bank.

Israel and Arab nations fought again In 1956, 1967, and 1973. In 1967, Israei gained control of all of Jenjsalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Although Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, Israel and its other Arab neighbors are technically still at war.

History Quest
'ue. Quest features a mystery person , . Find the answer, and you could winl ^gift certificate to Amazon.com and be f entered to win a $100 grand prize in May! | This is one of Judaism's most! sacred spots. Built durinc] the ^ first century B.C. by Herod th! great, it is the only part of " ' Jerusalem's Second Temple ^^^^ JJiat still stands. Today, the )nument forms the eastern empte Mount, or Al-Hamm ^jomplex tfiat holds the Doin of the Rock. What is Wis monument called?
SeiKl your answpr imstiiuitlvtHl by September 30, tn Uiii'sl , 2m Fdsl Stainforii Pliice, PO Itox! ?m7.',. Sljinroni, CI Hfitt 0023. Be sure to tnckitte your name, sctmol mm. mi ^iditi iiS

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September 16. 2005