Will Gaza's Fate Become the West Bank's Future?
Episode description
Jehad Abusalim is executive director of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development and author of a recent article in "The New Arab" that looks at Gaza 16 years after Israel imposed its ongoing siege. He discusses Gaza today amid new concerns raised in the wake of the Israeli attack on Jenin in July that Israel may begin treating the West Bank as it does Gaza, subjecting it to increased closures and aerial bombardment. Abusalim notes that the international community is doing nothing to end the siege of Gaza, and that its promise to put pressure on Israel in exchange for the Palestinian Authority pursuing a policy of pacification in the West Bank has not been met. The PA has emphasized economic opportunity over political and civil rights for Palestinians, but Abusalim says the failure of the policy is increasingly evident to Palestinians, who see Israel confiscating more and more of their land.