The Ghosts Of Gaza October 7, 2023 Steve Israel in the Hill — a compelling story. . . . I watched part of an operation that unilaterally dismantled Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s prime minister at the time, Ariel Sharon, and it’s Knesset, demanded no preconditions, negotiations, guarantees or assurances; no treaties, agreements, memoranda of understanding. The withdrawal from Gaza was based on slender hope and heavy prayer that if Israel returned the land, Palestinian leaders would turn it into a fit and stable place. The unilateral withdrawal was a searing process for Israel. I can’t think of another country in history that has sent in its own armies to forcibly evict its own people from disputed territory. Israel did. . . . The bet made by Israel failed. A failed state was born. . . . Immediately following Israel’s withdrawal, Palestinian crowds entered the settlements waving Hamas flags, firing gunshots into the air, ransacking homes, desecrating, looting, destroying a few remaining synagogues. Palestinian Authority security forces refused to intervene. The remaining settlements’ greenhouses, which would have been vital in agricultural developments, were looted. . . . On Sept. 23, 2005, Palestinian leaders launched their first barrage of rockets against Israel. It was clear that the land would not produce businesses, seaside hotels, abundant farms for Gazans, but rockets against Israel. The rockets fell then, as now, but they were primitive, like a drizzle before a storm. Worth reading in full (it’s not long) — as is my oft-suggested Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth. Give it to every-incredibly-well-meaning-but-misled college student you know!