Background

The state of Israel, a product of European Jewish colo-nialism, came into existence through the 1947-49 war.

It was created on 78% of the land previously calledPalestine, which had been populated by (10%) Christian,(4%) Jewish, and (86%) MuslimArabs living in peace. Three-quarters of a million PalestinianArabs were violently pushed outin order to create this Jewishstate. Israel has never allowedthem to return to their homesbecause they are not Jewish.

In 1967, Israel launched awar against its neighbors. Duringthis war it conquered the rest ofPalestine – the West Bank andthe Gaza Strip, which remainunder military occupation to thisday. These Palestinians liveunder Israeli rule, but have no voice in the Israeli govern-ment, causing many to term this an Apartheid-like occupa-tion. Israel has stolen great swaths of Palestinian land andbuilt housing for Israeli Jews, called settlements, in whichPalestinians and other non-Jews are not allowed to live.Over 1 million Gazans and 750,000 Palestinians in theWest Bank are refugees from 1948 or their descendents.

The ongoing brutal occupation (including 5,200 prison-ers in Israeli prisons – many of whom have never even beencharged with a crime), and Israel’s denial of the right of thePalestinian refugees to return to their homes are the funda-mental reasons this conflict continues.

Gaza: An Open-Air Prison

During the summer of 2005, Israel“disengaged” from the Gaza Strip,

claiming to finally be ending its occupa-tion of this land. It dismantled its settle-ments, resettling the inhabitants inIsrael and the West Bank (where settle-ments continue to expand).

In reality, though, Israel’s occupationof Gaza did not end. Instead, Gazabecame a huge open-air prison, withIsrael controlling all exits and entrances,its air space, and its sea ports. As rou-tinely decried by aid agencies, Israel does not allow the food,medicine, and other essential supplies needed by the popu-lation of Gaza to prevent a humanitarian disaster. It also rou-tinely prevents patients in desperate need of medical careoutside of Gaza to leave, leading to numerous deaths.

Hamas and the Siege on Gaza

In 2006, in what was universally hailed as a free, democraticelection, members of Hamas, a Palestinian political party with a

militant wing, were elected to a majority of the seats in thePalestinian legislature and a unity government was formed. Israel

was not happy with this result andworked to undermine it. Westernpowers declared a boycott of thePalestinian Authority as long asHamas was included in the govern-ment. In 2007, this pressure causedthe government to splinter, withHamas in charge in Gaza, and Fatah(the party that had been in power fordecades) in control in the West Bank.

Israel, the United States, andother western powers resumednormal relations with the Fatahgovernment, while continuingtheir boycott of Hamas. Life in

Gaza became even more difficult, as the entire populationstood on the verge of a wide-scale man-made disaster.

Imbalance of Power and Loss of Life

During this time, Israel continued to invade Gaza, killingover 713 Gazans in 2007 and 2008 (prior to the launch

of their major assault on Dec 27, 2008). Resistance groupsin Gaza attempted to resist these attacks, killing 8 of theinvading soldiers. Some Palestinian fighters also launchedrockets. Often described as a significant threat to Israeli

security, most of these rockets are small,homemade projectiles that normally kill noone and only rarely cause damage. Since2001 these have killed a total of 44 Israelis.Most often these rockets are aimed at theIsraeli town of Sderot, which was createdon the lands of the Palestinian town Najdthat had been ethnically cleansed in 1948.

Israeli forces, on the other hand, are thefourth strongest military on earth and areequipped with massive, modern weaponry,much of it supplied by American taxpayers:F-16s, helicopter gunships, tanks, armoredvehicles, etc. In the past 14 years they havekilled at least 9,100 Palestinians.

While Israeli violence is often describedas retaliatory, the fact is that in every cycle of violencePalestinians are killed first and in far greater numbers. In theuprising that began in fall of 2000, 140 Palestinians were killedbefore a single Israeli was killed inside Israel; 82 Palestinianchildren were killed before a single Israeli child was killed.

Understanding the Crisis in GazaImportant Facts and Context

Israelis & Palestinians Killed bythe Other in Summer Assault

7/8/14 - 8/26/14

Gaza Massacre: Dec 27, 2008 – Jan 18, 2009

On June 19, 2008 a 6-month truce went into effect betweenIsrael and fighters in Gaza. The terms of the truce were

that Israel stop all invasions into Gaza, reduce its blockade onGaza, and that Palestinians stop all rocket attacks on Israel.

Israel never fulfilled its obligation to ease the siege ofGaza, which had created, according to numerous relief organ-izations, “catastrophic” humanitarian conditions. Christian Aidstated that Israel must stop using food andmedicine as weapons against Gaza's 1.5million men, women, and children (over 1million of whom are refugees from 1948).Five months later, on November 4th, thetruce ended when Israel invaded Gaza,killing 6 Palestinians. Only after this didHamas resume rocket fire.

On December 27th, Israel began apremeditated air, land, and sea assaulton Gaza that reduced large areas to rub-ble. Like shooting fish in an over-crowdedbarrel, in three weeks Israeli forces killed1,417 Palestinians – 313 of them children– and injured 5,303. Palestinians killed 9Israelis during this time. Israeli strikesdamaged and destroyed huge numbers of homes, causinga third of all Gazans to be displaced at some point duringthe assault. According to the WHO, “Vital infrastructure hasbeen compromised or destroyed, resulting in a lack of shel-ter and energy sources, deterioration of water and sanita-tion services, food insecurity and overcrowding.”

After ignoring calls for a ceasefire for 3 weeks, Israelfinally declared what it called a “unilateral ceasefire” onJanuary 18th. Palestinian factions called a ceasefire aswell a few hours later.

Subsequent Ceasefire Violations

It was widely reported by the media that this ceasefire wasfirst breached by Palestinians on January 27th. In reality,

however, Israel had already violated theceasefire at least seven times, includingkilling two farmers – the first only a fewhours after the ceasefire went into effect– and shooting a child.

A study conducted of all the cease-fires, truces, and periods of calm during2000-2008 concluded:

“…a systematic pattern does exist: itis overwhelmingly Israel, not Palestine,that kills first following a lull. Indeed, it isvirtually always Israel that kills first after alull lasting more than a week.”

Americans are Involved: We Can Help

American taxpayers give Israel $8.5 million per day – farmore than to all the starving countries of Africa put

together. Americans are therefore considered by much of theworld as responsible for Israeli violations of human rights,creating escalating enmity toward our country. It is time thatAmericans demand an end to this misuse of our taxes.

Israelis & Palestinians Killed bythe Other in 2009 Assault

7/8/14 - 8/26/14

Important StatisticsMost Recent Uprising - Current Assault (Sep 29, 2000 - Dec 31, 2014)

Palestinians Killed by Israelis: 9,126Israelis Killed by Palestinians: 1,195Palestinians killed by Israelis on Palestinian land: 98.9%Israelis killed by Palestinians on Israeli land: 54.5%Palestinian Children Killed by Israelis: 2,060Israeli Children Killed by Palestinians: 133

Recent 5-Week Assault on Gaza (July 8, 2014 - August 26, 2014)Palestinian Children Killed by Israelis: 527Israeli Children Killed by Palestinians: 1Gazans displaced at some point during conflict: approx. 520,000Gazans still displaced a month after ceasefire: approx. 108,000

Additional Statistics1948 refugees residing in the West Bank: at least 754,4111948 refugees residing in the Gaza Strip: at least 1,240,082Total Palestinian refugees worldwide: more than 7,000,000Palestinians held prisoner by Israel: approximately 5,200Israelis held prisoner by Palestinians: 0Palestinian children held prisoner by Israel: 196Israeli children held prisoner by Palestinians: 0Conflict pauses of a week or more broken by Palestinians: 4%Conflict pauses of a week or more broken by Israelis: 96%Size of Gaza: 139 sq miSize of West Bank: 3,462 sq miSize of Israel (within pre-1967 borders): 12,906 sq mi

Recent violence: Jan 1 - December 31 2014

From January 1 through June 11, Israeli forceskilled 30 Palestinians, including 4 children, andabducted and detained 2,330 Palestinians,roughly 10% of them children. On June 12, threeIsraeli settlers were abducted from the WestBank. Although Israeli officials were aware thatthe settlers had also been killed, they immediate-ly intitiated a “search campaign” to “find” the set-tlers while publicly blaming Hamas for theirabduction. In the weeks that followed, Israeliforces killed ten Palestinians, kidnapped hun-dreds (including children), and injured thousands.

At this time, Israel also began launching air raidson the Gaza Strip. Israel deliberately destroyedthe homes of three families and killed twoPalestinians (one of whom was 10 years old)before a single Hamas rocket was launchedback.

From July 8 to August 26 during an assault thatIsrael titled “Operation Protective Edge,” Israeliforces killed 2,191 Palestinians in Gaza, 76% ofthem civilians and 24% of them children. Over108,000 were made homeless. Conversely, 71Israelis were killed during the same period, 9% ofthem civilians and one of them a child.

Learn More: IfAmericansKnew.org