Life and Death in Gaza

History As It Happens

Before Gaza became synonymous with poverty and human misery, the area was a thriving commercial hub and a crossroads for the armies of empires. Before it became the much smaller Gaza Strip and a seedbed of Palestinian nationalism, it was home to 80,000 Arabs and of little interest to Zionists. But since the middle of the 20th century, Gaza's Arab inhabitants -- the great majority refugees from the violence that brought the independent state of Israel into being -- have been cut off from the greater region. In this episode, eminent historian Jean-Pierre Filiu explores the origins of today's war and its continuities with the past. By his count, there have been 15 wars between Israel and the Arabs of Gaza since 1948. Over the past 75 years, each time Israeli leaders have sought a solution to the problem of Gaza they failed to fulfill Palestinian national aspirations. The result was a cycle of violence spanning generations. Read Jean-Pierre Filiu's essay about Gaza in Foreign Affairs here.