[Nakba Week] IPSC Pamphlet Launch: 'Gaza - A Background to the Conflict' by Daniel Finn

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Monday April 19, 2010 14:43 by Freda H & Kev - IPSC info at ipsc dot ie

Invitation to the Launch of the new IPSC Pamphlet
Gaza: A Background to the Conflict by Daniel Finn
Thursday 13th May, 6pm,
Connolly Books, 43 East Essex Street, Dublin 2

Gaza - A Background to the Conflict' by Daniel Finn

Gaza: A Background to the Conflict is a short pamphlet which provides a detailed account of the events that took place in Gaza between Israel's so called "disengagement" in August 2005 and the end of the Israeli massacre dubbed "Operation Cast Lead", which left over 1,400 Palestinians dead and Gaza in ruins.

As part of the IPSC Nakba Week 2010 activities, in an evening chaired by Dr. David Landy, author Daniel Finn will discuss his new pamphlet, which is a must read for anyone wanting to know the real facts about why Israel launched it's devastating offensive on the tiny coastal region which is home to over 1.5 million Palestinians. Cheese, wine and savoury snacks will be provided at the event which promises to be a relaxing and informative evening.

Copies of the pamphlet will be available on the night for €2 and the author will be happy to sign them. After the launch, (unsigned) copies will be available for purchase on the IPSC website.

About the author

Dan Finn is an award winning journalist and PhD History candidate. He holds the post of Political Officer with the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. He is a former Education Officer with the Debt and Development Coalition in Ireland. He also writes on Latin American politics and Irish radical history. His articles have appeared in a variety of print and web publications including the London Review of Books, Monthly Review and Irish Left Review, and he is a frequent contributor to Resistance - the Irish Socialist Network magazine.

Introduction to the Pamphlet

The world was shocked by the brutality of the Israeli attack on Gaza at the beginning of 2009.

For three weeks, one of the most densely populated urban areas to be found anywhere on the planet was bombarded with rockets, missiles, artillery shells and white phosphorus. Tanks and armed personal carriers ploughed their way through residential areas. Schools and hospitals were attacked. Women and children came under fire while sheltering in UN buildings. By the time Israel began withdrawing its troops from Gaza, over 1,300 people were dead – the vast majority of them civilians.

Israeli newspapers and human rights agencies have collected testimony from soldiers who took part in the operation, confirming that civilians were deliberately targeted as a matter of course.

To justify the attack on Gaza, the Israeli government put forward a simple narrative, which goes as follows: In 2005, Israel took a bold and courageous decision to withdraw its troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip. It hoped that by doing so, it would begin a process leading to the formation of an independent Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank, co-existing peacefully with the Israeli people. If things went according to plan, the Gaza pull-out would be followed by more Israeli withdrawals from Palestinian territory.

But Israel’s generosity was not reciprocated. The Palestinian people voted for a fanatical terrorist organisation, Hamas, bent on destroying Israel. Hamas ignored the reasonable demands of the international community that it renounce terrorism and recognise Israel’s right to exist, and proceeded to seize power in Gaza, using the territory as a base to launch rocket attacks on Israeli towns. The actions taken by Israel in response were a tragic necessity: while the Israeli government deplored the loss of innocent lives, Hamas makes such casualties inevitable by using Palestinian civilians as ‘human shields’.

This narrative has often been accepted even by those who have protested against the behaviour of the Israeli army: when they charge Israel with “disproportionate” use of force, they implicitly accept that its actions are a response to Palestinian misdeeds. In fact, the Israeli version of events is pure fiction.

Israel never granted real autonomy to the people of Gaza. It never had any intention of following the much-trumpeted Gaza withdrawal with similar moves to vacate the West Bank. The demands made of the Hamas-led government by Israel and its allies were outrageously one-sided and unjust. Violence directed against Gazan civilians from inside Israel has been vastly greater than the violence directed against Israeli civilians from inside Gaza.

This pamphlet provides an accurate version of events since 2005 and describes the path that led to the Gaza massacre last year.

Daniel Finn, March 2010