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Gaza Strip[[Image:Gz-map.png|right|framed|Map of the Gaza Strip from The World Factbook.]] The Gaza Strip is a narrow strip of land just northeast of the Sinai Peninsula. At the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War it was occupied by the Egyptians, under which it remained until it was claimed by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. The Gaza Strip is unusual in being a densely settled area not recognized as a ''de jure'' part of any sovereign country. Together with parts of the West Bank, it is mostly run by the Palestinian Authority. Substantial portions of the Gaza Strip, (mainly the sites of areas populated by Israeli citizens) are controlled by Israel. The Palestinian Authority is not permitted conventional military forces; there are, however, a Public Security Force and a civil Police Force. In February 2005 the Israeli government voted to Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2004 Israel's presence from the Gaza strip during the summer of 2005, including dismantling all the Israeli settlements and removing all Israeli settlers from the strip. After withdrawal Israel may still retain some offshore maritime control and/or a small strip of land (the so-called "Philadelphi Corridor") alongside the Egypt-Gaza Strip border. The government still faces significant opposition to the plan. == Demographics == {| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 90%;" width="300px" |+ قطاع غزة '''Qita' Ghazzah רצועת עזה Retzu'at 'Azza''' |- | colspan="2" align="center" | |- | Languages | Chiefly Arabic language (also Hebrew language, English language) |- | Area - Total - % water | (not ranked) 360 square kilometre 0% |- | Population - Total - Israeli settlements - Population density | (not ranked) 1,376,289 (July 2005 est) over 5,000 3,823/km² (July 2005 est) |- | Currency || 1 New Israeli sheqel (NIS) = 100 Agorot |- | Time zone || UTC +2/Daylight saving time |} Around 1.37 million Palestinians and over 8,000 Israelis live in the Gaza Strip. The majority of the Palestinians are direct descendants of refugees who fled Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. By 1967 the population had grown to about six times its 1948 size. The city's population has continued to increase since that time, and poverty, unemployment, and poor living conditions are widespread as a result of the record high birth rate (5.91 children born/woman on average) Gaza has a high population density. Since the 1970s, around 25 Israeli settlements have been constructed in the Gaza Strip, though as of 2005 the Israeli government plans to remove all Israelis from these settlements. The Israeli settlemnts were built on sand dunes that were not used by the Palestinian residents of Gaza but now use more per capita than the Palestinian population. The Palestinian population is growing by around 4% a year. Most people in the strip are Muslim, with small Christianity (0.7%) and Jewish (0.6%) minorities. The Jews in Gaza strip live only in the israeli settlements. There are no Jews in the areas controlled by Palestinians. Demogrphic numbers relates to the Palestinian population: * ''Birth rate'': 40.03 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) * ''Death rate'': 3.95 deaths/1,000 population * ''net migration'': 1.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population * ''infant mortality'': 23.54 deaths/1,000 live births * ''fertility'': 6.04 children born/woman * ''Population growth rate'': 3.83% == Geography == The Gaza Strip is located in the Middle East (at ). It has an 11km border with Egypt, near the city of Rafah, and a 51km border with Israel. Religious and nationalist Jews claim the entire Gaza Strip as part of Israel while nationalist Palestinians claim it as part of a future Palestinian state they intend to create. Some Israelis including Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intend to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza and remove all the Jewish residents which reside mainly in Gush Katif along the South Western coast of Gaza. It also has a 40 km coastline onto the Mediterranean Sea, but has no maritime claims due to Israeli military Administration. The Gaza Strip has a temperate climate, with mild winters, and dry and hot summers, subject to drought. The terrain is flat or rolling, with dunes near the coast. The highest point is Abu 'Awdah (Joz Abu 'Auda), at 105 metres above sea level. Natural resources include arable land (about a third of the strip is irrigated), and recently discovered natural gas. Environmental issues include desertification; salination of fresh water; sewage treatment; water-borne disease; soil degradation; and depletion and contamination of underground water resources. It is considered to be one of the fifteen territories that comprise the so-called "Cradle of Humanity." It currently holds the oldest remains of a manmade bonfire, some of the worlds oldest dated humanoid skeletons and possibly the oldest form of written language containing abstract symbols (Negev-hebrew) although markings found in Egypt are contesting for this title. == Economy == Economic output in the Gaza Strip—under the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority since the Cairo Agreement of May 1994—declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996. This downturn has been variously attributed to corruption and mismanagement by Yasser Arafat and to Israeli closure policies—the imposition of generalized border closures in response to terror attacks in Israel—which disrupted previously established labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the Strip. The most serious negative social effect of this downturn was the emergence of high unemployment. Israel's use of comprehensive closures decreased during the next few years and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor. These changes fueled an almost three-year-long economic recovery in the Gaza Strip. Recovery was ended in the last quarter of 2000 with the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada, triggering tight Israeli closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and a severe disruption of trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in early 2002, internal turmoil and Israeli military measures in Palestinian Authority areas resulted in the destruction of capital plant and administrative structure, widespread business closures, and a sharp drop in Gross domestic product. Another major loss has been the decline in income earned by Palestinian workers in Israel. According to the CIA World Factbook, GDP in 2001 declined 35% to a per capita income of $625 a year, and 60% of the population is now below the poverty line. Gaza Strip industries are generally small family businesses that produce textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale modern industries in an industrial center. Electricity is supplied by Israel. The main agricultural products are olives, citrus, vegetables, beef, and dairy products. Primary exports are citrus and cut flowers, while primary imports are food, consumer goods, and construction materials. The main trade partners of the Gaza Strip are Israel, Egypt, and the West Bank. A study carried out by Johns Hopkins University and Al Quds University for Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere late in 2002 revealed very high levels of dietary deficiency among the Palestinian population. The study found that 17.5% of children aged 6–59 months suffered from chronic malnutrition. 53% of women of reproductive age and 44% of children were found to be Anemia. == Transport and communication == The Gaza strip has a single standard gauge railway line running the entire length of the strip from north to south along its center, however, it is abandoned and in disrepair, and little trackage remains. The line used to connect to both the Egyptian railway system to the south as well as the Israel Railways to the north. It has a small, poorly developed road network. Its one port is Gaza City. It has two airports, one paved, one unpaved, including Gaza International Airport, which opened on 24 November 1998 as part of agreements stipulated in the September 1995 Oslo II Accord and the 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum. GIA was largely closed since October 2000 by Israeli orders and its runway was destroyed by the Israel Defense Force in December 2001. Gaza has a seaport, which was also closed by the Israeli army. The Gaza strip has a rudimentary telephone service provided by an open wire system, two TV stations run by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (which is controlled by the Palestinian Authority), and no radio stations. It has four internet service providers. Most Palestinian households have a radio and a TV, but there are no figures available. ==See also== * Gaza * West Bank * Palestine (region) * Political status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip * Israeli-Palestinian conflict * Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt * Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan * Smuggling tunnels * Jabalia (Refugee Camp and village) * Israel's unilateral disengagement plan of 2004 == External links == *[http://www.globalpolitician.com/articles.asp?ID=132 Legal Status of West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem] *[http://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/palestine/ United Nations - Question of Palestine] * [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gz.html Gaza Strip] from the CIA World Factbook * [http://www.careusa.org/newsroom/pressreleases/2003/jan/01032003_study.pdf Nutritional Assessment of the West Bank and Gaza Strip] *[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/gazastrip91.jpg 1991 Map of the Gaza Strip] from the University of Texas Disputed territories Israeli history Palestine lv:Gazas josla ms:Gaza Gaza Strip: This small piece of land is perhaps the most crowded piece of real estate on the planet and is home to about a million Palestinians. Most of these people lived in other parts of Palestine prior to the Naqba (the establishment of the state of Israel), when they had to flee. These Palestinians have not been allowed to return to their home villages, in violation of international law, in particular the fourth Geneva convention. : While it is popular to describe the Gaza Strip as crowded, it has about the same population as Manhattan Island on a piece of land that is more than 7 times as large. And Manhattan is filled up with offices, highways, and parks. The daytime population of Manhattan is much larger, of course, as workers come in for the day. Gaza is also about twice the size of Washington DC, which has a population more than twice as large as the Gaza Strip. The above paragraph contains the common myth about Gaza. : Recently, Israel has established settlements (or colonies as Palestinans call them) inside the Gaza strip. Although home to only a few thousand people, large parts of the Gaza strip have been reserved for them. This has worsened the situation of the Palestinians yet further. The questions of refugees and settlements have been discussed at length in other articles, it is redundant to state them here (as opposed to linking) and have to argue about them again. --User:Uriyan ----- Uriyan -- I have moved some of the points of the above text back in, but have tried to stick to objective facts about the history and demographics of Gaza, and avoided politico-legal issues like the Geneva Conventions. I partly agree with you -- this page is not the place for detailed discussion about the general issue of Palestinan refugees or Israeli settlements. However, it still should mention basic demographic facts, such as how many Palestinians and settlers are there, how much land there is, how much land per capita each uses, how did so many Palestinians end up in such a small area (refugees from 1948 war -- arguments about exactly why they left can be left for elsewhere.) -- user:SJK Shouldn't we move the country table to the entry on the Palestinian Authority? Otherwise, we would end up with two different tables for the Palestinian entity (which probably will become an independent nation witin 5 years). I have no objection to the content; I just don't want readers who visit Wikipedia to imagine that Gaza and the West Bank are two different nations. Rather, they are semi-autonomously controlled regions under Israeli administration that soon likely will fuse into one independent nation. User:RK : Robert, your optimism inspires me! Five years - I would have estimated more like fifty. May it come to pass as you predict! :) : I'm in two minds about your suggestion. I don't have a problem with there being duplicated info in West Bank - after all, only some info would be duplicated - the West Bank has a different area and population density, for example. I think Hong Kong is a good example of a broadly similar situation... User:MyRedDice : I removed the president and PM, because while in some sense Arafat is the president of the strip, in another sense Sharon is, and in a third sense, nobody is. So it seems misleading to just say President=Sharon. I think the rest of the info can stay... User:MyRedDice --- ==Palestinian Refugees== Before you proceed to delete my entry again, perhaps you could specify what part of it in your opinion constitutes a POV, and prove that it has no factual basis. What part do you object to? That the majority are refugees, or that they fled voluntarily? Just because certain facts speak in Israel's favour in no way impairs their status as facts which can safely be included in a NPOV article. User:LoveOfFate 18:21, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC) : The "voluntarily" is a nonsense (but I don't have to prove it's a nonsense, only to note that it is regarded as such by a body of learned opinion). It is also POV to give the war the name used by only one of the sides. --User:Zero0000 20:57, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC) :: Since you refuse to provide any references to factual evidence that would justify deleting my entry, I have chosen to take the initiative and provide some of my own sources. According to you, adding the word voluntarily is a [sic] nonsense as decided by a "body of learned opinion." I am curious who exactly these venerable scholars of yours are, but have no way of knowing since you obviously do not feel compelled to list your sources. As for mine, a plethora of evidence exists demonstrating that Palestinians were encouraged to leave their homes to make way for the invading Arab armies. The Economist, a frequent critic of the Zionists, reported on October 2, 1948: "Of the 62,000 Arabs who formerly lived in Haifa not more than 5,000 or 6,000 remained. Various factors influenced their decision to seek safety in flight. There is but little doubt that the most potent of the factors were the announcements made over the air by the Higher Arab Executive, urging the Arabs to quit....It was clearly intimated that those Arabs who remained in Haifa and accepted Jewish protection would be regarded as renegades." Time's report of the battle for Haifa (May 3, 1948) was similar: "The mass evacuation, prompted partly by fear, partly by orders of Arab leaders, left the Arab quarter of Haifa a ghost city....By withdrawing Arab workers their leaders hoped to paralyze Haifa." Benny Morris, the historian who documented instances where Palestinians were expelled, also found that Arab leaders encouraged their brethren to leave. The Arab National Committee in Jerusalem, following the March 8, 1948, instructions of the Arab Higher Committee, ordered women, children and the elderly in various parts of Jerusalem to leave their homes: "Any opposition to this order...is an obstacle to the holy war...and will hamper the operations of the fighters in these districts" (Middle Eastern Studies, January 1986). And perhaps most conclusive: In his memoirs, Haled al Azm, the Syrian Prime Minister in 1948-49, also admitted the Arab role in persuading the refugees to leave: “Since 1948 we have been demanding the return of the refugees to their homes. But we ourselves are the ones who encouraged them to leave. Only a few months separated our call to them to leave and our appeal to the United Nations to resolve on their return.” I am prepared to compromise and rename the War of Israeli Independence to the more neutral 1948 Arab-Israeli War. What you seem to overlook is that Wikipedia is an eliteless, collaborative endeavour and I will not tolerate you deleting my entries simply because the facts don't suit you. The only thing that makes any user's argument more valid than another's is providing facts to support it, at which point the argument is essentially over unless of course, the other party chooses to ignore the facts. So stop ignoring the facts, and bring evidence to support yourself if you seriously believe my entries are factually unsound. User:LoveOfFate 22:26, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC) : Oh not again. Have you actually read any of these sources? The poor quality of your reply indicates that you know very little about this subject. Did you read Morris' new book? Btw, there is a better version of Azm's text in Palestinian Exodus (taken by me directly from the memoirs). Meanwhile, here is a little quotation for you, given you like quotations so much. --User:Zero0000 05:47, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC) :''I don't suggest that we should trample on others' rights, but one must call a spade a spade: Zionism and rights don't always go hand-in-hand. The very establishment of this state is an affront to the Arabs' rights. Arabs lived in Jaffa. They didn't leave; they were expelled. We went into the villages and said 'Get out.' And they got out. Yes, it's important for me and others that this state be a democratic one, but you still have to consider the difference between ourselves and the other countries and remember that democracy is not an end in itself but rather an instrument. Zionism takes precedence over everything.'' -- Limor Livnat, member of the Likud Central Committee, quoted in Tikkun, Sep/Oct 1991, p14. Is there some information about the isaelian wall in the gaza strip available in Wikipedia, I can not find it. == One of the most densely populated areas? == From the article - I think this should be removed: :''as a result it has one of the highest population densities in the world'' Highest population densities of what? It sure isn't denser than many cities in the world. The Gaza strip is roughly the size of Dublin city and its environs (pop. roughly 1 million) and that's one of the ''least'' dense cities in the world. Gaza city itself looks quite dense judging by the map, but I would doubt it even remotely bargains for the position of one of the most dense cities! User:Zoney ♣ User talk:Zoney 23:02, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC) :As no one has provided good proof as to the claim (it seems like bogus propaganda based on the pop and area), I am not removing it, but am reducing it to merely "a high population density". User:Zoney ♣ User talk:Zoney 11:38, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC) == Gaza Photos == Archieved to Talk:Gaza Strip/yalop - I got a 37Kb warning. On a talk page! It blew up my browser! User:Josh Parris User_talk:Josh Parris 04:35, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC) == A new discussion on the pbase Gaza photos == Archieved to Talk:Gaza Strip/yalop2 - I got a 37Kb warning. Again! User:Josh Parris User_talk:Josh Parris 02:15, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC) ===Discussion on the pbase Gaza photos continues=== By now consensus emarged on this talk page that no external links to Photos should be allowed. This is a very bizare view and demonstrate how easy it is for consensus to emarge in a completly biased way. This this is a generalization that is not about these photos nor on Gaza but about external_links all over Wikipedia this is something that need to be discussed by the Wikipedia community as a whole. Please advise where the right forum is. Alternatvly, maybe from this absurd conclusion you will see that somehow the "consensus" has emerged in the wrong direction.... :Why not upload the photos and release them under GFDL? I still haven't heard an answer to that. User:JayjgUser_talk:Jayjg 18:20, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC) I'll answer again: 1. If I load the photos under GFDL and after that you decide to delete the photos? This will not get us closer to solution. The photo is the same photo on Wikipedia or on external link. Your initial objection was that the photos are "right wing Israeli propaganda". Loading them would not change anything. 2. I am not an attorney. I know nothing about the legal issues and frankly I could not understand what people can or can not do once the photos is on a site which is generally regarded as "no copy right protected". So the questions remain: If these photos have value ? If so we should allow external link. At some point you will understand that "Self promotion" (as clearly define as references to commercial sites" Does not apply here. Your objection is about photos which contradict your POV (so you think) Make it easier for everyone and discuss your REAL objections to these photos ? Maybe because they show settlers as human beings ? But they also show Palestinians as human beings ..... :Please do not presume to tell me what my objections are or are not; I think every single one of your last 50 comments to me or about me has done so. Use the Talk: page to discuss article content. As for no uploading your photographs, you don't seem to be willing to contribute to Wikipedia in any way, but are perfectly willing to use it to increase traffic to your pictures. User:JayjgUser_talk:Jayjg 20:54, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC) I don't need to presume anything. When you first removed the links to ther photos you wrote: "Right wing Israeli propeganda". Only when you understood that this is a POV based removal you used other arguments. You are the abusing the medium. The fact IS: These photos add value. Your request to upload them show that even you understand that value. The value exist if these photos are loaded or linked. — Unsigned, again, by Special:Contributions/85.65.55.125 It's annoying for other people to sign your comments for you; the comments bellow yours, despite the indentation stand the risk of being mistaken for yours, 85.65.55.125, and it's unfair for every editor who comments bellow you to be forced to do what you yourself can much more easily do by typing As always, comments unsigned. By 85.64.35.16 User:El C 04:46, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)
:Yes, we have. User:El C 04:46, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)
:::As a contributor you are in fact an anonymous editor -- you really should consider more formally joining the community by Special:userlogin. I think your contributions would be valuable. Perhaps the issue is not the inclusion of photo links, but rather, your motives in repeatedly attempting to include them. We should be attempting to create a great encyclopedia -- not a great collection of links. I will agree that the photos are potentially valuable (I've enjoyed looking at them) -- and some of them, perhaps, should be uploaded to WP or the commons so they can be used in this and other articles. I encourage you to do so, actually. --User:Chiacomo User_talk:Chiacomo 04:59, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Chiamcomo: Thank you for addressing the issue of the photos.
Al C: Please stop signing for me.
With the exception of Chiamcomo, none of you have addressed the issue.
I must confess: I have a problem joining an encycklopedia where the editors do not use their real names.
If Wikipedia is serious it should mandate that funny names like "Jayjg" will not be allowed.
If someone wants to contribute to world knowledge he/she should use his real name.
You know who I am , just look at my web site and search my name on google.
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:I, and others, have said the same thing above, you just didn't bother responding to it, instead continuing with your circular rant.*** Fine, I won't sign for you, but I'll separate my comments from yours and let other people complain about that. And it's El_C, User:85.64.35.16, not Al. User:El C 05:14, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)
::By the way, I found your suggestion that Jayjg is a funny name that should'nt be allowed, hysterically absurd, Anonymous editor. User:El C 05:17, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)
::I'm a public/elected official and my name can easily be googled -- I choose a "funny name" to at least attempt anonymity. This, I think, is one of the strengths of WP -- you can edit and contribute without fear of retaliation. Of course, here in the USA, I needn't fear arrest or persecution, but other people in other places might. By using a pseudonym, editors are free to publish the truth without fear of reprisal. Some editors do, in fact, use their real names, but I don't consider their contributions any more reliable than Jayig's or El C's. Anonymous editors, in some ways, have less anonymity than registered users; had I the inclination, I might locate someone very precisely based on their IP address. My username, by the way, is a bastardization of Danny Kaye's character in The Court Jester. --User:Chiacomo User_talk:Chiacomo 05:32, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)
:::The Anon is more than free to propose policy changes or new policy through the propper channels (or, for that matter, start his own wiki with his own ''a priori'' policies), but proposing drastic policy changes on-the-fly, on a talk page, is questionable. User:El C 06:39, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)
::::I'm not sure what value there is any more in this dialogue; the anonymous editor does not propose any new arguments, refuses to get a userid, and even refuses to sign his contributions or have others sign for him. I see no evidence of good faith here. User:JayjgUser_talk:Jayjg 15:26, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)
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I am not sure if you know what "good faith" is.
Good faith is to try and make a contrbution here.
Good faith is NOT first saying you are against someone POV (as you misunderstood the photos to be) and later hooking up to the "winning argument" of "self promotion"
I don't have to get an ID to contrubute here. So far I could contribute to this page with or without ID.
Despite the fact that you (with no good faith) keep refering to me as "Anon" You know who I am am , you know what I add and
... Never mind. You are right on one thing no point in this discussion. You guys are prisoner of your cult. No outsiders welcome I guess unless they dress up like you. (ID and All)
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:First you want Wikipedia to demand real names, then you claim to be happy hiding behind no account. An account would give us a measure of the value of the contributions you make to Wikipedia; with anoymous editing we assume that you are making no contribution to Wikipedia.
:The argument is not about your POV, but about having any POV. Wikipedia is neutral. Images are (generally - that can be misleadingly framed) neutral, but captions can give them a slant. Wikipedia editors can't address POV issues on external sites, but the captions on an image within the article can be edited (and monitored) to a NPOV.
:For prisioners of a cult, it certainly seems like you want in. User:Josh Parris User_talk:Josh Parris 00:37, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)
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Last comment by Josh Parris was one of the most intlegent arguments. At least now I know what is the reason behind creating an account and i will consider doing so. I also understand (and agree) with your point about the inabaility to chenge captions on external sites and about the ability to monitor them on Wikipedia. All points are well taken and I'll consider joining to the "cult". BTW, I am not hiding behind any anonimity. You are welcome to look up my name on my web site and look me up in the phone book.
:Comment: An anon user requested mediation last month, to which we are just now responding. First, please accept our apologies for the lateness. Second, please follow the rules for submitting requests - condense your complaints to a paragraph only. Log in as a registered user, and sign all your comments. These are standard requirements for dealing with talk page discussions.-User:Stevertigo|User_talk:Stevertigo 19:36, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)Gaza strip#REDIRECT Gaza Strip See other meanings of words starting from letter: GGA | GB | GC | GD | GE | GF | GH | GI | GJ | GK | GL | GM | GN | GO | GP | GR | GS | GT | GU | GW | GX | GY | GZ |Words begining with Gaza_Strip: Gaza_Strip Gaza_Strip Gaza_strip Gaza_Strip/Communications Gaza_Strip/Economy Gaza_Strip/Geography Gaza_Strip/Government Gaza_Strip/History Gaza_Strip/Military Gaza_Strip/People Gaza_Strip/Transnational_issues Gaza_Strip/Transportation Gaza_Strip/yalop Gaza_Strip/yalop2
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