Israel waged 15 wars against Gaza in the last 75 years, and all failed to resolve the core issues, says former French diplomat Jean-Pierre Filiu, professor of Middle East Studies at Sciences Po.
Filiu tells host Steve Clemons that Gaza’s rich history as a trading post connecting Africa and Asia goes back 4,000 years. The way Israel has cut it off from the world “goes against its history and the nature of its people”.
He says Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s heritage sites – ancient mosques, churches, museums – means that “the memory of humanity is being erased before our eyes.”
You’re talking about Jarusalem and most of what you say is true, but it isn’t true of Gaza. Gaza has a known history going back 4,000 years starting as a Caananite settlement. Yes various different powers have controlled the region, it has been repeatedly fought over. But the geographic distinction has long been there and maintained some degree of cultural uniformity through numerous wars and other mass migrations.