Palestine: 50 Years of Occupation
Fifty Years have passed since Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War resulting in the longest military occupation in modern times. And on the ground there has been a radical shift in demographics because of the settlements. What began as a few scattered outposts has now mushroomed into vast sub-divisions and cities with Jewish only road networks connecting them make it difficult for Palestinians to travel. About 600,000 Israelis now live beyond the country’s 1967 borders. The Palestinians are being squeezed into ever smaller and smaller enclaves, isolated and without sufficient water. The settlements, illegal under international law, are a key obstacle to the resolution of the conflict. But Israel continues to expand them. Each new house makes the possibility of a just peace more remote. And Washington makes it all possible with its ongoing economic, military and diplomatic support for Israel.
Interview by David Barsamian.
Recorded at KGNU.
Speaker
Max Blumenthal
Max Blumenthal is an award-winning journalist and author of Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel and The 51-Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza. He is a senior writer for Alternet, and his articles have appeared in The Guardian, The Nation, The New York Times, and other newspapers and journals.
Alice Diane Kisch –
This interview with Blumenthal is probably the most concise and most comprehensive rendering of the Palestine/Israel situation that I’ve come across in more than eight years of reading about this stuff. Your questions are perfect — bringing Max back to the subject and clarifying when he’s using shorthand that those not working on these issues may not understand. You are both so very knowledgeable — listening to you two this past Monday was extraordinary!
San Francisco, CA