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palestinians

Everyone knows one of the defining stories of the Middle East conflict: a group of brave settlers, many of them refugees from the Holocaust, carved the state of Israel out of hostile territory.  Although surrounded by enemies, they and the...

Everyone knows one of the defining stories of the Middle East conflict: a group of brave settlers, many of them refugees from the Holocaust, carved the state of Israel out of hostile territory.  Although surrounded by enemies, they and their descendants have successfully defended their homeland for over half a century. But there's another story that defines the conflict for Palestinians: the story of Al-Nakba (the catastrophe)--the Palestinian name for the Israeli War of Independence--when Israeli Defense Force soldiers expelled many of the Arab inhabitants of towns and villages in what would become Israel.  Many of the very elderly and the very young died on the subsequent forced marches.  According to Noam Chomsky, 700,000 Palestinians lost their homes during the war. Since 1948, the Palestinian story has been one of occupation and exile. Nevertheless, individual Palestinians have made remarkable contributions to contemporary society. Notable Palestinians  include a world-renowned geneticist  and one of the world's premier interpreters of relations between the Arab world and the West.  In spite of the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994, the national hopes of the Palestinian people are far from fulfilled. Israel controls most access to the Gaza Strip. Most Palestinians are dependent on access to the Israeli labor market for employment; border closures following violent incidents in 2000 have resulted in high unemployment in both the West Bank and Gaza. Recent Israeli military actions have also destroyed much of the infrastructure in both areas.  The situation was further complicated by the 2006 election victories of the militant group Hamas, which has historically refused to recognize Israel's right to exist. As a result of the Hamas victory, the Palestinian Authority is now under an international trade embargo. The United States and the European Union have stopped providing foreign aid.  The sources I've collected include the reflections of an eminent scholar of Middle Eastern history; the day-to-day experiences of a Palestinian in Gaza; and an on-line clearinghouse of Palestinian news. These sources illuminate the day-to-day realities of Palestinian life, and explain the hopes and fears of a people living at the center of one of the great crises of our time.