A crying shame!

By Nader Fergani

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Israel evacuated its settlements in Gaza in mid-August. The event was a media circus in which international commentators had the chance to pontificate on the bravery of the Israeli prime minister and recount the suffering of the settlers. The decision, we were told, was unpopular and could cost Sharon his political career.

That thousands of Palestinians suffered unspeakable injustice in four decades of occupation went unmentioned. That settlements were illegal and the brainchild of Sharon of all people went unnoticed. That Sharon was minister of settlements when these illegal colonies grew the fastest escaped recollection.

Worst still, the withdrawal from Gaza does not signal the end of the occupation, inside or outside Gaza. Israel maintains control of all land, air and sea access to Gaza, including the Philadelphi corridor that runs parallel to Egypt's northeastern border. Egypt will be policing the corridor under Israel's supervision and the strictest of conditions. The 1.4 million people who live in Gaza have ended up interns in a big penitentiary. Israel has pulled back its troops from the Strip, but is surrounding it with electric wiring, cement walls, armed guards and electronic censors -- and it reserves the right to invade without notice.

That anyone would call this a victory is a crying shame.

This weekÕs Soapbox speaker is director of Almishkat Research Centre and the lead author of the Arab Human Development Report.