Controversy
Gush Katif's location within the greater Gaza Strip was for many a source of controversy.
Its location was initially the main reason for its founding, as an Israeli civilian presence was important for cementing control of the area so as to prevent any future invasion from Egypt or its use as a staging area for fedayeen attacks, and indeed this rationale was echoed following the 1967 Six Day War by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Many advocates of settlement in Gush Katif view it as part of the Land of Israel and thus subject to a theological injunction for settlement, and some also assert a right of return to Gaza, as Jews had been living there for over 1600 years until they were moved out by the British during the 1929 Palestine riots.
Read more about this topic: Gush Katif
Famous quotes containing the word controversy:
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)
“Ours was a highly activist administration, with a lot of controversy involved ... but I’m not sure that it would be inconsistent with my own political nature to do it differently if I had it to do all over again.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)