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The recent Israeli withdrawal from Gaza is seen as going against the very nature of the Zionist ideology which has been viewed up till now as an expansionist ideology of filling the West Bank and Gaza with settler-colonies, a move that begin after 1967. The recent withdrawal is being seen also as unprecedented and a success for the Palestinian resistance movement. The article goes to great lengths at reporting and analyzing the atmosphere that Israel tried to create and project surrounding this withdrawal. Through the invitation of 900 reporters who were invited to cover this event, the Ariel Sharon government tried to make “media capital” out of their withdrawal by portraying themselves as peace-loving and telling their own people to move out of their homes for the sake of peace. The fact that these Israelis had been living in colonial-settlements created on occupied Palestinian were conveniently left out. Nevertheless, it is argued that many had believed, including ordinary Israeli and Jewish experts, the withdrawal signified a success for the Palestinians, whose resistance had been the motive for Israel to withdraw. It is pointed out that after 1987, when the first Intifada started, the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank had become very costly in terms of economics and Israeli lives. Politically, many are having different views on the withdrawal. While the Americans and Europeans are praising the move, Israeli commentators having been fearful of what they call as “unilateral” withdrawal from one side, namely the Israeli. The Palestinians argue the withdrawal have to be within a comprehensive framework leading to a Palestinian state. However, the fear now that such a removal of settler-colonies will merely result in the transfer of settlers to those in the West Bank, a view expressed by the Islamic Congress Organization which will merely perpetuate the occupation.
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