Gaza: one year on

For the record, as it is impossible to say everything in an 8 minute interview, I publicly opposed the unilateral Israeli retreat from Gaza in my speech at “The Future of Transatlantic Relations” at a Forum du Futur conference held at the French National Assembly, ‘Valeurs européennes, valeurs atlantiques’ on 21 June 2005. I opposed Ariel Sharon’s unilateral retreat from Gaza, which was begun in July and completed in August 2005, precisely because I believed it would lead to additional acts of anti-state terrorism, including rocket and mortar fire. At that time, I argued for the deployment international troops, preferably under the control of NATO’s Partnership for Peace, and in working with the European Union, to ease the transition from Israeli to Palestinian rule as part of a larger settlement that would include both Gaza and the West Bank… The European Union had ostensibly been discussing the possibilities of deploying such an international peace force throughout 2005, but nothing came of it… It was obviously too late to change Israeli policy. In September 2005, I published an article in French on the topic: http://www.strategicsinternational.com/9_Gardner.pdf. This article formed the basis of my book chapter, “Israel and Palestinian Fratricide: Beyond the “Two State Solution” in Averting Global War (Palgave 2007) which is coming out in paperback in April 2010. See my commentary on my website: http://www.epsilen.com/hgardner--- Professor Hall Gardner, American University of Paris