From From the River to the Sea - Getting it Right, Getting it Wrong
Susie Linfield: The Israelis pulled out of Gaza in 2005—which was accomplished by a super-hawk, Ariel Sharon. There’s criticism on the Israeli Left for how this was done, and criticism on the Israeli Right that it was done at all. Nevertheless, Palestinians were now in control of a territory. A small bit of territory, true. But you have to start somewhere. (Look at what the Kurds have accomplished in the areas they control in Iraq and Syria.) There was a lot of hope, among Israelis and Palestinians alike, that Gaza would turn it into a thriving entity, which is to say that energy would be put into the development—economic, civil, etc.—of one’s own people and society, not into destruction of the Other. A Middle Eastern Singapore! Under Hamas, the opposite happened. David Grossman told the New Yorker that, had Palestinians chosen peaceful development, withdrawal from West Bank settlements would have commenced. Instead, Hamas began lobbing rockets into Israel and, eventually, turned the whole Strip into a terror base while enriching itself. You can begin to understand what effect this had on Israelis, including those who desperately want two states.
