National Geographic's article The Forgotten Faithful is itself largely forgotten. I never knew National Geographic to lie.
It is illegal to destroy a fruit tree in Israel. Yet the IDF and settlers do it all the time. They steal olive orchards owned by Palestinian families for scores of generations, and surround them with razor wire. If they can't steal outright, they vandalized- cutting off roots and fruit bearing limbs. They destroyed groves of date producing Theophrasti palms in Gaza.
Gaza was Israel's landfill before it was "given" to the Palestinians. They cleaned it up and were turning it into a destination resort on the Mediterranean. Now Israel wants it back.
this...
to this...
The Palestinians are the indigenous people. The Netanyahu government manages them like our government managed our native indigenous people in the 19th Century. Gaza and West Bank are reservations. Now they have value, and guess who wants them back? Next stop for Palestine is Wilderness of Zin. Salt soils there are almost sterile.
Hamas was let in by desperation, and now can't be rid.
This is a disaster on the wrong side of which we cannot be.
Trump stood and stands on the wrong side. Biden can't stand in the same place.