On 8 July 2014, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip – a military operation to put a halt to rocket fire from Hamas. The war continued for 50 days and claimed the lives of 2,251 Palestinians – most of whom were civilians, and over 500 of whom were children.
Much has been said about the politics behind the war. While some argue that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas rocketfire, others maintain that Palestinians have suffered for far too long under Israeli occupation and have the right to resistence. Previous wars in the region have drawn much international coverage due to the complicated history of this piece of land. Journalists, politicians, scholars and others have debated over who is right and wrong for decades, yet we are no closer to a solution.
On the one year anniversary of the 2014 war, IPF chooses to look beyond the debates and arguments and shine a light on the plight Palestinians still face today – one year on.
With resconstruction going particularly slow and none of the damaged houses having been rebuilt so far, over 100,000 Palestinians are homeless and continue to live through aftermath of the war. The international media has long since moved on from their Gaza coverage, turning their attention back to what ridiculous things Katie Hopkins has said, and what X, Y and Z celebrities are wearing, eating, or dating.
Therefore, IPF has chosen to honour the lives of Palestinians by turning the spotlight back to the crisis in Gaza with the launch of our 50Days4Gaza feature. We will be publishing one post about Gaza every day for 50 days – the duration of the war – and will be highlighting the issues that the international community is no longer hearing much about.
The posts will be a combination of opinion, news, and feature articles, as well as videos and photography. You will also have the chance to hear and read words from Palestinians themselves, as we have managed to make contact with some very inspiring people on the ground who will be sharing their stories with us.
No matter what your views are about the political situation in the region, the death of so many civilians – and so many children – are far too many to be ignored. We hope you will join us in honouring those who lost their lives during the summer of 2014, as well as those who continue to suffer under Israeli occupation.
We look forward to sharing these 50Days4Gaza with you.
Priyanka
Editor-in-Chief
If you’re interested in submitting a post for our 50Days4Gaza feature, please email your idea to editor@internationalpoliticalforum.com.
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