Le territoire de Gaza : agression ou paix – “The Gaza Strip: Aggression or Peace” – Published by the Information Division of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, 1956 – First Edition. French.
A special booklet describing Egypt’s brutal treatment of the Arab civilians in Gaza after it seized the Gaza Strip during the 1948 War of Independence. The booklet is, in fact, an accusatory finger pointing at Egypt for its mishandling of the Arab refugees in the Gaza Strip and for turning Gaza into a base for Arab terrorism against Israel:
“Throughout the entire period of occupation, the Egyptians behaved like foreign conquerors, treating the population with contempt and arrogance… From the signing of the armistice agreements between Israel and the Arab states in February 1949 until the end of 1956, Arab terrorists carried out 3,367 incursions into Israel, killing 443 Israelis and injuring 963. The incursions included the theft of livestock and agricultural equipment, armed attacks on vehicles, and assaults on civilians in their homes and fields, as well as sabotage operations such as blowing up water facilities and railway tracks, executed from all surrounding countries. However, the epicenter of these activities was in the Gaza area…” The booklet explains that the Egyptian military regime in Gaza is essentially temporary, and that the Egyptians viewed the refugees as assets in their campaign of hostility against Israel. Therefore, it argues, Gaza should be annexed to Israel due to its geographical and economic ties, and only by fully annexing Gaza to Israel could the terrorist campaign, based in Gaza, be prevented.
The booklet is accompanied by harsh, disturbing photographs of Jews killed in the Arab terror attacks, a map of the Land of Israel marking the Gaza Strip, bags of flour sent by the Israeli government to Gaza, a rare photo of Gaza’s mayor Roushdi Al-Shawa at a municipal council inauguration ceremony with Lieutenant Colonel Haim Gaon, a mourning family over a grandmother killed by a grenade thrown into their home in Ashkelon on April 8, 1956, by a member of a Fedayeen group during an engagement ceremony.
It is astounding how this booklet, published in 1956, seems to reflect the current situation.
Rare. Only four copies are listed in the WorldCat library catalog.
16 pages. 22 cm. Light stains on the cover. Good – very good condition.
