Today is your day Boomer! Blog number two on history of the Middle East and how it is connected to the current Hamas/Israel war. My three-decade experience as a history teacher, I think, allows me to share some simplified knowledge with you. Okay, look at the map and find the three "occupied territories": Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and West Bank. These three regions were captured by Israel during the Six Day War of 1967.....they officially belong to Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, three countries that invaded Israel in that year. By the way, Israel has been invaded numerous times since WWII: 1948, 1967, and 1973 to name a few. And now again, by Hamas, in 2023. Perhaps, you can understand why the Israeli government is so concerned about its border areas and security. Now, back to the occupied territories. Some historians believe Israel thinks of places like Gaza as "buffer zones" between Israel and hostile powers. Others write that Israel needs areas to control its Palestinian population and keep them out of Jewish regions. Whatever the truth is, there is no doubt that Palestinians in Gaza are living in poverty and with few human rights. Even Palestinian citizens, who were born in Israel, must present passports to enter and leave their own nation! They often work in Israel for low-wage pay and travel back to the poor territories every night. They want a better life and their "Palestine" nation returned to them...at least, part of Israel if you look at some of the peace plans over the years. Hamas supports these people and their desperation which has carried on since the 1940s. Boomers, more on all of this in my blog tomorrow....