Posted on 10/11/2023 10:49:57 AM PDT by nickcarraway
The earliest specific usage I can find of Gaza being described as an open-air prison is from British prime minister David Cameron in 2010, which is just three years after Israel instituted its permanent blockade after the Strip.
As for the population increase, I imagine it has to do with (based on what stats I could find) a fertility rate of 4+ children per woman (one of those paradoxical scenarios of a poor region having a very high birth rate). With over 2 million people in an area of under 370 square kilometers, I imagine it's not a great place at all. (And I think very few people across the political spectrum would describe it as such. Who they would blame for those conditions will naturally vary much more wildly.)
In addition, over 40% of the known population are under the age of 14; over 60% are under the age of 24.
So it's likely that the majority of Palestinians in Gaza have literally known nothing but life under blockade.
*of the Strip,
not after the Strip
Still a useful reference.
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