The Gaza Strip as Laboratory: Notes in the Wake of Disengagement

Chronically described as poor, overcrowded, and dangerous, the Gaza Strip exemplifies the longstanding Zionist “dilemma” of how to deal with dense concentrations of Palestinians who must not be granted equality but who cannot be removed or exterminated en masse. This article analyzes key Israeli policies toward the Gaza Strip—specifically, the use of closure, buffer zones, and air power—in the context of the Zionist movement’s broader geographic and demographic goals. It argues that the Gaza Strip can be usefully seen as a “laboratory” in which Israel fine-tunes a dubious balance of maximum control and minimum responsibility, refining techniques that are also suggestive of possible futures for the West Bank.