The hermetic closure of Gaza is the culmination of a process that began 28 years ago.

As Gaza leads the renewed Palestinian non-violent protest against the illegal Israeli occupation, we look at the contextual history of the one-year commemoration of the 2018 Gaza protests.

"This year’s marathon, with 7,000 runners expected, also aims to raise international awareness of the cultural heritage and political landscape of this historical city of Bethlehem, five miles south of Jerusalem. The marathon will pass through the Aida and Dheisheh refugee camps in the city so runners can see how Palestinian refugees who migrated from their cities and villages from within Israel in 1948 are living."

"Maybe it wasn’t the wisest choice for a Palestinian activist living under the close watch of Israeli security. But Fadi Quran was obsessed and determined: he would study nuclear physics at Stanford University. But Fadi Quran was obsessed and determined: he would study nuclear physics at Stanford University. “I got stopped at the border a lot,” he joked years later of the times he passed through Israeli passport control after graduating."

"Shtayyeh’s responsibility in the 1991 Madrid talks was to establish parameters for negotiations with Israeli counterparts. Since then, Shtayyeh has been a member of the Palestinian delegation during the Washington talks, the talks that followed the Madrid Conference on the interim agreements, and all final-status negotiations, including the most recent talks, initiated in 2013 by then-US Secretary of State John Kerry."