During the 20th century, war and peace have alternated on the Gaza board, although the latter has always been falsely closed. The Hamas attack against Israel on October 7 and Tel Aviv’s response now threaten to set the entire Middle East region on fire.
We delve into all this and much more in the December issue of Historia y Vida magazine, of which we present the editorial by our director, Isabel Margarit, followed by the summary of the month’s contents.
Much has been written about the Arab-Israeli dispute, and there are many images and testimonies that have impacted us since last October, when the Gaza Strip became the epicenter of the conflict. A conflict that is in one of the most critical moments in recent decades, after the bloody attack on Israeli territory by Hamas, the Islamist organization that dominates Gaza, and Israel’s forceful military response.
As the course of time has shown, Gaza is a story of conquest. Its strategic location at the junction of Africa with Asia and the Mediterranean with Arabia, its fertile soil in times past and its value as a key port in spice trafficking made the place an eternal framework for disputes.
Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Crusaders, Ottomans… They have all aspired to master this key point that has changed hands countless times over the centuries.
But, after the Second World War, the tension worsened. Since the end of the British mandate over Palestine in 1948, with the subsequent creation of the State of Israel, the area has become one of the most turbulent in the world. A true powder keg, the scene of war escalations and short periods of truce, which has put international stability in check, due to the influence that Israel and Palestine have on the foreign policy of the great powers. Today, after more than three and a half thousand years of political struggle, religious wars, sieges and occupations, Gaza is once again in the eye of a hurricane of unexpected consequences.
CASE
Gaza, a land in conflict
Peace seems like a mirage in Palestine, which, following the Hamas attack on October 7, is experiencing its darkest hours in recent decades.
C. Hernández-Echevarría, J. Martín García and I. Giménez Chueca, journalists
ARTICLES
Alvaro de Bazan
He was Philip II’s best sailor. The relief of Oran, the battle of Lepanto or the Portuguese campaign honored an impeccable record of service.
E. Garrido Pascual, journalist
Moses’ tomb?
Discovered by Richard Pococke, KV13 could be another tomb in the Valley of the Kings, designed for a chancellor named Bay, who lived in the late 19th dynasty. But what if this character was, in fact, Moses?
J. Vidal, PhD in Assyriology
Elisenda de Montcada
In 1322, James II of Aragon passed through the altar for the fourth time to marry the noble Elisenda de Montcada, who, five years later, saw her dream of founding a monastery of Poor Clare nuns materialize: the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Pedralbes, in Barcelona.
M. P. Queralt del Hierro, historian and writer
The first Christmas tree
Sofía Troubetzkoy, a Russian princess married to the Marquis of Alcañices, set a trend in Spanish society in the second half of the 19th century. One of her contributions was to install a Christmas tree in homes, just as was done in her native Russia.
X. Vilaltella, journalist
María Callas, human and divine
His strength on stage contrasted with his fragility when the lights went off. Self-demanding, withdrawn and in need of love, the soprano opened up in her letters and memoirs, a recapitulation of her life’s disappointments.
F. Martinez Holes, doctor of History
What was lost in 1898?
The loss of the last colonies could have been traumatic for some intellectuals and politicians, but not for ordinary mortals. The Spaniards welcomed with relief the end of a period of war that always targeted the most disadvantaged.
S. Sánchez Collantes, doctor in History
SECTIONS
Front row: Giuliani, from hero to villain
All the credit that this politician and lawyer earned as mayor of New York on 9/11 was lost when he became involved in the goings-on of his friend, former United States President Donald Trump.
C. Hernández-Echevarría, journalist
Arqueología: Göbekli Tepe
The study of this site in southeastern Turkey has reversed the order of factors of the Neolithic revolution: spirituality, and not agriculture, was what drove the transition from nomadism to sedentary lifestyle.
J. Elliot, Journalist
Ciencia: Lise Meitner
Despite her achievements in the field of science, Germany’s first female physics professor and mother of nuclear energy never won the Nobel Prize, and her name was overshadowed by her male collaborators, such as Otto Hahn.
J. Elliot, Journalist
Arte: William Eggleston
The KBr, the photography center in Barcelona of Fundación MAPFRE, shows until the end of January 2024 the work of the American William Eggleston, one of the fathers of color photography.
A. Echeverria Aristegui, journalist
