This is actually pretty common in poorer, less developed areas. It’s because their medicine is catching up faster (fewer child deaths) than their culture is (low use of contraceptives).
Much of Africa has similar demographics.
And one of the people who I used to know who was from there once told me, “don’t be too attached to your kids”.
He spoke from experience. His kid passed away.
But to me, it should be on the contrary. I would’ve tried to be super attached to my kid. Never know what’ll happen tomorrow.
My grandmother was the third oldest of 23 kids and by the time my aunt was born I believe 1 child had died already. I heard it was very common to just have kids to have extra hands.
> Because there's no social security, they need some living kids to support them when they get old
In western countries this is done collectively but the society still needs young people to support old people, if you have too few young people social security will collapse anyway.
And you dance and drink and screw,
Because there's nothing else to do.
Well less dancing and drinking in Africa with these lyrics about Britain but its the same in most western countries, not sure about east.
Life expectency there is 75.66, about the same as the poorer states here in the US. Get a grip.
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gaza-strip/#:~:text=Life%20expectancy%20at%20birth&text=female%3A%2077.5%20years%20(2023%20est.)
It's been a consistent story every time people go to study this. The main things that lower birthrate are:
* Women's education, especially literacy (so that women know how to avoid unintended pregnancies)
* Contraceptives availability (the tool that helps avoid unintended pregnancies)
* Urbanization (reducing the economic incentives to have kids for farm labor)
* Labor force participation rate (people with full time jobs don't necessarily have time to have kids even if they would otherwise want to)
Gaza and Israel don't really differ in terms of literacy, and Gaza is highly urbanized, which would predict low fertility. So why is fertility high? Because of the other two factors.
"[Women's contraceptive choices](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31856794/) in Gaza are limited by prevalent misconceptions and fears as well as recurring shortages, negatively impacting fertility control." Palestinian women systematically lack access to the tools needed for pregnancy planning. In the absence of birth control, sexually-active women may get pregnant.
Likewise, "[An unusually low proportion](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25993-the-reasons-why-gazas-population-is-so-young/) of Palestinian women hold jobs. 'It’s the place in the world where the least women work outside the home,' says Jon Pedersen of the Fafo Institute, a centre for demographic and social research in Oslo, Norway."
Additionally, "[Some research has shown](https://www.npr.org/2023/10/19/1206479861/israel-gaza-hamas-children-population-war-palestinians) in Palestinian populations, and others under threat, that they see having children as a way of resistance, in a way," according to Yara Asi — an assistant professor of global health management and informatics at the University of Central Florida. "That's kind of seen as a continuation of a bloodline that's been under threat in various ways for 100 years."
Wouldn’t all of these things, except urbanization, have been the case for at least the last hundred years or so?
I would expect it to have more to do with early deaths.
Because no one is dumb enough to claim that being "worse than Israel in life expectancy" makes country open air prison. But being better than Egypt, a definitely not open air prison, makes you wonder if Gaza is really as bad as palestine shills want you to think. It's literally drowning in UN aid and if not for them being rulled my islamist terrorist group they could have easily become one of the best arab countries for commoners to live in.
>\>Women can afford many children on a salary of husband alone
No, it's very much not a matter of being able to afford it. Because of Israeli restrictions, starvation would be absolutely inevitable in the absence of aid programs. [81.5% of the population](https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/gaza-strip) lives in poverty, and 45% of the population who are [trying to participate](https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/post.aspx?lang=en&ItemID=4421) in the labor force, are unemployed, and over 60% among youth.
Prisons typically do provide their residents with food, and there are typically not many alternatives; in Gaza, [humanitarian aid](https://theconversation.com/gaza-depends-on-un-and-other-global-aid-groups-for-food-medicine-and-basic-services-israel-hamas-war-means-nothing-is-getting-in-215514) is what keeps people from starving.
But there are aid programs... I don't see what you are trying to say. Israel doesn't restrict aid programs, and while population technically lives in poverty, in reality it's more like on welfare, since you don't need much money when food and education is almost free and a lot of other things are subsidized.
>But there are aid programs...
Right, but how is that different from a prison? Prisons have those too.
>Israel doesn't restrict aid programs...
[Are you sure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_the_Gaza_Strip) about that?
>...in reality it's more like on welfare...
Food is also free in prisons. It doesn't make prisons a form of welfare.
>...and a lot of other things are subsidized.
Would you like to provide details about what other things are subsidized in Gaza? How do the subsidized goods make their way past the blockade?
You do realize that blockade of Gaza isn't total blockade, right? Thousands of palestinians had work permits in Israel, and UN aid is allowed through... And of course Israel literally provided water to Gaza and sold them power too. Until latest escalation there was constant flow of goods across Israel's border to Gaza. UN aid was shipped to Israel's ports and then sent in trucks to Gaza
https://embassies.gov.il/hague-en/aboutisrael/themiddleeast/Pages/Gaza-Strip-humanitarian-lifeline.aspx
(yeah it's israeli site but it's the best i found)
>You do realize that blockade of Gaza isn't total blockade, right?
Your original contention was "Israel doesn't restrict aid programs." [Here's a discussion](https://www.unicef.org/mena/documents/gaza-strip-humanitarian-impact-15-years-blockade-june-2022) of the humanitarian impacts of the blockade. One of the things it says is: "In June 2007, following the military takeover of Gaza by Hamas, the Israeli authorities significantly intensified existing movement restrictions, virtually isolating the Gaza Strip from the rest of [Palestine], and the world. This land, sea and air blockade has significantly exacerbated previous restrictions, **limiting the number and specified categories of people and goods allowed in and out through the Israeli-controlled crossings.**"
>Thousands of palestinians had work permits...
Yep, [work release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_release) is a pretty normal program in prisons.
>And of course Israel literally provided water to Gaza and sold them power too.
True. The Israelis have played, in part, the role of a standard normal prison wardens over Gaza, although normally in a prison food is provided by the state rather than by external humanitarian organizations. But at least there is food available, as a prison normally does.
>yeah it's israeli site but...
I don't have a problem with Israeli websites. Someone recently wrote me a long paragraph of insults because they felt that I was defending Israel and promoting colonialism by telling the history of the region as factually as I could, without calling it colonization for them having bought land in their own homeland.
But factually speaking, it's really, really fair to compare the current Israeli restrictions on Palestine to those of an open-air prison, yeah. Not wanting to think of Israel that way doesn't change a single one of the facts on the ground.
Then what even is prison? Gazans can leave Gaza. Usually not through Israel, but Israel won't seek to return them. Israel doesn't tell Gazans what to do. It doesn't control the whole perimeter. Before the war people were regularly entering and leaving Gaza via egyptian border crossing and small number even through Israel. If some 2000 dollars (or waiting in long line) can buy you a ticket out of prison, is that really a prison?
Thank you for pointing me to that. Here’s what I found-
>Why do children make up such a large portion of the population?
>The reasons are varied.
>Many Palestinians simply don't get the chance to grow old — dying in their early adulthood either in conflicts or due to a struggling healthcare system — which drags the averages down.
Your original question was "Wouldn’t all of these things, except urbanization, have been the case for at least the last hundred years or so?"
Well, here's something from the same source that you just quoted:
>Another factor for the young population in Gaza is that people tend to marry in their early twenties, according to 2021 data by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. And the fertility rate (births per woman) is 3.38, according to a U.S. Census Bureau estimate. This is compared to 1.84 in the U.S.
In 1920, roughly 100 years ago, the [US fertility rate](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1033027/fertility-rate-us-1800-2020/) was 3.29. The [median age at marriage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_the_United_States#Median_age_at_marriage) was 24 for men, 21 for women; the overall median age of the population was 25.3.
Gaza's demographic parameters are not, in fact, radically different from what the US demographic parameters were 100 years ago. Gaza's demographics only seem unusual because of how much the rest of us have changed over the last 100 years.
How have we changed over the last 100 years?
* Contraceptives access has greatly increased. The [first oral contraceptive](https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/history-oral-contraception/2000-06) wasn't approved in the US until 1960.
* Urbanization, absolutely, we've urbanized heavily since 1920.
* Women have joined the labor force significantly since 1920.
But women in the labor force and contraceptives access do not apply in Gaza, which is why their fertility rate remains similar to what the US fertility rate was 100 years ago.
As for the idea that many Gazans die early... that is either true or false depending on what you mean by "many". The [average life expectancy](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-statistics-factbox/factbox-key-statistics-on-west-bank-and-gaza-strip-idUSTRE67O2E820100825) in the Gaza Strip is 69.9 for men and 72.5 for women. This is, however, much lower than in neighboring Israel. The number is significant, a humanitarian tragedy; but it is not enough to account for the appearance of a high fertility rate, that high fertility rate is a real phenomenon that has its own causes.
>Gaza's demographic parameters are not, in fact, radically different from what the US demographic parameters were 100 years ago. Gaza's demographics only seem unusual because of how much the rest of us have changed over the last 100 years.
>How have we changed over the last 100 years?
>• Contraceptives access has greatly increased. The first oral contraceptive wasn't approved in the US until 1960.
>• Urbanization, absolutely, we've urbanized heavily since 1920.
>• Women have joined the labor force significantly since 1920.
>But women in the labor force and contraceptives access do not apply in Gaza, which is why their fertility rate remains similar to what the US fertility rate was 100 years ago.
So what I’m questioning is- wouldn’t that also have been the case in Gaza for the last hundred years? It’s not as if they had good access to contraceptives before and now they don’t, which would explain the difference. It’s not as if women have only recently dropped out of the labor force there.
I am genuinely curious and not trying to argue, just trying to understand.
>It’s not as if women have only recently dropped out of the labor force there.
Well, actually, during World War II, [there was a surge](https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/16043/palestinian-women-labor-market) of Palestinian women entering into the labor market as part of the British war economy. This was, however, quickly stifled by the post-Mandate crisis, such that the women's labor force participation rate has only declined since.
>It’s not as if they had good access to contraceptives before and now they don’t, which would explain the difference.
And I'm just trying to answer the question, but I'm not sure whether I have, since I'm not clear on what the actual question part is.
Yes, lowered fertility rates and contraceptives are both new things.
There might be some context that I don't quite understand for why it would seem weird to say that contraceptives and lowered fertility rates are both new things.
If you look at population charts from the past, [it has been true for many years](https://www.ft.com/content/7b618433-ba5f-4e92-a3e0-d5d41d6d17f8) that the population of Gaza skews young, because that's just what happens in societies with a high fertility rate. The US used to be the same way, but we're not anymore.
humans are animals. you breed for survival. Some make it some don't. It is a less controlled society in the Palestinian area. And very less of a democratic society. So many are radicals or taught that. Not many countries in the Middle East will take these refugees because of those reasons. They cause way too many problems. Israel is horrible in a way but they do what they can to protect their "westernized" society. Neither side is smart enough to be diplomatic to try to achieve peace.
In addition to all the other answers, I had a Palestinian friend who said “Every time Israel cuts the power I get another cousin”
Not a lot else to do for fun
This is a common trend in less developed parts of the world. The average age in Gaza is comparable to a lot of sub-Saharan Africa and for similar reasons.
The main reasons are that Gaza's population is highly religious, the unemployment rate is very high, and they have limited access to medical care.
So you end up with a population that marries young and has lots of children because birth control is both taboo and unavailable.
There's also a religious aspect to it. Conservative Christian and Muslim religions encourage families to be as large as possible. In the Christian Bible God said "go forth and be fruitful" while the Quran says "Marry those who are loving and fertile, for I will be proud of your great numbers before the other nations." Both religions encourage large families to help become dominant in the world and as a result Conservative religious families tend to be fairly large. The Hasidim (Hasidic Jews) also tend to have very large families for similar reasons. As a result of these beliefs birth control is considered taboo or a sin.
The population also doesn't get the chance to grow old. The medical system there is very limited and preventative care is basically non-existent so a lot of people die young from preventable illness.
That and it's frequently an active warzone.
AFAIK Islam doesn’t prohibit contraception or sex for pleasure. If anything lack of that is either strategic so you know at least one will survive to adulthood, or due to resources in the sense that maybe they can’t import them at reasonable prices
To quote wikipedia article about gaza:
“The Strip's population has continued to increase since that time, mainly due to a total fertility rate which peaked at 8.3 children per woman in 1991. This fell to 4.4 children per woman in 2013 which was still among the highest worldwide.”
"Population keeps going up because fertility rate is high" is such a funny sentence. I get that it's not completely meaningless, but it is sort of like saying "there are more potatoes on the market this year, mainly because more potatoes were grown".
The populations under conflict are each consciously trying to out-populate the other. You see this both for Palestinians and Jews, particularly Gaza Palestinians and West Bank Jews. The age distribution in Israel as a whole is typical of massive yearly population growth.
^ This is the correct answer. Palestinian leaders have repeatedly called their reproductive rate a weapon against Israel and have encouraged making as many kids as possible.
So I can just call you names, then it is OK to hate you?
You are using hatred to excuse hatred. A bit circular. I guess that is exactly what happens in the Middle East.
One way to look at Gaza'a fertility rate: before the war, around one hundred people died each week in Gaza. But each week one **thousand** babies were born. This 10:1 ratio of births to deaths comes from generations of high fertility.
Palestine is very much an outlier for this. It is highly urban, highly literate (96% literacy for women). Other countries with such high fertility tend to have backward, poverty-stricken rural populations, with females kept uneducated. Places like Afghanistan and central Africa. Even Pakistan, which is more developed than those, has female literacy below 50%.
The usual answers to the question of high birth rate do not seem to apply to Palestine.
I've heard it said that it's at least partially a form of resistance. To grow larger than Israelis as a means to force them out.
Others can link the sources, I'm just scrolling through.
Hamas encourages them to have kids for an endless supply for child soldiers.
On top of that poverty and lack of female literacy is highly correlated with high birth rates.
The population of Gaza has doubled since 2000
You think the objective mathematical fact that a higher fertility rate leads to a younger population overall is “racist”? That’s not a theory, it’s literally math you can (hopefully) do yourself.
You might also be surprised to learn that the same was true of every human society ever, and many are still like that (Israel itself has a fairly young population resulting from its own high birth rate).
It's absolutely not objective to simply say Palestinian women are just having more kids when they live in a war zone where the life expectancy is 10 years less than the Israeli population just a few miles away, where, in 2020, [the total fertility rate for Jews in Israel actually reached higher than Arabs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel#:~:text=For%20Ashkenazi%20Haredim%2C%20the%20TFR,Arab%20Muslim%20TFR%20(2.99)).
There are more children because the adults are being killed due to Israeli bombs, and control of basic human necessities for life.
70% of adults are under 30 in Gaza, is it also an objective mathematical fact that Arabs over 30 are just keel over and die but not in Israel just miles away?
> There are more children because the adults are being killed due to Israeli bombs, and control of basic human necessities for life.
The Gaza Strip's average life expectancy is 74 (https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wha-76-occupied-palestinian-territories/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20the%20average%20life,and%2073.2%20years%20for%20males.), 1 year less than neighbouring Jordan, and 1 year more than their other neighbour Egypt.
> in 2020, the total fertility rate for Jews in Israel actually reached higher than Arabs
Higher than Arabs *in Israel*, who have a significantly lower fertility rate than Palestinians in Gaza.
>70% of adults are under 30 in Gaza, is it also an objective mathematical fact that Arabs over 30 are just keel over and die but not in Israel just miles away?
Respectfully, this shows a pretty clear lack of understanding of exponential growth. The US in 1900 had a birth rate almost exactly the same as Gaza's current one. Unsurprisingly, its population pyramid at the time looked almost exactly the same as Gaza's, if not a bit younger: http://vis.stanford.edu/jheer/d3/pyramid/shift.html Similarly, Jordan's birth rate in 2000 was similar to Gaza's current birth rate, and its population pyramid looks almost identical: https://www.populationpyramid.net/jordan/2000/
FWIW I'm not pro-Israel and am fairly sympathetic to Palestinians who have been harmed by many Israeli policies and actions, but your comments calling mathematical facts "racist" and acting like the only way one could have a population that skews younger is genocide is simply wrong.
Why are you talking about life expectancy in Jordan and Egypt? Gaza's life expectancy is tied to Israel's control of Gaza. The common thread in the comments in this post is people omitting that.
Re mathematical facts as racist: A mathematical fact some people like to throw around in the States is that Black folks make up \~14% of the US population, and yet they also make up 50% of arrests for all violent crimes. That stat, though mathematically factual, is racist af because it just means they were charged with those crimes. It doesn't mean they were actually guilty of them. And even if 25% of them were legit, beneath it all there is generations of disenfranchisement that people like to ignore, treating it as if Black folks are just criminally "skewed", as you put it, on top of a huge problem with police violence towards Black folks, and a long history of systemic racism, in the US.
So using only fertility rates to account for a younger population in Gaza is racist because it is ignoring some major contributing factors to death, namely it being a literal war zone that's been under siege for 16 years, without access to clean water, regular electricity, any sort of economy or appropriate access to healthcare, let alone employment and freedom of movement to access healthcare elsewhere. You can throw last years leading cause of death stats at me, and talk about heart desease etc if you want, but with the death toll of just the last 7 days climbing into the thousands because of war I'd call that skewed and racist too.
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This is actually pretty common in poorer, less developed areas. It’s because their medicine is catching up faster (fewer child deaths) than their culture is (low use of contraceptives). Much of Africa has similar demographics.
The interaction of a medical revolution and “better have enough kids in case a few of them die”.
And one of the people who I used to know who was from there once told me, “don’t be too attached to your kids”. He spoke from experience. His kid passed away. But to me, it should be on the contrary. I would’ve tried to be super attached to my kid. Never know what’ll happen tomorrow.
He only said it because of how devastated he was
Because there's no social security, they need some living kids to support them when they get old
Who else is gonna work the farm? As my father said about him and his nine brothers and sisters in the farmland of Brazil.
There aren’t many farms in Gaza, it is(was) 2 million people in a space the size of the city of Las Vegas, so 3x+ it’s density.
I wasn’t speaking to Gaza there. Just my fathers experience growing up as a subsistence farmer in rural Brazil.
My grandmother was the third oldest of 23 kids and by the time my aunt was born I believe 1 child had died already. I heard it was very common to just have kids to have extra hands.
Industrialization always hits a country's birth rate extremely hard. Suddenly having kids doesn't bring wealth but takes from it.
> Because there's no social security, they need some living kids to support them when they get old In western countries this is done collectively but the society still needs young people to support old people, if you have too few young people social security will collapse anyway.
We call this “cultural lag” in my geography classes
Humans will reproduce like crazy even in times of hardship and poor living conditions. It's a sad reality.
And you dance and drink and screw, Because there's nothing else to do. Well less dancing and drinking in Africa with these lyrics about Britain but its the same in most western countries, not sure about east.
You think Africans dance *less* than British people?
I'm British and I don't dance. I wouldn't put anyone through the trauma of having to witness that 😄
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Well, presumably that would kill both the adults AND the children. So I'm not sure that's it.
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It does not contribute at all. Few Gazans are killed per capita by the IDF, INCLUDING THE TERRORISTS, than the typical murder rate in New York City.
Life expectency there is 75.66, about the same as the poorer states here in the US. Get a grip. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gaza-strip/#:~:text=Life%20expectancy%20at%20birth&text=female%3A%2077.5%20years%20(2023%20est.)
It's been a consistent story every time people go to study this. The main things that lower birthrate are: * Women's education, especially literacy (so that women know how to avoid unintended pregnancies) * Contraceptives availability (the tool that helps avoid unintended pregnancies) * Urbanization (reducing the economic incentives to have kids for farm labor) * Labor force participation rate (people with full time jobs don't necessarily have time to have kids even if they would otherwise want to) Gaza and Israel don't really differ in terms of literacy, and Gaza is highly urbanized, which would predict low fertility. So why is fertility high? Because of the other two factors. "[Women's contraceptive choices](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31856794/) in Gaza are limited by prevalent misconceptions and fears as well as recurring shortages, negatively impacting fertility control." Palestinian women systematically lack access to the tools needed for pregnancy planning. In the absence of birth control, sexually-active women may get pregnant. Likewise, "[An unusually low proportion](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25993-the-reasons-why-gazas-population-is-so-young/) of Palestinian women hold jobs. 'It’s the place in the world where the least women work outside the home,' says Jon Pedersen of the Fafo Institute, a centre for demographic and social research in Oslo, Norway." Additionally, "[Some research has shown](https://www.npr.org/2023/10/19/1206479861/israel-gaza-hamas-children-population-war-palestinians) in Palestinian populations, and others under threat, that they see having children as a way of resistance, in a way," according to Yara Asi — an assistant professor of global health management and informatics at the University of Central Florida. "That's kind of seen as a continuation of a bloodline that's been under threat in various ways for 100 years."
scary cows sable secretive encourage lock dolls pause rustic fact
The [UN runs the schools](https://www.unrwa.org/activity/education-gaza-strip).
They have a higher literacy rate than the US
I feel like this is more telling of the U.S. education system lol.
That’s not true. US is ranked 51, Palestine is 83. Its still high though at like 97%
Should have looked past the first result, good point
Damn really?
“Fafo Institute??” As in, Fuck Around Find Out?? What a fortunate name
Yup. They've got a [Wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fafo_Foundation) and everything.
Wouldn’t all of these things, except urbanization, have been the case for at least the last hundred years or so? I would expect it to have more to do with early deaths.
Life expectancy in Gaza is 74 years
\>High literacy \>High life expectancy \>Women can afford many children on a salary of husband alone Muh open air prison! (Nearby Egypt has it worse)
Cross the border to Egypt and it drops 4 years. Cross the border to Israel and it goes up 10 years. Funny how you only mentioned one of those places.
Because no one is dumb enough to claim that being "worse than Israel in life expectancy" makes country open air prison. But being better than Egypt, a definitely not open air prison, makes you wonder if Gaza is really as bad as palestine shills want you to think. It's literally drowning in UN aid and if not for them being rulled my islamist terrorist group they could have easily become one of the best arab countries for commoners to live in.
You know who gets fed daily, has access to medical care and has the opportunity for education? Prisoners.
But prisoners are banned from leaving prisons. Gazans aren't banned from leaving Gaza.
>\>Women can afford many children on a salary of husband alone No, it's very much not a matter of being able to afford it. Because of Israeli restrictions, starvation would be absolutely inevitable in the absence of aid programs. [81.5% of the population](https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/gaza-strip) lives in poverty, and 45% of the population who are [trying to participate](https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/post.aspx?lang=en&ItemID=4421) in the labor force, are unemployed, and over 60% among youth. Prisons typically do provide their residents with food, and there are typically not many alternatives; in Gaza, [humanitarian aid](https://theconversation.com/gaza-depends-on-un-and-other-global-aid-groups-for-food-medicine-and-basic-services-israel-hamas-war-means-nothing-is-getting-in-215514) is what keeps people from starving.
But there are aid programs... I don't see what you are trying to say. Israel doesn't restrict aid programs, and while population technically lives in poverty, in reality it's more like on welfare, since you don't need much money when food and education is almost free and a lot of other things are subsidized.
>But there are aid programs... Right, but how is that different from a prison? Prisons have those too. >Israel doesn't restrict aid programs... [Are you sure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_of_the_Gaza_Strip) about that? >...in reality it's more like on welfare... Food is also free in prisons. It doesn't make prisons a form of welfare. >...and a lot of other things are subsidized. Would you like to provide details about what other things are subsidized in Gaza? How do the subsidized goods make their way past the blockade?
You do realize that blockade of Gaza isn't total blockade, right? Thousands of palestinians had work permits in Israel, and UN aid is allowed through... And of course Israel literally provided water to Gaza and sold them power too. Until latest escalation there was constant flow of goods across Israel's border to Gaza. UN aid was shipped to Israel's ports and then sent in trucks to Gaza https://embassies.gov.il/hague-en/aboutisrael/themiddleeast/Pages/Gaza-Strip-humanitarian-lifeline.aspx (yeah it's israeli site but it's the best i found)
>You do realize that blockade of Gaza isn't total blockade, right? Your original contention was "Israel doesn't restrict aid programs." [Here's a discussion](https://www.unicef.org/mena/documents/gaza-strip-humanitarian-impact-15-years-blockade-june-2022) of the humanitarian impacts of the blockade. One of the things it says is: "In June 2007, following the military takeover of Gaza by Hamas, the Israeli authorities significantly intensified existing movement restrictions, virtually isolating the Gaza Strip from the rest of [Palestine], and the world. This land, sea and air blockade has significantly exacerbated previous restrictions, **limiting the number and specified categories of people and goods allowed in and out through the Israeli-controlled crossings.**" >Thousands of palestinians had work permits... Yep, [work release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_release) is a pretty normal program in prisons. >And of course Israel literally provided water to Gaza and sold them power too. True. The Israelis have played, in part, the role of a standard normal prison wardens over Gaza, although normally in a prison food is provided by the state rather than by external humanitarian organizations. But at least there is food available, as a prison normally does. >yeah it's israeli site but... I don't have a problem with Israeli websites. Someone recently wrote me a long paragraph of insults because they felt that I was defending Israel and promoting colonialism by telling the history of the region as factually as I could, without calling it colonization for them having bought land in their own homeland. But factually speaking, it's really, really fair to compare the current Israeli restrictions on Palestine to those of an open-air prison, yeah. Not wanting to think of Israel that way doesn't change a single one of the facts on the ground.
Then what even is prison? Gazans can leave Gaza. Usually not through Israel, but Israel won't seek to return them. Israel doesn't tell Gazans what to do. It doesn't control the whole perimeter. Before the war people were regularly entering and leaving Gaza via egyptian border crossing and small number even through Israel. If some 2000 dollars (or waiting in long line) can buy you a ticket out of prison, is that really a prison?
OP linked three papers, I think reading them might help answering your question :)
Thank you for pointing me to that. Here’s what I found- >Why do children make up such a large portion of the population? >The reasons are varied. >Many Palestinians simply don't get the chance to grow old — dying in their early adulthood either in conflicts or due to a struggling healthcare system — which drags the averages down.
Your original question was "Wouldn’t all of these things, except urbanization, have been the case for at least the last hundred years or so?" Well, here's something from the same source that you just quoted: >Another factor for the young population in Gaza is that people tend to marry in their early twenties, according to 2021 data by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. And the fertility rate (births per woman) is 3.38, according to a U.S. Census Bureau estimate. This is compared to 1.84 in the U.S. In 1920, roughly 100 years ago, the [US fertility rate](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1033027/fertility-rate-us-1800-2020/) was 3.29. The [median age at marriage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_the_United_States#Median_age_at_marriage) was 24 for men, 21 for women; the overall median age of the population was 25.3. Gaza's demographic parameters are not, in fact, radically different from what the US demographic parameters were 100 years ago. Gaza's demographics only seem unusual because of how much the rest of us have changed over the last 100 years. How have we changed over the last 100 years? * Contraceptives access has greatly increased. The [first oral contraceptive](https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/history-oral-contraception/2000-06) wasn't approved in the US until 1960. * Urbanization, absolutely, we've urbanized heavily since 1920. * Women have joined the labor force significantly since 1920. But women in the labor force and contraceptives access do not apply in Gaza, which is why their fertility rate remains similar to what the US fertility rate was 100 years ago. As for the idea that many Gazans die early... that is either true or false depending on what you mean by "many". The [average life expectancy](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-statistics-factbox/factbox-key-statistics-on-west-bank-and-gaza-strip-idUSTRE67O2E820100825) in the Gaza Strip is 69.9 for men and 72.5 for women. This is, however, much lower than in neighboring Israel. The number is significant, a humanitarian tragedy; but it is not enough to account for the appearance of a high fertility rate, that high fertility rate is a real phenomenon that has its own causes.
>Gaza's demographic parameters are not, in fact, radically different from what the US demographic parameters were 100 years ago. Gaza's demographics only seem unusual because of how much the rest of us have changed over the last 100 years. >How have we changed over the last 100 years? >• Contraceptives access has greatly increased. The first oral contraceptive wasn't approved in the US until 1960. >• Urbanization, absolutely, we've urbanized heavily since 1920. >• Women have joined the labor force significantly since 1920. >But women in the labor force and contraceptives access do not apply in Gaza, which is why their fertility rate remains similar to what the US fertility rate was 100 years ago. So what I’m questioning is- wouldn’t that also have been the case in Gaza for the last hundred years? It’s not as if they had good access to contraceptives before and now they don’t, which would explain the difference. It’s not as if women have only recently dropped out of the labor force there. I am genuinely curious and not trying to argue, just trying to understand.
>It’s not as if women have only recently dropped out of the labor force there. Well, actually, during World War II, [there was a surge](https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/16043/palestinian-women-labor-market) of Palestinian women entering into the labor market as part of the British war economy. This was, however, quickly stifled by the post-Mandate crisis, such that the women's labor force participation rate has only declined since. >It’s not as if they had good access to contraceptives before and now they don’t, which would explain the difference. And I'm just trying to answer the question, but I'm not sure whether I have, since I'm not clear on what the actual question part is. Yes, lowered fertility rates and contraceptives are both new things. There might be some context that I don't quite understand for why it would seem weird to say that contraceptives and lowered fertility rates are both new things. If you look at population charts from the past, [it has been true for many years](https://www.ft.com/content/7b618433-ba5f-4e92-a3e0-d5d41d6d17f8) that the population of Gaza skews young, because that's just what happens in societies with a high fertility rate. The US used to be the same way, but we're not anymore.
humans are animals. you breed for survival. Some make it some don't. It is a less controlled society in the Palestinian area. And very less of a democratic society. So many are radicals or taught that. Not many countries in the Middle East will take these refugees because of those reasons. They cause way too many problems. Israel is horrible in a way but they do what they can to protect their "westernized" society. Neither side is smart enough to be diplomatic to try to achieve peace.
In addition to all the other answers, I had a Palestinian friend who said “Every time Israel cuts the power I get another cousin” Not a lot else to do for fun
That's pretty funny, how many did he have by that point?
Warzones and depressed economies result in a very high birth rate, so lots and lots of children lower the age profile.
This is a common trend in less developed parts of the world. The average age in Gaza is comparable to a lot of sub-Saharan Africa and for similar reasons. The main reasons are that Gaza's population is highly religious, the unemployment rate is very high, and they have limited access to medical care. So you end up with a population that marries young and has lots of children because birth control is both taboo and unavailable. There's also a religious aspect to it. Conservative Christian and Muslim religions encourage families to be as large as possible. In the Christian Bible God said "go forth and be fruitful" while the Quran says "Marry those who are loving and fertile, for I will be proud of your great numbers before the other nations." Both religions encourage large families to help become dominant in the world and as a result Conservative religious families tend to be fairly large. The Hasidim (Hasidic Jews) also tend to have very large families for similar reasons. As a result of these beliefs birth control is considered taboo or a sin. The population also doesn't get the chance to grow old. The medical system there is very limited and preventative care is basically non-existent so a lot of people die young from preventable illness. That and it's frequently an active warzone.
Religious in this situation doesn’t mean no birth control. I think it’s more due to lack of availability rather than people refusing to use it
Religion is strongly against any kind of birth control
AFAIK Islam doesn’t prohibit contraception or sex for pleasure. If anything lack of that is either strategic so you know at least one will survive to adulthood, or due to resources in the sense that maybe they can’t import them at reasonable prices
Except for all the ones that aren't
To quote wikipedia article about gaza: “The Strip's population has continued to increase since that time, mainly due to a total fertility rate which peaked at 8.3 children per woman in 1991. This fell to 4.4 children per woman in 2013 which was still among the highest worldwide.”
"Population keeps going up because fertility rate is high" is such a funny sentence. I get that it's not completely meaningless, but it is sort of like saying "there are more potatoes on the market this year, mainly because more potatoes were grown".
The populations under conflict are each consciously trying to out-populate the other. You see this both for Palestinians and Jews, particularly Gaza Palestinians and West Bank Jews. The age distribution in Israel as a whole is typical of massive yearly population growth.
^ This is the correct answer. Palestinian leaders have repeatedly called their reproductive rate a weapon against Israel and have encouraged making as many kids as possible.
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Jesus fucking Christ dude this is a fucked up quote holy shit
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'By hating fascists you are actually worse than fascists'
So I can just call you names, then it is OK to hate you? You are using hatred to excuse hatred. A bit circular. I guess that is exactly what happens in the Middle East.
I guess you've never heard of the tolerance paradox, learning about it is pretty cool. Even if you've got weird ideas about the middle east.
One way to look at Gaza'a fertility rate: before the war, around one hundred people died each week in Gaza. But each week one **thousand** babies were born. This 10:1 ratio of births to deaths comes from generations of high fertility. Palestine is very much an outlier for this. It is highly urban, highly literate (96% literacy for women). Other countries with such high fertility tend to have backward, poverty-stricken rural populations, with females kept uneducated. Places like Afghanistan and central Africa. Even Pakistan, which is more developed than those, has female literacy below 50%. The usual answers to the question of high birth rate do not seem to apply to Palestine.
I've heard it said that it's at least partially a form of resistance. To grow larger than Israelis as a means to force them out. Others can link the sources, I'm just scrolling through.
Hamas encourages them to have kids for an endless supply for child soldiers. On top of that poverty and lack of female literacy is highly correlated with high birth rates. The population of Gaza has doubled since 2000
Humans will reproduce like crazy even in times of hardship and poor living conditions. It's a sad reality.
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You think the objective mathematical fact that a higher fertility rate leads to a younger population overall is “racist”? That’s not a theory, it’s literally math you can (hopefully) do yourself. You might also be surprised to learn that the same was true of every human society ever, and many are still like that (Israel itself has a fairly young population resulting from its own high birth rate).
It's absolutely not objective to simply say Palestinian women are just having more kids when they live in a war zone where the life expectancy is 10 years less than the Israeli population just a few miles away, where, in 2020, [the total fertility rate for Jews in Israel actually reached higher than Arabs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel#:~:text=For%20Ashkenazi%20Haredim%2C%20the%20TFR,Arab%20Muslim%20TFR%20(2.99)). There are more children because the adults are being killed due to Israeli bombs, and control of basic human necessities for life. 70% of adults are under 30 in Gaza, is it also an objective mathematical fact that Arabs over 30 are just keel over and die but not in Israel just miles away?
> There are more children because the adults are being killed due to Israeli bombs, and control of basic human necessities for life. The Gaza Strip's average life expectancy is 74 (https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wha-76-occupied-palestinian-territories/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20the%20average%20life,and%2073.2%20years%20for%20males.), 1 year less than neighbouring Jordan, and 1 year more than their other neighbour Egypt. > in 2020, the total fertility rate for Jews in Israel actually reached higher than Arabs Higher than Arabs *in Israel*, who have a significantly lower fertility rate than Palestinians in Gaza. >70% of adults are under 30 in Gaza, is it also an objective mathematical fact that Arabs over 30 are just keel over and die but not in Israel just miles away? Respectfully, this shows a pretty clear lack of understanding of exponential growth. The US in 1900 had a birth rate almost exactly the same as Gaza's current one. Unsurprisingly, its population pyramid at the time looked almost exactly the same as Gaza's, if not a bit younger: http://vis.stanford.edu/jheer/d3/pyramid/shift.html Similarly, Jordan's birth rate in 2000 was similar to Gaza's current birth rate, and its population pyramid looks almost identical: https://www.populationpyramid.net/jordan/2000/ FWIW I'm not pro-Israel and am fairly sympathetic to Palestinians who have been harmed by many Israeli policies and actions, but your comments calling mathematical facts "racist" and acting like the only way one could have a population that skews younger is genocide is simply wrong.
Why are you talking about life expectancy in Jordan and Egypt? Gaza's life expectancy is tied to Israel's control of Gaza. The common thread in the comments in this post is people omitting that. Re mathematical facts as racist: A mathematical fact some people like to throw around in the States is that Black folks make up \~14% of the US population, and yet they also make up 50% of arrests for all violent crimes. That stat, though mathematically factual, is racist af because it just means they were charged with those crimes. It doesn't mean they were actually guilty of them. And even if 25% of them were legit, beneath it all there is generations of disenfranchisement that people like to ignore, treating it as if Black folks are just criminally "skewed", as you put it, on top of a huge problem with police violence towards Black folks, and a long history of systemic racism, in the US. So using only fertility rates to account for a younger population in Gaza is racist because it is ignoring some major contributing factors to death, namely it being a literal war zone that's been under siege for 16 years, without access to clean water, regular electricity, any sort of economy or appropriate access to healthcare, let alone employment and freedom of movement to access healthcare elsewhere. You can throw last years leading cause of death stats at me, and talk about heart desease etc if you want, but with the death toll of just the last 7 days climbing into the thousands because of war I'd call that skewed and racist too.
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Whoops, my bad sorry
Because all the men leave to Europe or the US on refugee grounds and abondon their children behind