I find it’s easier to imagine things when you have reference points. The Gaza Strip is almost exactly the same size as the City of Philadelphia (proper). Philadelphia County comes in at 1 square mile larger by area. The population density of the Gaza Strip is very close to Mount Vernon, NY or Milbourne, PA—inner suburbs. It’s a little under the density of Cambridge, Massachusetts and a deal denser than the City of Boston (proper). Milbourne is about the same density as most West Philly residential blocks.
From anywhere in Philadelphia you can always see the skyline, orienting you towards city hall. If someone dropped a bomb on Philadelphia City Hall, we all would see it. I remember how after 9/11 what so many people talked about was the trauma of seeing the change in the skyline of Manhattan. Gaza City is rubble, and nobody in Gaza is very far away.
When a hurricane struck Philadelphia in 2021, we all were told to shelter in place. The Schuykill River flooded, and commuting was dangerous. As photos came in, we all recognized everywhere hit by the flooding. The city isn’t really that big. We’ve all been to Logan Square.
Israel claimed they warned Gazans to flee south to Rafah before they launched missiles at Gaza City. But Gaza is about the same size as Philadelphia. This is like warning people in North Philly to hop on the broad street subway and go down to South Philly. Gaza isn’t very big.
I don’t know. It’s not a huge observation. But to me it helps me imagine things to scale. I can feel my orientation within my city and my familiarity with it. I know which way is city hall, Temple Hospital, Bartram’s Gardens, FDR Park, the Art Museum, Tacony Park, the Wissahickon. It’s all very present with me in a way a city far away is not. My brain is not oriented to where New Brunswick is besides “Idk, Northeast.” Because it’s just that much further away. But Gaza is the size of Philly. Were I a Gazan, the whole Gaza Strip would be this way to me. That way is Rafah. That way is Gaza City. That way is the ocean. That way is the militarized separation wall with Israel, guns pointing inwards, the source of rockets in the sky like the rising sun each day.
On New Years Eve, everyone in Philly can see the fireworks over the Delaware River if you’re on a roof. Gaza is about that big. Even in Rafah, surely they can see the missiles and bombs. They can feel it. It’s not that far away. Gaza is very very small. It is the same size as Philadelphia with 32% more people in it. And Israel has vowed publicly to destroy all of it.
In 2019 there was an explosion at the oil refinery in Philadelphia. The entire city was filled with smoke from this single explosion. Israel is bombing Gaza relentlessly non-stop. 141 square miles isn’t very big.
