One minute, one inflection point. A Western Journal write-up spotlights a 60-second clip from a PragerU interview with Sophia Salma Khalifa, described by PragerU as a Muslim Arab Israeli who grew up in Israel and now works as a tech entrepreneur in Santa Clara, California. According to Western Journal, the short clip distills what it calls a key piece of Gaza’s recent history.
The 60‑second claim
Western Journal reports that in 2024 PragerU CEO Marissa Streit interviewed Khalifa for the organization’s “Stories of Us” podcast. The article says the one-minute segment summarizes Gaza’s past two decades. Rachel Elovitz posted the clip on X on March 12, 2025, emphasizing that Khalifa is a “Muslim Arab Israeli.”
2005 pullout—and what followed, per the article
Western Journal states that until 2005 the Gaza Strip was under direct Israeli control, and that Israel evacuated the territory that year, leaving behind infrastructure and an opening for Palestinians to form their own government. The article contends Palestinians then elected Hamas, which consolidated power in the territory.
Commentary cited by Western Journal includes a post by writer Mark Milke on Oct. 31, 2026. Milke wrote that he was “on the border with Gaza in July 2005 when Israel forcibly uprooted a few thousand Israelis,” calling Gaza “ethnically cleansed…of Jews” and asserting, “The problem in Gaza has always been Palestinian leaders, i.e., Hamas.” Those are Milke’s characterizations.
The wider frame the article puts around it
Western Journal ties Khalifa’s account to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack that it says set off the current war in Gaza. The piece also invokes a disputed historical claim: that then–Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2000 offered Yasser Arafat a deal including 95 percent of the West Bank and all of Gaza—rising to 97 percent with land swaps—and that Arafat rejected it. These points are presented in the article’s telling.
Patriots Beacon is relaying these claims as reported by Western Journal and attributed sources. Readers should note where statements reflect opinion or contested history and view the original materials before drawing conclusions.