Dismantle Refugee Camps, not Jewish Settlements
Riain Barton
On Sunday, May 30, the Israeli Knesset is scheduled to begin debate on
Prime Minister Sharon's plan for Israeli disengagement from the Gaza
Strip. According to the revised plan, all Jewish settlements will be
removed from the Gaza Strip, Israeli military will withdraw, and the
territory will be turned over to the Palestinian Authority to become a
nascent Islamic state. Judging from media reports, 99.99% of the world
is in favor of this plan. President Bush supports it. Kofi Anan is
counting the days until he can welcome the new state of Palestine as a
full member of the UN. European leaders are eager to recognize the
nascent state and develop diplomatic relations. Yasser Arafat has
already declared himself President. The pollsters claim that most
Israelis favor disengagement from Gaza. It appears that the only
opposition to this plan comes from the 7000 Jewish settlers who will be
evicted from their homes, and a handful of Israeli right-wing
extremists. Yet, with all this support for the disengagement plan, one
key question remains unanswered: What justification is there, under
international law, for evicting the Jewish settlers and establishing
another Islamic state in the region? Or to phrase it differently, what
legal justification is there for hanging a big neon sign on the Gaza
Strip that says No Jews Allowed? This question can best be answered by
asking a number of other questions.
1) What are these Jewish settlements? Most of these
settlements consist of about 300 individuals who have lived in the area
for the last 20 to 30 years. They consist mostly of idealistic, young
families. They live quietly and peacefully. They haven t smuggled any
weapons, blown up any buses, launched rocket attacks against their
neighbors, or decapitated anyone. Why should their homes be dismantled
and their families forced to relocate? There are about an equal number
of Christians living in the Gaza Strip as Jews. Why are the Christians
allowed to live there, but the Jews have to be evicted? What if a group
of families from Kenya moved to the Gaza Strip and started an
agricultural settlement. Would Kofi Anan say that they have to leave
because they are not Arab, or could they stay because they are not Jews?
What if a group of New York Hasidim wanted to start an isolated
community in Montana and the local ranchers decided that they didn t
want their kind living there? Would President Bush support the
ranchers? Would the liberal American Jews say that the Hasidim have no
right to live in Montana?
2) What legal rights do the Palestinian Arabs
have to the Gaza Strip? Contrary to popular belief, the Gaza Strip is
not Palestinian land. Most of the Arabs living there are not
indigenous, but fled there during the 1948 war. For the last 37 years,
the area has been under Israeli control. Prior to that, from 1948-1967,
the area was illegally occupied by Egypt which used it to stage
terrorist attacks against Israel. Those 19 years were the only period in
the history of the region that Jews were completely barred from living
there. Prior to that, it was under British control, and before that it
was part of the Ottoman Empire. Jews have a long and turbulent history
associated with Gaza. The Palestinian Arabs have no more right to
control that land than the Jews have. Both Jews and Arabs have equal
rights to live there in harmonious coexistence.
3) What will happen to Gaza after the Jews are
evicted and the Israeli army withdraws? According to Muhammed Dahlan of
the PA, as soon as the Israeli occupation ends, Gaza will become a
peaceful, secure rudiment of a democratic Palestinian state. Is there
any evidence to support that assumption? There isn t a single,
democratic Islamic state in the whole world, why would this be
different? The Palestinian Authority does not have a good record for
maintaining peace and stability. What happened when the Israeli military
withdrew from Bethlehem and Hebron? They immediately became hotbeds of
crime, violence, corruption, and terrorism. Why would anyone expect Gaza
to become any different? What happened when the Israeli military
withdrew from southern Lebanon? Hizbollah immediately moved in to fill
the vacuum and expand its terrorist operations. Today, southern Lebanon
has 11,000 missiles aiming at Israel. Hizbollah is already extending its
tentacles into Gaza.
So what is the solution to resolving the conflict and turbulence in the
Gaza Strip?
The Gaza Strip is a valuable piece of real estate that has significant
potential for becoming a model for peaceful coexistence. Instead of
dismantling peaceful, harmless Jewish communities, the refugee camps
which foment hatred and violence should be dismantled. The UNWRA should
not be supporting refugee camps for over 50 years. The hundreds of
millions of dollars of foreign aid should go towards building decent
housing and residential communities. Gaza has a long coastline which can
be used to develop a shipping port and recreational areas. Unlike the
Judean Hills, Gaza has flat land that can be used for an airport. Over
20% of the land is arable and can be used to grow crops with water from
experimental water reclamation projects. The Arabs, Jews, and Christians
living there could form an autonomous, democratic, representative
government. Only security would be under Israeli control. The benefits
of harmonious existence and mutual cooperation could then be extended
into the Judea and Samaria regions.
The answer to the first question now becomes obvious: There is no
justification for evicting the Jews in Gaza in order to establish
another racist, autocratic, violent Islamic state. That would only
validate and encourage more terrorism. Instead of blaming peaceful
Jewish settlements for the turbulence in Gaza, the international
community should be directing its efforts and resources towards
developing Gaza into a modern residential, commercial, and recreational
center. Arabs, Christians, and Jews will experience the benefits of
harmonious coexistence and mutual cooperation. In time, these benefits
will become infectious throughout the Middle East.
israel zwick
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[Zionism is NOT Racism, Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism]