Removal of Israelis from Gaza

Submitted by Don Skupsky (United States), Apr 11, 2005 at 16:01

Daniel:

Israel actually has a precedent. Jewish settlements in Sinai (including Taba) were destroyed and settlers forcibly evicted as part of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. This was on a much smaller scale than Gaza.

Having been a frequent traveler to Israel and actually having been to Gush Kativ and the southern Gaza settlements in 2003, I pose this question: What would you want Israel to do?

Israel, so far, has no partner on the Palestinian side. The Gaza settlements are in very close proximity to the Palestinian areas -- in some places they are right next to each other or snake through areas side by side. So Israel has elected to impose a separation between the populations, with the strategic goal of giving up Gaza in exchange for keeping the 200,000+ settlers in the West Bank. At least this provides a more defensible boundary than what exists in Gaza.

If Israel did not follow the current course of action, then you have two alternatives: (1) Control a large, hostile Palestinian population or (2) Expel the Palestinians to Jordan or another Arab country. Can a democracy do either of those things?

I hate giving up Gaza, but I support building the wall. But, after all my study of the subject, I don't know of any solution that would work. If the Gaza experiment fails, Israel can reoccupy it if needed.

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