An immodest proposal

A friend of mine keeps asking me what I think should be done about the Israeli/Palestinian issue. I keep avoiding his requests because I know that this is one of the most vexing problems in the world today. But tonight, as we sit on the brink of war in Iraq, I see something that might be a viable solution (or maybe not).

The Palestinians have always longed for their own state, but they have proven themselves to be totally ill-equipped to actually run a state. Yassar Arafat and the Palestinian Authority are wonderful revolutionaries (well, they pretend to be at least), but they are miserable and incompetent statesmen. They have reneged on promise after promise and they have utterly failed to follow through on any commitments to international peace. They have done nothing to reign in their “citizens” who are actively conspiring to wage a terrorist war campaign against their neighbor. Israel does have a right to expect the PA to control its own people. The same as it is unacceptable for an American to plot to blow up Canadians in Toronto, it is unacceptable for the Palestinians to blow up Israelis in Tel Aviv.

So how can we work on this problem? Why don’t we think outside the box for a minute. The Palestinians are not the only people in need of a responsible government primer. The Iraqis are going to be learning many of the same lessons (albeit for different reasons) as the Palestinians need to learn.

The Palestinians ranged across a large swath of land before settling in western part of the trans-Jordan prior to the partition. They have generally been a people on the move until recently. Don't forget, when Mark Twain visited Jerusalem in the mid-nineteenth century, the city had less than 10,000 residents and the surrounding countryside was virtually barren.

As we look at a map of Iraq, we see a large chunk of sparsely populated land west of the Euphrates. Why can’t this desert wasteland be turned into a thriving new homeland for the Palestinians?

If the PA were to move to western Iraq soon after the occupation began, they could be in on the rebuilding of Iraq – learning the necessary lessons of statehood, while still living under the protection of the world community in case of unavoidable mistakes.

The area may be a vast wasteland now, but so was most of Israel before the Israeli people decided to make it fruitful. The Palestinians are capable of learning to create useful acreage from a desert wasteland. Palestinian farmers can learn the techniques of successful desert irrigation. Palestinian industrialists can learn to use the resources of the surrounding land to create wealth.

As I see it, the Palestinian people are being held back by the following factors: irresponsible government, irrational attachment to a particular plot of land, and a myopic worldview. All of these shortcomings can be overcome. Short term, direct intervention is the best way to handle the problems. Long term, education based on fact and logic is the key.

The hardest of the three factors to overcome is the second one – the irrational attachment to a piece of land. The Palestinians will scream that they should not have to abandon their “homeland” on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. But their “homeland” is wasteland, just like the western Iraqi desert. And it is surrounded by a more successful people that the Palestinians harbor a great deal of resentment against. The western desert gives them the opportunity for a fresh start.

Education (and re-education) of the Palestinian people will be the long-term key to success in solving the Palestinian’s problems. They have to experience a Renaissance and have to learn that they are capable of being successful members of the world community. They need to learn about human rights and tolerance. They need to learn to have independent thought. Logic and reason will be important. But it’s going to be a long hard process.

I’m afraid that the US is going to have to get involved in the Palestinian situation at some point. As we occupy Iraq, we are presented with a wonderful opportunity to work on the problems facing the Palestinian people. If we can offer the PA an opportunity to start fresh, with help, we can start the process of turning the Palestinian problem around now rather than later.

For the record, I am not proposing a forced relocation. This would have to be voluntary. I am also not advocating the overthrow of Arafat (though it probably wouldn’t hurt), but rather the creation of a more respectful government. I am also not proposing a separate state, yet. For now this would be a political partition of Iraq, with the relationship being similar to that of say the State of New York’s relationship to the US government. Quite a bit of autonomy but not complete. And this is all just an idea, a thought – maybe even a bad one.

Is this the end all solution? I doubt it. I would actually hope not. My intention here is to start debate. This isn’t perfectly thought through or logically argued, I just realized a few minutes ago that it was even a remote possibility. Tell me why I’m wrong. Tell me things that might work better. A little debate on this can’t hurt (the flame wars might though).

All I ask is that if you post on another site, let me know and link back so that I can follow everything.