Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Resurrect the idea of expelling the Palestinians

As distasteful as the idea of "expelling" a people from one area, and re-settling them in another may be – especially in the current climate of political correctness, the need for Mideast peace and the lack of viable options necessitates legitimizing this idea, if only for the sake of discussion.

No one bats an eye when the press or Iraqi politicians mention moving Sunnis to one district, Shiites to another. The world gave a Nobel peace prize to those who moved Cypriots and Greeks to different sides of Cyprus in order to achieve what negotiations couldn't.

At the end of the day, all the wasted breath on who did what to whom is just an endless cycle of regurgitated propaganda. Israel is a full fledged country, just as legitimate as Australia or the United States. No one is demanding that America give the USA back to the Indians, and I don't see the Australians beating themselves up because they crowded out the Aborigines. At his stage of the world, facts on the ground trump Arab/Muslim sensitivities that can never be satisfied.

If the world's political leaders want the Mideast conflict settled, then they should look for better solutions than what they have put forward to date. A good place to start is for "Palestinian expulsion" to be accepted in the marketplace of ideas. At the very least, just legitimizing the conversation might make the Palestinians realize that the world – and Israel – has a limited amount of patience, and that they will pay a price for their folly. Enough of this catering to the Palestinian's love affair with victimhood.

As for where these expelled Palestinians are to go? That is likely to be a far easier solution than settling the current conflict. It's an Arab problem with an Arab solution. There is no shortage of arable vacant land in the Arab world, and there is no shortage of Arab/Muslim petro-dollars to make the transition easier.

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