A brighter future for Palestinians

There is something that I don’t quite understand, and I’m addressing this to my Arab-American brothers and sisters, many of whom came out strongly against President Trump’s Gaza plan.

Plainly stated, why in God’s name would you oppose it? Is it so important to abuse the Palestinians in an 80-year war against Israel — as pawns that allows Israel-haters to accuse Jews of being occupiers — that you would deprive them of a future? Do you want Palestinian children growing up in the garbage can that is Gaza rather than in a developed Arab country where they can have a lawn, schools, and a park? Israel, the size of New Jersey, took in a million Jewish refugees from Arab countries and millions more from Europe and all over the West. They were given an infinitely better life in Israel than they would have had in their Arab countries of origin, and they weren’t a hundredth as bad as Gaza. Can you really not support President Trump’s plan to ask Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, and the Gulf States to take in Palestinian refugees? Do you not want your Palestinian brothers and sisters to have a future? Do you want Palestinian children to grow in the squalor of Gaza and under the brutal tyranny of Hamas?

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a central issue in the Middle East for over 80 years, marked by violence, displacement, and political stagnation. I understand that many Arab-Americans feel an undeniable connection to this struggle, fueled by empathy for Palestinian suffering, which is the fault not of Israel but Hamas. For two decades Hamas has robbed the Palestinian people of perhaps $100 billion in humanitarian aid that was used to make Ishmael Haniyeh — and his sons, who have now inherited from him — a billionaire, and to build terror tunnels and murderous rockets. A recent report said that Yasser Arafat’s daughter, Zahwa Arafat, is worth $8 billion, thanks to the “Palestinian aid” and massive real estate portfolio she inherited from her father.

Would you really force your Palestinian brothers to return to this corruption and graft?

An emotional investment to simply punish Israel should not cloud Arab-American judgment when evaluating new proposals, including controversial ones like President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. We must honestly consider whether clinging to longstanding narratives that Israel is the genocidal bad guy and that Hamas are not terrorists but liberators is depriving Palestinians of the chance for a better life.

Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinian refugees in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, and the Gulf States was met with outrage from many Arab and Palestinian communities. On the surface, the backlash is understandable. Generational trauma and a false propaganda narrative of Jews stealing Palestinian land is deeply ingrained. However, it is also essential to face a hard truth: the Gaza Strip remains a humanitarian disaster under the oppressive control of Hamas, a designated terrorist organization that prioritizes warfare over the well-being of its own people. Life in Gaza is characterized by limited access to clean water, electricity, and educational resources — all due to Hamas militancy and theft — while young Palestinians grow up surrounded by violence and despair, not to mention political oppression at every level, courtesy of Hamas.

The moral question is whether we are willing to support pragmatic solutions that improve their immediate future. As stated, Israel, a country the size of New Jersey, has absorbed millions of Jewish refugees since its founding. Why can’t the broader Arab world show similar compassion and solidarity by providing Palestinians with safe and prosperous homes? Does a narrow focus on resisting Israeli occupation justify condemning generations of Palestinians to live in the squalor of Gaza?

Of course, many of my Arab-American brothers and sisters seem more concerned that voluntary resettlement would erase Palestinian claims to an ancestral land. But isn’t it finally time to grant a population trapped in squalor and suffering a better future rather than continuing to use millions of people as political pawns?

For eight decades the Palestinians have essentially served as leverage by Israel’s neighbors and terror organizations as leverage to delegitimize Israel. Within eight years of the Second World War nearly all refugees from all belligerent or attacked nations had found permanent homes. And that was a conflict 100 times the size of all the Arab-Israeli wars combined. The exception is the Palestinians, who, 80 years later, won’t be accepted by a single Arab state.

Thus mystery is compounded by the following astonishing numbers.

The combined territory of all Arab states — the 22 members of the Arab League — is 13.1 million square kilometers. Israel, by contrast, is 22,145 square kilometers. That means that the size ratio disparity is this: Arab states are an astonishing 590 times larger than Israel in terms of total territory. The disparity in geographical size staggers the imagination. Yet even so, the Arab states won’t give a grain of sand for a Palestinian state.

This becomes especially prescient when one remembers that Jordan is — factually and unequivocally — 80 percent of the original British mandate for Palestine, the Jews having received only 20 percent in the 1947 United Nations partition plan, which was voted on in the building that today serves as the Queens Museum, which many of us pass on our way to JFK airport.

The Arab world has the resources, the cultural ties, the wealth, and most importantly, the massive physical space to help Palestinians rebuild their lives. Imagine Palestinian children attending well-funded schools, exercising in gyms, and living in safe neighborhoods in Cairo, Amman, or Rabat. These images stand in stark contrast to the bombed-out streets and crumbling infrastructure of Gaza. What parent would not choose hope and opportunity for their child over perpetual misery?

As for those who argue that this is ethnic cleansing, how could Arabs living among Arabs mean ethnic cleansing? No one is suggesting that Jews move into Gaza to replace the Palestinians. Trump is suggesting an international tourist zone, open to all, including Palestinians who may wish to return after it is rebuilt. A destination that would be a place of tourism, peace, and prosperity.

Some Arab-Americans fear that embracing this plan amounts to abandoning Palestinian nationalism. But true solidarity with the Palestinian people who have been crushed under Hamas means prioritizing the well-being of people over rigid ideologies. Supporting resettlement as President Trump says as a temporary measure is a moral and humanitarian imperative. On the contrary, it demonstrates a commitment to the humanity and dignity of Palestinians, refusing to sacrifice them as pawns in an endless political struggle.

To my Arab-American brothers and sisters, I urge you to consider this: Do you want to be remembered as a community that held onto grievances at the expense of a suffering people’s future? Would you really return 1.8 million Palestinians to the brutal reign of Hamas? Or can we be courageous enough to support difficult but compassionate solutions that offer Palestinians a chance to thrive?

The answer should be clear. If we truly care about Palestinian lives, we must be willing to explore every avenue including temporary resettlement to brother Arab states while Gaza is rebuilt over the next decade or so to secure a brighter, more hopeful future for them.

We owe them that much.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach of Englewood is the author of “Judaism for Everyone” and “The Israel Warrior.” Follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @RabbiShmuley.

Opinion

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