Letter: What Have Palestinians Built? Part II

Dear editor:

Bruce Ticker rightly points out that, while all Palestinians in Gaza and 95% of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria have been living under the administration of leaders of their own choosing for nearly three decades, neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority (PA) has made any effort to develop the economies in areas they control. (“Column: A Simplistic Solution from Norway, Spain, and Ireland” boulderjewishnews.org May 30, 2024.) Nor have the leaders made any progress in building the infrastructure needed by a viable state. In fact, a significant number of the Palestinians living under Hamas and PA administration are still classified as “Palestine refugees” by UNRWA and both Hamas and  the PA continue to insist that these multi-generational descendants of Arabs who fled Palestine in the 1940’s must remain on the world’s dole until Israel allows them to “return,” effectively turning Israel into a Muslim-majority state populated by people who’ve been taught that killing Jews is a Muslim’s ticket to Heaven. This Muslim-majority Israel would border a Palestinian state from which all Jews had been banished; Would there be any worldwide outcry as the Palestinians sought to drive the Jews out of Zion, our ancestral homeland?

It has just been announced that Israel has agreed to Pres. Biden’s most recent proposal for ending the war in Gaza.Netanyahu aide: Israel agrees to tentative Gaza ceasefire deal – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com) I hope this portends true peace. But that means that Gaza must be demilitarized, Hamas and other terrorist groups be prevented from stealing humanitarian aid from the people, the curricula used in Palestinian and UNRWA schools must be revised, removing anti-Jewish rhetoric and preparing the people to become builders of their own state, not attempted destroyers of the Jewish state. And all states donating funds for the rebuilding of Gaza must insist on carefully supervising the use of their money. Hamas’ replacement cannot be permitted to rebuild the terror tunnels instead of providing Gazans with homes, schools, hospitals, proper water treatment facilities,recreation areas, etc.

Toby F. Block
Atlanta, GA