It’s very difficult to acquire credible information about conditions in the Gaza Strip, because almost everything published — whether in the mainstream media or the alternative media — is propaganda put out by one side or the other. The current prevalence of AI-generated images and video has made it that much more difficult to separate truth from pseudo-reality.
However, some information may be gleaned from satellite photos, which indicate that well over half of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed. Much of the population of northern Gaza has fled south, and is now trapped between the Israeli-enforced dividing line in central Gaza and the border with Egypt, which enclave is about to be invaded by the IDF. The Egyptians, knowing full well the risks associated with importing large numbers of Palestinians, are only allowing a trickle of traffic through the Rafah border crossing. As a result, a huge number of displaced residents are packed into tent cities near Rafah.
What will become of these refugees when the war is finally over? Israel is not too keen on repopulating the devastated areas of Gaza with them. And some Israeli organizations have plans for postwar Gaza that include establishing new Jewish settlements there. These are not the official plans of the Israeli government, but they are not the ravings of wild-eyed zealots in fringe groups, either. They are being openly discussed in public forums, which means the government is well aware of them and is not trying to shut them down.
If the Palestinians in the tent cities are not to be allowed back into northern Gaza, where then will they be resettled? There is some discussion of “voluntary” migration — that is, conditions in the crowded camps will become so harsh that residents there will be ready to emigrate somewhere, anywhere that will have them. If the Egyptian government can be induced to open the border for a steady, larger flow, this process can begin.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is working towards exactly that end:
On December 25, 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed at the Likud Knesset faction meeting that he was working on the voluntary immigration of Gaza residents to other countries. “Our problem is finding countries that are ready to absorb them, and we are working on it,” Netanyahu said.
It goes without saying that no Islamic nation will accept any refugees from Gaza. They have all made it clear that they do not want Palestinians in their countries. And with good reason — nobody in his right mind would want to import Palestinians. That’s why the Egyptians have steadfastly resisted opening the Rafah crossing fully.
Thus Mr. Netanyahu is, for all practical purposes, expecting the West to take in the wretched refuse from Gaza. Canada, under the inspired leadership of Justin “Baby Doc” Trudeau, has already shown an eagerness to bring in the puir wee bairns of Palestine. I don’t know whether the USA will be similarly welcoming, since this is an election year, but we’ll see. As for the EU, it will vary from country to country, depending on how lefty the government in question is. I would expect Ireland, for example, to take its share, and possibly also Germany, under the Green-led traffic light coalition.
And Israel may have found a different solution to the problem: it is negotiating with Congo to take in the homeless and tempest-tost from Gaza. The article doesn’t mention the issue of payment, but I’m cynical enough to assume that the Congolese, already ridden with poverty and political strife, will extract a high price in return for the placement of Palestinians in their new tropical ghetto.
Regardless of their ultimate destination, the denizens of Gaza are problematic for anyone who is foolish enough to take them in. The Israelis, who have a closer acquaintance with the Palestinians than anyone else (with the possible exception of the Jordanians), have a jaundiced view of them.
Mr. Netanyahu is proposing is to export an entire population of what some Israelis consider to be dangerous terrorists who deserve extermination. The aim is to dump them on the Gentiles of the West, or perhaps on the Sons of Ham south of the Sahara. If the price is right, surely Congo or Gabon or Zambia would be willing to accept them. Anywhere but Israel.
Why is he doing that? If they all deserve to be killed, why ship them out to Berlin or Toronto instead of burying their corpses in the rubble of Gaza City and Khan Younis?
The answer, of course, is that this is a cynical strategy that will allow Israel to retain the moral high ground. Since 1948 the Israelis (and Jews in general) have had the reputation of conducting wars in the most humane manner possible, taking more Israeli casualties in order to avoid civilian deaths. It never seemed to do them any good; the Israelis were reviled just as much, no matter what. But they did it anyway. And, at least in the West, no one is acknowledged to wage war more ethically than the Jews of Israel.
That’s what they would stand to lose if they were to execute their strategy openly, instead of accomplishing it clandestinely, through subterfuge.
The thing is, I can understand the Israeli position on all this. The concept of “civilians” in Gaza is largely meaningless. Hamas is not distinct from Palestinian society at large. The entire Palestinian culture is structured around a single all-important goal: the destruction of the State of Israel by the killing of all Jews who live there. Every societal institution is dedicated to that purpose. The goal is proclaimed in the mosques, broadcast in the media, and taught in the schools (largely by female teachers, I might add).
From the time he learns to talk, a child in Gaza is indoctrinated to believe that the most sublime goal he can hope to attain in this life is to die while killing Jews.
This is a cultural and theological issue, and it cannot be resolved through dialogue. For an Islamic zealot, dialogue is a tactic used to fool the enemy until the opportunity arises to slit his throat.
That’s why the “two-state solution” is a fool’s errand. Setting up a Palestinian state next door to Israel would be like Gaza on steroids. The same dysfunctional political culture, the same monomaniacal focus on killing Jews, but this time with passports and ambassadors and consulates and IMF loans. No matter how well the Israelis fortified the border, the Palestinians would constantly be tunneling under it, flying paragliders over it, and shooting missiles at Israeli cities from their brand-new country. Israel will never know peace with Palestinians as next-door neighbors.
When a normal sovereign state wages war against a neighbor, it is for relatively rational goals. Political leaders want to annex new territory or acquire the resources of their adversaries. When an opponent is conquered, those resources are utilized to enhance the power of the conquering state.
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