NO URL…..ERIC LEVINE IS AN ATTORNEY IN NEW YORK
President Trump’s statement that resettling Palestinians living in Gaza “could be temporary or long term” has raised many eyebrows.
[Gaza is] literally a demolition site right now … So, I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change…You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing…You know over the centuries it’s had many, many conflicts. And I don’t know, something has to happen.
Although Trump’s statement is controversial and an abhorrent nonstarter to some, his suggestion is actually quite rational. The history of the Middle East and other regions around the world is full of examples of resettling refugees to give them a chance at a better life for themselves and future generations.
At a minimum, Gazans who want to leave should be given the opportunity to do so. As unlikely as that opportunity is, even more unlikely are the odds that Hamas will allow them to leave. They will be labeled as “traitors” and shot. Hamas has no intention of allowing any Gazan to resettle. Every Gazan is effectively a prisoner of Hamas.
For 75 years the Arab and Muslim worlds, with the open assistance of the United Nations, have waged war against Israel. Some Arab states have made peace with Israel. For other Muslim countries – such as Iran and its terror proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis – the effort to destroy Israel continues. As a critical component of that war, Hamas repeatedly uses Palestinian civilians as props and human shields in their propaganda war to show the world Israel’s “inhumanity” as it exercises its legitimate right of self-defense.
As Trump’s statement on resettlement makes clear, there is another path forward.
Throughout history, refugees have been offered asylum in host countries where they can start new lives.