Two Reasons Why Palestine Should Be Left For the Wolves

In reference to this posting's title, I'm not suggesting that the world should turn their back on the West Bank and Gaza Palestinians . . . at least not completely. But there are many reasons to do so.

Lately, the fact that Hamas has won the recent election and has taken over governing the Palestinian Authority has provided the best reason. Why should the democratic West provide financial support for a government (and its people) who have perpetuated and engaged in suicide bombings of civilians in Israel and who have publicly sworn that their first raison d'etre is to kill Jews, destroy Israel as a nation and reclaim that land for the Palestinian people?

Aside from having pity on the much abused and manipulated Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza (and I do not necessarily mean "abused and manipulated" by the Israelis) there is no rational reason whatsoever for giving this government even one American tax dollar of support.

But I am writing about a different reason for leaving Palestine to the wolves. And this reason begins with the premise that the wolves have already taken the would-be-country over.

As I have written many times before (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here) the Palestinian people and those who govern them have spent hundreds of millions of dollars behaving in ways that have brought themselves into utter ruin. Had money been invested in creating a functional nation of Palestine we would have such a nation today. It would be a prosperous nation. A nation that would have taken advantage of its greatest resource: the Palestinian people.

If people had been taught to build rather than to destroy; to live rather than to die; to work hard rather than to complain about everyone else; to accept both blame and responsibility rather than to blame Israel and the rest of the world for their troubles; Palestine would be a place where people would want to live. A place where people would want to immigrate to rather than emigrate from. A place where people would want to invest money instead of siphoning it off into Swiss bank accounts.

There would be industry. There would be vast areas under cultivation with sophisticated irrigation systems. There would be abundant and profitable trade with Israel and with Jordan, with Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. There would be a thriving tourist industry with hotels and beautifully restored treasures from antiquity, including precious sites of pilgrimage for Jews, Christians and Muslims. There would be paved roads, electricity and sanitation facilities.

Quality education for children would be mandatory as it is in Jordan and Israel. The education system would prepare children for lives of responsibility and service to others. The historic colleges and universities would be revived into places of open dialogue and discussion of all sides of all issues. Scholars and statesmen/women would come from around that world to speak to international issues which would involve Palestine. Issues such as economics and trade, medical care, politics, religion and the basic rights of all people would be openly and fairly covered in a free and uncensored press.

Treaties and other agreements with a recognized Israel would provide land access from the West Bank to Gaza and world nations would either loan or give money for the construction of a world class seaport along the Gaza Coast as well as a free and open international airport.

BUT . . . instead of this, the people of Palestine have been duped and betrayed by their so-called "leaders" into trading all of this away for poverty, conflict, bloodshed, corruption, lawlessness, hopelessness, constant grieving and a culture of death.

It appears that the people of the Palestinian territories have decided that anything that has any positive benefit for them must be destroyed.

Take, for example, the photograph featured at the beginning of this post. It is from msnbc's photos of the week, March 9-16. It shows a Palestinian youth helping to burn down a British council office in Gaza on March 14. Why would driving out the Americans, the British and other foreign representatives be a good thing for the Palestinians? The answer is, of course, that driving them out by behavior such as this is a very bad thing for the Palestinians. So, of course, that is exactly what they do . . . over and over again ad nauseum.

Two phrases come to mind that seem to capture the deranged behavior of these unfortunate people:

Cutting off your nose to spite your face;

and

Shooting yourself in the foot and boasting that you hit your target.

There are other, less complimentary images that could also represent this self-destructive mentality but I will leave these to your own imagination.

Is there any sense of justice in their complaint over the existence of Israel? Yes, of course there is. It is an issue worthy of discussion and debate. It is worthy of pursuing a solution and a resolution, a compromise and a settlement.

But for the Palestinian people, the issue is "all or nothing." Either Israel goes away for good or . . . or . . . the Palestinian people will suffer increasing hardships and social/cultural degeneration for themselves and their posterity.

It is the Palestinian people who have decided on this "all or nothing" scenario. They appear to be willing to lose everything rather than to accept the existence of Israel as a neighbor nation.

With Hamas now in control it seems to me to be politically reasonable to let them reap what they have sown. They have freely chosen a destiny filled with despair, grief, bitterness, and hopelessness.

It is their choice. Perhaps we should let them live with the consequences of that choice.

It deeply grieves my own heart to see how far these honorable and naturally hospitable people have fallen.

In the end it will up to the Palestinian people to decide whether they will forever blame Israel for their problems or whether they will let Israel exist and turn their energy towards creating a prosperous and glorious nation for themselves.

Sadly, and ironically, their desire to destroy Israel has manifested itself in the destruction of themselves.

And the wolves seem to be quite happy with the arrangement.