Written by: Justin King at theantimedia.org
Gaza – Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave the world some food for thought by stating that the best way to end the cycle of violence in Gaza is to encourage prosperity in the region.
“I’m extremely concerned that if you leave Gaza in the state it’s currently in, you’ll have another eruption, and violence, and then we’re back in a further catastrophe, so we’ve got to stop that.”
Later he said:
“The place to start with peace is actually Gaza, because if we’re able to change the situation in Gaza, politically and economically, then we’re able to do a lot of changes in the whole of the politics of this conflict”
While the Western media did its best to discuss the precision strikes by the IDF, the fact is that the bombing and shelling left more than 5% of the population with destroyed homes. 5% seems like a small percentage, but it’s the entire population of Boulder, Colorado. In short, it’s dumping 100,000 homeless people into Houston while the government withholds tax revenues. At the same time, the entire city’s infrastructure has been destroyedand construction supplies must pass an exhaustive series of checks to make sure weapons aren’t being smuggled in. Additionally, the city is under blockade by a nation that has advised starving them in the past.
The Pro-Israel lobby immediately took issue with the statement, probably out of blind obedience to the Israeli-run propaganda machine. Completely blinded by the Israeli flag, they don’t realize that Blair may have stumbled on to a brilliant plan. A wealthy and prosperous Palestine will be much less likely to go to war. As it stands, the Palestinian people have nothing. When a population falls so low that they have nothing to lose, their will to fight is increased exponentially.
Hamas currently has the Palestinian people’s attention. Their influence and rhetoric sends thousands of willing volunteers to the insurgent groups. Their power is firmly rooted in their control of what little economy Gaza has. The current economy of Gaza produces one thing: defiance. A poor and downtrodden people will fight. They are already residents of the largest open air prison on earth. Many see it is better to die on their feet than to live on their knees.
An economy that isn’t being crippled by Israeli blockades, tax withholding, and being hamstrung by red tape could see robust growth. A prosperous and educated people do not want to go to war. The problem with Blair’s plan is that it requires a number of parallel solutions. The Palestinian people will most likely not accept money from Israel, and those that would may become outcasts within the community, which would cause their businesses to fail. That leaves it up to the international community. It’s a community that is being led by the United States, a nation that is so war-oriented that it threatened to withdraw humanitarian aid if the Palestinians pursued their legal right to have possible Israeli war crimes investigated.
An influx of investment capital from a source that the Palestinian people will accept and that Hamas cannot take credit for, combined with an easing of the economic apartheid instituted by Israel could spur the economy. This glimmer of economic hope is likely to overshadow the current mentality of war. If people can see improvement associated without the intangible costs associated with war, they are likely to take it.
If the economy of Gaza rebounds, and free trade exists, the idea of a two-state solution becomes more palatable to both parties. After all, the only thing proven to override a person’s belief in a holy book is their belief in their bankbook.
I think England should give a piece of its land with rivers so the Palestinians can finally stop pressuring the Israelis. Maybe Cornwall or something. Or they could do the same for Israel.
I mean short of telling them to stop breeding there’s just not enough water and land for their expanding populations.
Considering that it was England that gave the Palestinian land to Israel, maybe they should give some English land to Israel, so that the Palestinians can have their land back?
And Cornwall is not English land.
There would be plenty of resources and space if their land hadn’t been stolen from them.
This is just stupid and clearly full of pro-Israel bias. Jews have every intention, since Palestinian land was imperialised for for a Jewish homeland, of eradicating the Palestinian people in every way. They don’t even want the idea of PALESTINE to exist. That’s sick by itself m
This idea simply pretends that the Palestinian people aren’t fighting for their homeland against a vicious occupying force. It also pretends that if the Palestinians had something worth protecting, they wouldn’t fight. Guess what? They’re fighting for their homes and lives already. Investing money in Palestine is a fool’s move considering Israel wants them all deaD anyway and you have so many people who preach such stupidity.
If you want to help the Palestinian people, start by recognizing that this occupied area called “Israel” is their home, their nation. In doing so, support every effort to stop the Jews from going all Hitler on the Palestinian people. That’s a good start.
TRUE !
I believe the palestinians got what they deserved after all, the homes bombed had themselves housing millitants that send missles to israel like everyday aiming towards civilians. Secondly most pro-palestinians are simply ignorant and have been fed arab propaganda. For example Israel left gaza in 2005 in exchange for peace yet immediately Gaza under hammas (a group with the same goals as isis to all ignorant people) made the area a land for continuous attacks against israel. Anons did you know majority of Palestinians support ISIS according to a recent pole and advertise the death of non-muslims on national tv. Israel is the only nation in the region with equal rights to all. Did you know that Hamas executes Gays for simply being gay, please do some critical research.
John, your statement sounds like you have been fed the Israeli Propaganda kool-aid. First off, as long as an entire people are under occupation and their basic human rights are being violated on a daily basis including restrictions on food, clean drinking water, education, their own natural resources, jailing minors for no reason at all, uprooting olive trees that are a lot of Palestinians main source of income, shutting off their electricity, opening water retention sources to flood the streets, I can go on and on, as long as all this happens, any group of people have a right to fight their occupier. Thats it, its simple, as long as they are under occupation, there is absolutely NOTHING you can say John that can justify Israels actions. They have every right to send over any amount of missles they want wish. The Zionist regime of Israel have committed an unimaginable amount of war crimes to not only Palestine but also blacks, Christians, and anyone that isn’t an Israeli. Not Jews, but Zionists are the worst thing that has ever happened to this world and they are the sole reason for so much war, death, and destruction in the world. God help you John if you truly believe the lies that the Israeli propaganda machine spits out to people like you.
There is a growing momentum towards awareness of the true nature of Israel’s attacks against the Palestinians partly because of the immediacy of social media which can allow instant live feeds of atrocities perpetrated. Anyone who witnessed the horrific images of children’s mutilated corpses being carried out of bombed out buildings in Gaza this summer, could see clearly that this was not a simple retaliation for a rocket attack by Hamas but a monstrous genocide of civilians to fit an ulterior agenda. The world is waking up at last, thanks to Boycott from within, Breaking the Silence and many other Jewish and Israeli led movements to show people that the occupation of Palestine is a moral and humanitarian disgrace. 45 top ranking officers from the IDF have also criticised the current Israeli governments use of constant and inappropriate surveillance of the Palestinians. Whatever your thoughts are on those horrible Palestinians sending over those nasty rockets- Israel’s attempt to annihilate their ‘enemy’ by the use of white phosphorous, fletcher darts and who knows…barrel bombs (no better than Assad) is an obscene war crime. And before you say it- if the roles were reversed even a tiny bit and Israel was the victim of such relentless degradation and such appalling human rights abuses and suffered the murder of so any of their children…then I would stand beside them in condemning the Palestinians. The truth is they are the oppressors of a poor and decimated people and it seems clear to me that Israel’s long term goal is to rid themselves of this irritation and claim the land. Wake up world.
the story does not say enough of the hamas acts to use civilian centers, hospitals, even un headquarters as sites to launch missles from. unless you stem the terrorism from the money, which is not used for the people you have done nothing. stop the money, stop the UN, stop terrorism.
I would not trust anything he says.