I agree those are heavy short-term and medium-term obstacles. But I was asking about the long-term. How do you persuade the population of Gaza to want peace?
Right now, Gazans are being born packed like sardines into a poverty-stricken strip that they can’t leave, and their primary exposure to Israelis is via blockades and bombs. Those conditions clearly contribute to a ripe recruitment ground for hatred and terrorism.
If instead Gaza was a relatively prosperous land, with freedom of movement and control over it’s own future, and the violence with Israel was a distant memory, then it seems unlikely the average citizen would jeopardize that prosperity by supporting terrorism.
The problem is how to get from point A to point B, given that it take time for hatred to fade, and that helping Gaza be prosperous might also help terrorists get more deadly.
Considered as a city-state, Gaza doesn’t seem notably population-dense? It’s less dense than all these cities, for instance. (Maybe lack of tall buildings is a factor here?)
Anyway, I think your analysis is interesting. My new idea is for Israel to set up microincentives related to peace and prosperity: e.g. from the start of every morning, Gaza gets as much electricity as it wants, but as soon as the first rocket is fired, reduce electricity to the restricted level for the rest of the day. That incentivizes Gazans to put social pressure on each other not to fire rockets.
The long-term goal would be to progressively remove all aspects of the blockade, and eventually give Gaza the status of an independent state, as peace-related milestones are met. (Note: I personally am uncertain whether I’m on board with any blockade, but I’m trying to brainstorm plans that would be acceptable to the Israeli electorate, once things have cooled down at least.)
A very good question, with no good answer. If I knew one I would be advising the prime minister, not writing on this forum :)
I imagine a model closer to the West Bank, where there’s some joint Israeli- Palestinian control. It’s not great, but way better than the current situation in Gaza, and hopefully might de- escalate somewhat the situation. In such case the blockade will probably be lifted, and Gaza might get some actual economic development.
I agree those are heavy short-term and medium-term obstacles. But I was asking about the long-term. How do you persuade the population of Gaza to want peace?
Right now, Gazans are being born packed like sardines into a poverty-stricken strip that they can’t leave, and their primary exposure to Israelis is via blockades and bombs. Those conditions clearly contribute to a ripe recruitment ground for hatred and terrorism.
If instead Gaza was a relatively prosperous land, with freedom of movement and control over it’s own future, and the violence with Israel was a distant memory, then it seems unlikely the average citizen would jeopardize that prosperity by supporting terrorism.
The problem is how to get from point A to point B, given that it take time for hatred to fade, and that helping Gaza be prosperous might also help terrorists get more deadly.
Considered as a city-state, Gaza doesn’t seem notably population-dense? It’s less dense than all these cities, for instance. (Maybe lack of tall buildings is a factor here?)
Anyway, I think your analysis is interesting. My new idea is for Israel to set up microincentives related to peace and prosperity: e.g. from the start of every morning, Gaza gets as much electricity as it wants, but as soon as the first rocket is fired, reduce electricity to the restricted level for the rest of the day. That incentivizes Gazans to put social pressure on each other not to fire rockets.
The long-term goal would be to progressively remove all aspects of the blockade, and eventually give Gaza the status of an independent state, as peace-related milestones are met. (Note: I personally am uncertain whether I’m on board with any blockade, but I’m trying to brainstorm plans that would be acceptable to the Israeli electorate, once things have cooled down at least.)
A very good question, with no good answer. If I knew one I would be advising the prime minister, not writing on this forum :)
I imagine a model closer to the West Bank, where there’s some joint Israeli- Palestinian control. It’s not great, but way better than the current situation in Gaza, and hopefully might de- escalate somewhat the situation. In such case the blockade will probably be lifted, and Gaza might get some actual economic development.