In 1729, Jonathan Swift wrote a proposal for solving a big problem of poverty and starvation of poor people in Ireland. His friends were aghast that he would suggest roasting young babies and small children to provide food for the starving and money for the parents who bear the delicious meat. Yes. He wrote that! I studied this essay as an example of satire. Today, I am thinking of a modest proposal for Gaza and I’m wondering why since the original partition took place, no one has come up with a solution. I hope we would recognize the need for a solution, but not eating small children.
In 1947, the United Nations drew lines to create a state for Israel and a state for the Palestinians who lived on the land that we call Israel. Today 2 million people are crammed onto an area the size of Washington DC… crammed into what one writer has called, “an open air prison.” When I pilgrimaged to the Holy Land in 1990 and 1991 I could not travel freely, and our Arab guide could not travel from Bethlehem into Jerusalem. I thought it was odd, but I was “an innocent” as many of us are. In the Gaza, 2 million people are on a piece of land totally separated from the West Bank which used to be called Trans Jordan. They are angry that they can’t get out of tall walls and gates. They can’t get to medical care in Jerusalem. They have nothing in the tiny enclave called “The Gaza Strip.”
So why don’t they move? Because no one wants them. Egypt and Jordan have denied passage. So we must rub our foreheads and woof a giant “Wow!” Their own Arab people won’t take them in. There must be a place over there in the West Bank bordering Jordan, Egypt or Lebanon for these people to settle. It will take a lot of money to rebuild a city for 2 million. Let these people live!!!!