The Gaza Dilemma.
I’ve moved: check out my newest posts in the Times of Israel.
When Nazi Germany was overpowered by the Allies and submitted in 1945, one question remained: what should be done with a shattered, vanquished nation such as it was? The land lay in ruins; entire cities flattened by bombing, an economy all but fully crumbled, and a people only narrowly able to find food, water and shelter.
The Third Reich, a once mighty machine of death powered by its soldiers — but mostly the Jews and prisoners of war in labour camps — had been reduced to rubble. Its infrastructure was obliterated, its leadership either dead, incarcerated, or awaiting trial at Nuremberg.
The initial instinct of many of the Allied leaders in the war’s immediate aftermath was to ensure that Germany could never again pose a threat to the rest of the world, most distinctly manifested in the Morgenthau plan of 1944 by then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr, hence its name.
‘I want to make Germany so impotent that she cannot forge the tool of war — another world war.’ — Morgenthau
One might present this in three main clauses; the mandatory demilitarisation of Germany; the destruction of all forms of industry that might contribute to future militarism; and the final stage, the country’s shift into international territory, governed by the UN to ensure it would never again become a militarised epicentre.
By 1947, it was clear that such a policy was impractical and dangerous. An economically weak Germany would not only impede Western Europe’s recovery but also risk falling under the Soviets’ influence. It was also estimated that this would have resulted in the deaths of millions (if not tens of millions) of Germans — a bad idea.
So the approach was changed. Allied nations invested heavily in the country, despite their own war-recovery efforts, aiming for it to become a more civilised nation. And it did so.
Regardless of where the Gaza population is moved, one necessity remains: investment. When Trump speaks of the possibility — nay, he believes, the need — to ‘just clean out’ the entirety of the Gaza Strip, it’s only slightly ambiguous: does it denote a temporary evacuation to allow for their return post-reconstruction of the Strip, or does it represent a permanent relocation of the entire two(-ish) million individuals currently residing there? Note: the latter would certainly be a dream come true to Netanyahu’s government — perhaps this is a move by the President to align himself with them.
Nevertheless, there is still a tremendous issue with this approach: location won’t alter the ideology of an entire people. Moving the populace, regardless of the duration, will not alleviate the brutality of Hamas’ governance of the Strip. The deliverance of two million possible Hamas associates, supporters and targets would do nothing but spread the doctrine, a new populace with which to infect the principles. Hamas as it stands is merely a shadow of its former self; it should be kept that way. Many of the three thousand terrorists led by Hamas who invaded Israel and massacred twelve hundred, abducting 251 on the seventh of October, 2023, are dead: to introduce Hamas (even more) to Egypt or Jordan would not solely severely undermine Jordan as a nation already struggling to battle Islamic extremism, or Egypt as a country that very nearly was seized under the ex-Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi, but would also worsen the tensions that are clearly on a knife’s edge.
Wherever it is, by whomever other than UNWRA. If you aren’t already familiar with the failings of the UN-led organisation, see the UN’s quiet, reluctant admission that a grand total of 9 UNWRA employees ‘may have been involved’ in the massacre of October 7; the Israeli report that ‘10% of all UNRWA staff in Gaza, affiliated with terror groups’; or when UNWRA denied Israeli implications of a Hamas tunnel below its Gaza headquarters. Note: that last website is a link to Al Jazeera, the international staple of unbiased, neutral reporting.
The only path ahead, not only for Gaza but for the West Bank and Palestine as a whole, is for Israel and the rest of the world to acknowledge that they are a people shaped by lifetimes of oppression — not under Israel as the liberal media would have one believe, but under Hamas. Numerous attempts have been made to solve the conflict, and they resulted in nothing but wars. A focus on education for the newest Gazan generation could ultimately be the bridge that connects the gap between it and Israel. Perhaps that would have prevented what the Times of Israel describes as an ‘angry mob’ which surrounded the hostages released on Thursday: Arbel Yehoud and Gadi Mozes, along with the five Thai workers Pongsak Thenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao and Surasak Lamnau.
As the saying goes, ‘the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.’
Thanks for reading today’s article, everyone — maybe even give another one a read while you’re at it.
It’s also worth saying that articles like this are based on incredibly controversial topics with a lot to say for either side, regardless of how much one would like to polarize it: and I’m just a guy in his bedroom.
Buy my book — it helps finance the caffeine addiction that allows me to write articles like this one.
Good day! — Simon
