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Palestinians need help. They are trapped in a spiral of despair and destruction. Their embrace of terrorism, the power of clans and criminal networks, and their conflict with Israel are destroying their lives and their country. I think Israel has only a small part of the blame in this; but even if Israel bears all the blame, only Palestinians can get themselves out of it.
Palestine has real economic potential. It has great potential for producing olives and olive oil. It exports dairy products, furniture, textiles, and stone. It has hydrocarbon reserves of 3 billion barrels of oil and 28-32 BCF of gas. Plus, its human capital is the most important resource of all. One of the smartest World Bank economists I have met was Palestinian.
But it has some of the worst governance ever. Mahmoud Abbas was elected to a four-year term as president and has served 19 years. The Gaza Strip was a hotbed of terrorism before they provoked the Israeli attack. Fatah, Hamas, and criminal gangs dominate the economy. Instead of building one of the largest metros in the world, they built terror tunnels in Gaza.
The only way Palestine will ever prosper is to rid themselves of the dictators and thugs that ruin the country. Killing, torturing, and raping Israelis will never improve Palestine's prospects. Even if they were to drive the Israelis out of Israel, Palestine would still be ruled by brutal kleptocrats who have murdered and stolen from their own people for decades. Palestinians need to drive their evil leaders from their land and pray that God will heal their country.
If Palestine would start to improve itself, I think Israel would gradually lift restrictions. But even if Israel didn't do it voluntarily, the US and other countries would push Israel to do so. The only way for Palestine to gain respect in the world (and to prosper) is to be worthy of that respect.
Discussion (49)
They won't do it
Why should they? They have been raised to be told that nothing is their fault and everything is the fault of other people.
Money continues to be given to them and they continue to be victims. As long as they were victims they will have no agency
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Cutting off the international welfare might be one of the best things that could be done for them. Just like cutting off the welfare to most American recipients would be the best thing that could be done for them. In both cases, it would force them to start being responsible adults.
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when they start investing in infrastructure instead of tunnels, then we can talk
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The Palestinians and Arabs in general were simply not morally offended by the October 7th attacks. A great many of them say they don't believe those atrocities happened according to a Palestinian pollster. Probably these same people who say they don't believe the attacks celebrated them on October 8th.
I think they have other values rather than peace and property.
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This. But change "probably" to "certainly".
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