What to do with Gaza.
Once again Israel has to occupy the so called "Gaza Strip," a place Ariel Sharon handed over to the "Palestinians" in August 2005.
For a history of Gaza, at least from a Jewish perspective, go to the
Jewish Virtual Library site.
When Israeli settlers were forced out by Sharon and the IDF, they left behind homes and greenhouses - Gaza was growing 15 percent of Israel's agricultural exports, including 60 percent of its cherry tomato and herb exports and 70 percent of all its organic produce.
As the Jews withdrew, the intact homes and greenhouses were destroyed by the Moslems newly in control.
Israel will prevail - at a terrible cost - and it should extinguish Hamas' rule in the area, allowing non-extremist Moslems, and by most reports, Hamas is a minority in Gaza - a minority with guns and money, but a minority none-the-less - to set up a government that is willing to coexist with Israel. (The government need not be "democratic" or even similar to Israel's, and Israel must recognize that most Islamist countries are run by strongman dictators.)
Israel will, when Gaza is weapons-free and a government established, once again withdraw its troops from Gaza.
The question is: Should Israel treat Gaza as William Tecumseh Sherman did to Georgia and burn everything to the ground or follow the lead of George C. Marshal.
According to Biography.com:
In September 1864, William T. Sherman took Atlanta and burned it to the ground. With 60,000 men, he began his celebrated "March to the Sea," ripping through Georgia with a 60-mile-wide path of total destruction. Sherman understood that to win the war and save the Union, his Army would have to break the South's will to fight. Everything was ordered to be destroyed in this military strategy, known as "total war."
After the World War Two ended, then-President Harry S Truman appointed George C. Marshall as Secretary of State and, with the help of many in politics and outside of politics, a plan bearing his name was developed. According to a Wikipedia entry,
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the American initiative to aid Europe, in which the United States gave $13 billion in economic support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-devastated regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again.
Israel's experience with Gaza would suggest that Sherman's tactic would be the approach to take.
After all, when Sharon sent troops to expel Jews from their homes - a chutzpah at that time exceeded only by
Ben Gurion and Rabin opening fire on Jews aboard the Altalena - the Jews left behind a solid infrastructure. They also left behind synagogues (destroyed by Moslems), homes (destroyed by Moslems), greenhouses (destroyed by Moslems), and other useful structures, all "destroyed by Moslems."
Given that, it is unlikely that a Marshall plan would work - at least in the initial stages.
It is worth noting that the Marshall plan enabled the Europeans to modernize their operations. The modernization caused the demise of America's steel industry since, with its outdated equipment, it could not compete with the Europeans.
Lest anyone contend that the Marshall plan succeeded because the Europeans had a different mentality than the Moslems, similar plans were implemented in Japan - whose soldiers were willing to die for their emperor/god - and the Japanese have been for the most part political allies.
Finally, the United States continues to pour aid into both Japan and its European allies treasuries.
There are a number of Israeli-PA (Moslem) joint projects, mostly extra-governmental (that is, without interference or support from any government). At the same time, the PA educates its children to hate Jews; it prepares them to die for jihad; and it yearns for the day when all of Israel will be free of Jews. All this suggests that, as in Gaza, the opposition to peaceful co-existence is blocked only by governments of extremists.
Gaza, and the PA, are akin to Vietnam. The "soldiers" don't war uniforms (except perhaps for ski masks). It's difficult to identify a Hamas loyalist so how will Israel be able to weed out the extremists in the midst of Gaza's "we want a better life" population? Don't expect the average Gazan to point a finger to "rat out" a Hamas loyalist.
The U.S. and its allies were unable to identify all nazis after the war; many (were allowed to) escaped to South America and even the United States.
Should Israel set up a vetted government, complete with armed police? Not necessarily immediately, but later, as it did with the PA. (The U.S. supplied both weapons and training.)
No matter what Israel does in the end, it will be a lose-lose situation until Gazans can realize - and they will have to realize it on their own - that peace with Israel, and with that, peace with Egypt is in the best interest of Gaza
Unless, of course, Egypt wants to regain control of the area.
