Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister and leader of the Religious Zionist Party, is urging Palestinians in Gaza to leave their homes and “voluntarily emigrate” to the Western world.
– This is the right humanitarian solution for the residents of Gaza and the whole area after 75 years of being poor refugees, he asserts.
Recently, several politicians from the Likud party expressed the same stance, urging European countries in an op-ed article to accept refugees from Gaza.
“I welcome the initiative of voluntary relocation of Gazan Arabs to countries worldwide. This is the right humanitarian solution for the residents of Gaza and the whole area after 75 years of being poor refugees. The majority of Gaza is fourth and fifth generations to 1948 refugees who, instead of being rehabilitated long ago like hundreds of millions of refugees around the world, were held hostage in Gaza in poverty and overcrowding and were a symbol of the desire to destroy the State of Israel and of the refugees’ return to Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, and Tiberias”, writes Smotrich.
According to the Zionist politician, it is the poor living conditions in Gaza that have led to the Palestinians’ “hatred” of Israel and Jews and their desire to “destroy” Israel.
“The only solution”
“The small area of the Gaza Strip, which doesn’t have any natural resources or independent sources of income, has no chance of independent, economic, and diplomatic existence in such high density long-term. Therefore, the only solution to end the suffering and the pain of Jews and Arabs alike is for countries around the world who truly want what’s good for the refugees to accept them along with support and economic aid from the international community, including the State of Israel”, he continues.
It is unclear, however, why Europe, already heavily affected by mass immigration from abroad, would want to take in even more migrants – nor is it clear why the responsibility for the well-being of the Palestinians should be placed on the Western world, rather than on Israel and the surrounding Arab countries.
On social media, many point out that it is precisely because of Israel’s actions and policies that life in Gaza is unbearable for many Palestinians, and that the “solution” of emptying Gaza of its inhabitants and relocating them to the West is both unreasonable and unacceptable.
