"'The situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable,' declared [US] President Barack Obama in his June 4 Cairo address. Really? Compared to what? Things are tough all over. The Palestinians are one of many groups displaced by population exchanges that followed World War II, and the only ones whose great-grandchildren still have the legal status of refugees. Why are they still there? ... The standard tables of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita show the West Bank and Gaza ar US $1,700, just below Egypt's $1,900 and significantly below Syria's $2,250 and Jordan's $3,000. ... Why should any Palestinian refugee resettle in a neighboring Arab country? ... Other data confirm that Palestinians enjoy a higher living standard than their Arab neighbors. A fail-safe gauge is life expectancy. ... Without disputing Obama's claim that life for the Palestinians is intolerable, it is fair to ask: where is life not intolerable in the Arab world? ... Why should Western taxpayers subsidize an Arab in Ramallah, when Arabs in Egypt are needier? ... Once the problem is diagnosed with this kind of clarity, the solution becomes obvious: Cut Western support to the Palestinians with the aim of reducing living standards in the West Bank to those prevailing in Egypt, as an incentive for emigration. Demilitarize Palestinian society", Spengler at Asia Times, 17 August 2009, link: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KH18Ak01.html.
Thank you Spengler. I suggested this decades ago.
4 comments:
Oh geez... now it's the "efficient market hypothesis" in foreign policy...
Anonymous:
It's the revealed preference doctrine.
Hello I.A.,
Hopey is a joke, everything he says is a lie. Prepare for the worst.
Edgar:
I'm surprised you didn't comment on my 6 September 2009 post on our friends at Goldman. If you haven't, take a look.
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