Israel Matzav

Herbert Hoover: Move the 'Palestinians' to Iraq

One person in history saved tens of millions of people from starvation and homelessness, the Great Humanitarian, US President Herbert Hoover. He was also known as the Great Engineer and had an engineering plan to relieve the plight of the Palestinian Arabs and also benefit Iraq. Hoover's plan called for an extensive damming and irrigation program for Iraq to create adequate arable land for Palestinian settlement -- for their good, and Iraq's.

His 1945 plan is even more relevant today: Palestinians' current economic and security state is desperate. A November 2004 survey done in cooperation with the reputable Palestine Center for Public Opinion showed that 71% of West Bank Palestinians would emigrate with certain financial inducements and 40 % have considered emigrating permanently even without such inducements. A Birzeit University survey conducted by veteran pollster Nader Said shows that in September 2006, over 50% of young Palestinian men are willing to relocate.

Hoover's plan would guarantee a better life for the Palestinians and also help Iraq, since Palestinians excel in agriculture and construction. It would provide the relocated Palestinians good homes, respectable income, good education for the children, and security.

Pulitzer Prize winning author and political analyst Leslie Gelb and the Council of Foreign Relations maintain that a three-state solution is needed to provide this security. Iraq must first be divided in three: Kurdish, Sunni, and Shiite. The necessary population transfers have already begun with the internally displaced Iraqis who left their homes in hostile areas for safer abodes. Once the border lines are drawn on the map, these borders should be made impregnable to insurgent passage, much as the border fence the Saudis are constructing along their own border with Iraq. Presidential hopeful Joseph Biden and other US Congressman agree with CFR's recommendations: divide Iraq and bring our troops home.

The Democrats will be happy seeing their desired withdrawal, likewise the homebound American troops and their families. Since Hoover was the spokesman for Republican Party principles for much of the 20th century, the Republicans should be happy implementing his plan, humanitarian and -- at the same time -- face-saving.

Most importantly, Iraqis and Palestinians will be happy.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:56 AM