My major focus during the Serbia-Kosovo crisis, to which NATO contributed its signature aerial bombing service, was evacuating those wishing to leave. I don't care whether we call them civilians or not. People should have the right to vacate a dead end combat zone. Indeed some buses showed up. Some got away.
Likewise, I was glad how the war in Ukraine started with a prolonged evacuation period, in which literally millions of Ukrainians could opt to leave the theater. Some escaped to EU countries, some went to Russia. I don't know where all of them went, but at least they had a chance to leave, some of them.
When it comes to Gaza, I always storyboard the same vision of a steady belt of ships, a circle line, undertaking a massive evacuation.
Where would the Gazans go? They deserve a homeland, a Zion. They need liberation as much as the Jews of Egypt ever did, under Pharaoh Bibi or whomever.
Of course many Gazans would choose not to leave, given their attachment to a godforsaken semi-desert (just kidding, that's a beautiful and fertile area, been there myself (not to Gaza but places nearby (dad did some scuba diving in Sinai, when Urners lived in Cairo all those years, during and after president Sadat (I helped Palestinians build a swimming pool in Ramallah)))).
I understand Gaza is valuable real estate and once we sweep religion aside (Promised Land = Planet Earth, duh (I think a lot of Jews know that by now, as do the rest of us especially gifted (chosen))) we see it’s a battle between land developers, who want resort hotels and retirement communities in Gaza, ala Florida.
They want the "lowlife" out of the way, as unable to afford the Miami of the Mediterranean level rents they have planned. Not only Israel-based lenders want to invest in the luxury version of Gaza (think Hawaii). International land developers would love to participate in the makeover. Again, it's not really a religion thing.
I'm thinking Palestinians are a resourceful and intelligent ethnicity and letting Gazans move en masse, versus enforcing some diaspora, would be a welcome development to many.
But where could they go? Who is willing to develop a refugee paradise from scratch?
Naturally there'd be a lot of scheming and dreaming, on the part of the emigres, as to how they'd gain access to their old stomping grounds by means of moneymaking. A Gazan family might buy its way back into the community after the dust has settled.
Many Ukrainians are thinking the same way. They want to return, but maybe some American real estate conglomerate owns their family farm?
Many Jews, in Germany's concentration camps, dreamed of being rescued and having their lands returned.
Many Americans, forced into camps by other Americans, who thought Japanese Americans were a lesser breed of American, were lucky enough to get their farms back. Many were not.
Obviously I'm fumbling around, short on details, imaging my flotilla of cruise ships introducing Gazans to a Carnival and/or a Disney line level living standard, at least for the voyage over.
They certainly deserve a vacation. Somewhere in Africa maybe? A mega-project, like an OMR? I know it sounds like an admission of defeat, but then the Jewish diaspora didn't really win either. When we look at history, we see it's about humans streaming around the planet, often in evacuation / refugee mode.
Of course what's important is Gazans get options, not commands. Even if there's some promised Shangri-La, at the end of the cruise, that doesn't justify coercion. We want to build community on the basis of "people want to be there" not "people have to be there".
