Why Arabs Continue to Reject Better Lives for Palestinians in Gaza

Solving the refugee problem might take away the one issue that unites them.

By: Joseph Puder

It is evident that in rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for the transformation of the Gaza Strip, the Arab world is, first and foremost, rejecting the rehabilitation of the refugee camps. To understand the deeper meaning, one must understand that the Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Israeli War of Independence were a cherished political weapon against the Jewish state. It’s been nearly 77 years since that war, and Arab states are still determined to preserve refugee camps rather than integrate the refugees into their own countries.

The Palestinian Arab refugees from 1948 and 1967 speak the same language as the Arabs in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and all of the other Arab states. They also share the same Sunni-Islam religious affiliation, along with the same cultural heritage. Yet except for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, none of the 22 Arab League states were willing to absorb Palestinian Arab refugees. Conversely, the Jewish state managed to absorb, with far fewer resources, an even greater number of Jewish refugees from the Arab world that forced generations of families to leave. Those Jewish refugees were not placed in separate camps and left to wither over decades; they were given immediate citizenship and became productive citizens of the State of Israel.

The Gaza Strip is one of the world’s most crowded areas with one of least developed infrastructures—and that was before the current war. As a result, the living standards in Gaza remain extremely poor. Schools run by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip have become a spawning pool for terrorism, rather than providing children with education and life skills. If there is any hope of raising the standard of living and quality of life in Gaza, its population must be reduced by half and the refugee camps replaced with proper modern housing.

The hypocrisy of the Arab governments could not be more transparent in their bogus arguments that U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza means uprooting a people from their land. First and foremost, the plan calls for voluntary and temporary relocation. It will replace the ramshackle “housing” in the camps with apartments equipped with running water and sewer facilities, instead of sewers spilling into the streets, causing disease and foul smells. The Arab brethren of the Palestinians say they care so much about them yet do nothing to improve their living conditions. Meanwhile, they—particularly the Gulf Arabs—reside in luxury.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia illustrated this duplicity in its tactical negotiations over normalization with Israel. A month before the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Saudi regime claimed that it was seeking to improve Palestinian life. Yet when Trump seeks to do that now, he is condemned by the Saudis and throughout the Arab world for trying to uproot the refugees. Similarly, while the Saudis keep insisting that normalization with Israel is dependent on the creation of a path toward a Palestinian state, behind closed doors and in private conversation, they continue to seek an alliance with the United States and Israel against the looming threat of a nuclear Iran.

Vast sums of foreign assistance from Western nations, Qatar and others were invested in Gaza—perhaps more than in any other place in the world. Hamas, though, chose not to improve the lives of those who voted them into power. Instead, they built terror tunnels, smuggled weapons, and fed an industry of death and destruction with the full support of its population. When asked in private and away from Hamas ears, Gaza residents often say that they are inclined to move out but only to Western nations that can provide them with generous welfare. This leads us to call upon those hypocritical Western states—Ireland, Spain, Norway—to put their alleged “love” for the Palestinians into action.

Voices throughout the Arab world and in some Western countries say Trump’s plan will undermine Palestinians’ right to self-determination. These voices ignore the fact that Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel and not the creation of a Palestinian state, using the deaths of as many Gaza residents as suits its cause. Islamist ideology supposedly holds that the Arabs are one nation guided by Sharia law and rejects Arab particularist nationalism. Instead, it has been using terrorism to accomplish its aims in the name of Palestinian identity.

From a strictly humanitarian point of view, providing for Gaza’s Palestinians is morally right. Trump wants to provide the area with livable housing, but that will take time. Gazans who participated in the killings, looting and raping of Israeli civilians will not benefit, but the Palestinian generation of tomorrow might, especially in an environment of calm with no oppression and violence from Hamas. It is indeed possible for Gaza to flourish and become a place to live and be well.

(JNS.org)

Joseph Puder is the founder and director of the Interfaith Taskforce for America and Israel (ITAI).