Letters to the Editor: Should the U.S. spend billions to rebuild Gaza after the war?
To the editor: With all due respect to UCLA historian David N. Myers, who advocates for a “Marshall Plan” for the Palestinians, can we pump the brakes before we commit billions to rebuild the Gaza Strip?
Within weeks of the destruction, I figured that somehow, some way, U.S. taxpayers would be on the hook in the aftermath. There are many reasons to question this, but let’s just look at the most obvious problem: There is absolutely zero assurance that after we pay to rebuild, one side or the other will not destroy it again.
Also, the federal government would have to borrow even more money to add to the $3 billion in aid we send to Israel annually. And it would be to fix a disaster that we had no part in starting.
The war and suffering are horrendous for sure, but why ask U.S. taxpayers to help solve an unsolvable problem when there are so many critical issues here that deserve our attention?
Jeff Heister, Chatsworth
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To the editor: We all know that Hamas is a terrorist organization. It was elected by a plurality of voters in 2006, the last time the Palestinians had a legislative election. Hamas was seen as an alternative to Fatah, which was accused of corruption and failed for decades to bring about a state for the Palestinians.
A poll conducted in Gaza last July showed that 70% of the people there did not support keeping Hamas in power. Rather, they want to live in peace like other people who are free.
It is time for the international community and especially the United States to give these oppressed people their own state and hope for the future.
The Palestinians have suffered enough, and a new Marshall Plan would somewhat correct the injustice done to them for decades, starting with the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their land from 1947-49 and thousands more in 1967. The slow colonization of the West Bank will continue unless Israel is forced to obey international law.
With Hamas out, the Palestinians are ready for peace.
Beverly Ringel, Rancho Mirage
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To the editor: For anything resembling a Marshall Plan for Gaza, let alone all of Palestine, to work, the Palestinians must first do two things.
First, they must jettison their murderous governments and amateur armies that siphon off aid to begin battles they cannot win, apparently for the purpose of watching their own people be slaughtered in inevitable retaliation. World War II ended before the Marshall Plan was concocted and Europe was able to rebuild.
Second, they need to reduce their population growth. According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Gaza’s median age of 18 is the 13th lowest in the world.
History has proved that nations whose population growth outpaces their ability to supply education, healthcare, employment and sane leadership cannot escape poverty and misery.
Chuck Almdale, North Hills
