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Gaza Is a Failed Experiment

(Newsweek) Rabbi Steven Burg - President Trump suggests that the world must abandon its fixation on failed paradigms and instead explore new solutions that prioritize human dignity and opportunity. Critics may dismiss his proposal as impractical or harsh, but it is rooted in a fundamental truth: no society can thrive while its primary objective is destruction. When a society teaches that its highest value is the destruction of another society, without placing the betterment of its own people as a top priority, there is no incentive in the world that can be offered which will cause that society to work toward peace or build a proper system of government for its own people. Trump's call for rebuilding Gaza under new terms is a step in the right direction. It recognizes that simply pouring money into the region without addressing systemic corruption and extremism will only perpetuate suffering. Instead, international aid should be tied to measurable outcomes: dismantling Hamas's infrastructure, fostering economic development, and promoting education that emphasizes coexistence and progress instead of conflict. For nearly two decades, Israel has extended olive branches, relinquished land, and poured billions into Gaza, together with other nations, in an effort to foster Palestinian self-governance. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, uprooting its own citizens, and Gaza became a launchpad for terror. Hostages who have returned confirm that Hamas's actions are supported by significant portions of the Gazan populace, across generations, shattering any illusions that Hamas operates independently of Gaza's civilian population. This complicity makes it clear that peace cannot be achieved by simply addressing the leadership. The Gaza experiment of offering Palestinians a land of their own, with self-governance, in the hopes that they would make a prosperous state and avoid conflict, has failed. The vision of two states living side-by-side in peace has been rendered impossible by Hamas's reign of terror and widespread Gazan civilian complicity. The writer is CEO of Aish, an international Jewish educational organization.
2025-02-09 00:00:00
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