Blast from the past

Thanks to a nice article by Mindy Jacobs in the Edmonton Sun, I found this wildly optimistic dispatch from AP during the Gaza pullout about PalArab hopes and plans for their new statelet:

By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer
Friday, September 2, 2005 02 15 PM

Palestinians are preparing to take over abandoned Jewish settlements in Gaza — drawing up plans for high-rise apartments and debating whether to name evacuated towns after deceased leaders or historical events.

...The Palestinians are fast at work figuring out what do with the land they call "liberated," and dreams of a better future abound.

In the evacuated areas, the Palestinians envision parks, industrial zones, a new seaport, a nature reserve, tourism facilities and new housing to ease overcrowding in the fenced-in coastal strip that is home to 1.4 million mostly impoverished Palestinians.

Palestinian security forces will enter the settlement areas as soon as Israeli troops leave, most likely on Sept. 15, to "clear the area of any possible explosive objects or land mines," said Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfek Abu Khoussa. In the meantime, officials have been handing out fliers declaring "The Future is Ours" and admonishing Gazans to stay out of the settlements.

Palestinians already have begun discussing what to name the evacuated areas. Top suggestions include "Yasser Arafat" and "Sheikh Ahmed Yassin," the slain founder of Hamas.

Palestinians also are racing to take over Israeli greenhouses in time to plant a winter crop.

"We will do our homework and we will do it top notch," said Basil Jaber, a Palestinian businessman leading the greenhouse takeover. "We would like to show Israel and the international community that we're capable."

Both Israel and the Palestinians have an interest in making Gaza less isolated and destitute: Israel because it hopes a brighter future will prevent terror and the Palestinians because they hope a successful pullout could lead to more withdrawals.

Anytime someone paints a rosy picture of how PalArabs will take advantage of Israeli withdrawals....

Anytime someone says that Israel is the source of all the PalArabs' troubles....

Anytime anyone blames Israel for PalArab poverty and unemployment...

Show them this article. And if they are a bit more obtuse, show them the links.