Saturday, August 13, 2005

A question about Gaza

This may be a dumb question, but I've heard it asked and never answered: If there are Arabs and Muslims who are Israeli citizens, and who wish to remain Israeli citizens, then why can't those Jewish settlers living in the occupied territories, and who are willing to become Jewish citizens in a future Palestinian state, stay where they are? Or are they free to do so, so long as they renounce their Israeli citizenship? I can't imagine this would happen often, but it's possible. But, to but it more broadly, would Jews be permitted as citizens in an Arab Palestinian state?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

They could only stay there as long as the Israeli army was protecting them. The Palestinians would have killed them if they could.

Anonymous said...

It may be that they could actually do such a thing, especially if the Palestinians have a secular state (which among the people in the Middle East, they are most likely to do), but if they do continue to stay in an "Islamic Republic",
then, I would think it is curtains for them and their basic rights.

Anonymous said...

Short answer seems to be that it would be possible for a Jew to become a Palestinian citizen. (Some PA minister said as much a few weeks ago in response to reports abut a settler who wants to do just that) However, its necessary to bear in mind the significant difference in quality of life between an Israeli, even, and sometimes especially, one who lives on a settlement, and someone living in PA territory. Also, any Jew living under PA control would likely need to rely on the PA to ensure their safety, since its tough to imagine them being allowed to own their own weapons, and the PA generally doesnt do a great job of protecting people they actually want to protect, let alone protecting ex-occupiers.