War Day #145 What could possibly go wrong? Re-employing Palestinians

Wednesday, February 28

Dear U.S.,

I see that you are, once more, forcefully pressuring Israel to again employ the 150,000 West Bank Palestinians that, until October 7, had visas to work in Israel.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen today urged the reinstatement of Israeli work permits for West Bank Palestinians. “These actions are vital for the economic well-being of Palestinians and Israelis alike,” Yellen reportedly said. Yellen on economic toll

I guess you’re urging that because Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are peaceful and loving to us now.

Oops, my bad.

Hamas hasn’t promised to be peaceful: in fact, they just told everyone Hamas: Storm al Aqsa to storm Al Aqsa in Jerusalem during Ramadan. (Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh today called on West Bank and East Jerusalem Palestinians to barricade themselves in al Aqsa Mosque for Ramadan, and Arabs globally to march on Al Aqsa.) And having mostly run out of missiles in Gaza, they announced, also today, that instead they had launched missiles at Israel from their bases in Lebanon. So no peace there.

And the Palestinian Authority had until now compounded their people’s money/work problem: Israel ordinarily collects tax revenues on behalf of the PA and transfers the money to Ramallah. But after October 7, Israel didn’t transfer the portion to employees in Gaza (duh) since the money would also benefit Hamas. And in solidarity with Hamas, the PA refused to accept just their share of the tax revenues (which make up most of the PA’s annual budget) unless Israel paid for Gaza too. Unable to pay its West Bank employees, the refusal risked Ramallah’s financial collapse.

(Yes - you read that correctly - they expected Israel to give Hamas the money. The same Hamas with whom we are currently at war. If this doesn’t make sense to you, you’re not the only one: It would be like funding Nazi Germany while the allies were still fighting with them in World War ll.) The transfer may now have been resolved - but not, unfortunately because the PA suddenly saw the error of its ways and the light.

And never mind that most of the West Bank and East Jerusalem Palestinians are still polling strongly for Hamas. (The very opposite of the behavior we’d like to see in foreign workers coming to roam freely in Israel.)

It’s as if you all think that if you pretend hard enough that it’s October 6, you can make that all that unpleasantness somehow go away, or you can somehow erase it.

I really wish we could.

Not sure how that is going to work - especially since we now know that the 17,000 Palestinian workers that came in on worker visas from Gaza before October 7, directly helped Hamas by providing intelligence, including, for example, detailed floor plans.

Of which Israeli households had cute girls to rape.

Did that sink in?

They scoped us out so they would know whom best to torture and rape.

So you can perhaps understand why Israelis are reluctant to take that chance again on 150,000 West Bank Palestinians whom we already know support Hamas.

It just doesn’t seem… prudent.

Look, it’s not like we think that all Palestinians are bloodthirsty monsters, capable of murder and rape.

But we don’t want to let the monsters in. And it’s hard to identify the (according to polls) 13% that don’t support Hamas.

But hey, I have leftie creds. Back in the day, I marched for a two-state solution, (though I’m not sure I can really make myself believe in it post October 7.)

I understand that these folk need jobs.

Why in Israel? Why not somewhere else?

What about offering them jobs in Jordan, or Egypt? What about offering them high-class jobs in places like Dubai and Qatar?

Oh. None of the Arab countries here want them.

None of them want them as refugees.

And none of them even want them as day workers.

But hey, here’s another idea. Given all the US protesters marching so avidly on their behalf, maybe you could consider bringing all these pro-Hamas Palestinians to the U.S. to work?

Because respectfully, Ms Yellen, you know what’s also not so great for the economic well-being of Israelis?

Lots of murders and dismemberments and beheadings and rapes.

That’s not good.

So maybe you can think of something else?

Because economics may not be the only issue here.

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