Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich has hailed the suggestion of voluntary emigration of Palestinians in Gaza, calling it the “right humanitarian solution” for the besieged enclave.
Smotrich made these remarks after Danny Danon, the former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, and Ram Ben-Barak, former Deputy Director of the intelligence agency, Mossad, published an opinion article in The Wall Street Journal on Monday, November 13, 2023 suggesting that western countries should accept Gazan families who expressed a desire to relocate.
In the opinion piece, two Israeli Knesset members, Danny Danon and Ram Ben-Barak said that it is imperative that the international community explore potential solutions to help civilians caught in the crisis.
“One idea is for countries around the world to accept limited numbers of Gazan families who have expressed a desire to relocate,” the article read.
“Europe has a long history of assisting refugees fleeing conflicts,” it added.
“Countries around the world should offer a haven for Gaza residents who seek relocation. Members of the international community can collaborate to provide one-time financial-support packages to Gazans interested in moving to help with relocation costs and to ease refugees’ acclimation to their new communities.
“We simply need a handful of the world’s nations to share the responsibility of hosting Gazan residents.”
Danny Danon and Ram Ben-Barak
In a post on social media on Tuesday, Smotrich said, “I welcome the initiative of members of Knesset; Ram Ben-Barak and Danny Danon on the voluntary emigration of Gaza Arabs to the countries of the world.”
Smotrich asserted that it is the right humanitarian solution for the residents of Gaza and the entire region “after 75 years of refugees, poverty and danger.”
According to him, a “cell with a small area like the Gaza Strip, without natural resources and independent sources of livelihood, has no chance to exist independently, economically and politically, in such a high density for a long time.”
“The reception of refugees by the countries of the world that really want their best interests, with the support and generous financial assistance of the international community, and within the state of Israel is the only solution that will bring to the end of the suffering and pain of Jews and Arabs alike.”
Bezalel Smotrich
“The State of Israel will no longer be able to put up with the existence of an independent entity in Gaza,” the Minister added.
Smotrich’s comments underscore fears across the region that Israel wants to drive Palestinians out of Gaza, repeating the mass dispossession of Palestinians when Israel was created in 1948.
A majority of Palestinians were expelled from their homeland in 1948 during the creation of the state of Israel — an event they refer to as the Nakba, or “catastrophe”.
Most people in Gaza today are the children or grandchildren of those displaced during the Nakba. They now risk being permanently uprooted again, which is a war crime under international law.
“Real Policy And Intentions Of The Israeli Government”
In response to Smotrich’s comments, Mustafa Barghouti, General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, said in a post on X that the Minister “revealed the real policy and intentions of the Israeli government.”
“Netanyahu himself said in the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza that all Gazans must evict their homes,” Barghouti disclosed, adding, “Ethnic cleansing is a war crime and it is done by bombarding an unprotected civilian population.”
He told a news agency, “It is not surprising, but unfortunately, the world is not paying sufficient attention to this terrible plan and to the fact that Israel is conducting ethnic cleansing with bombardment and airstrikes against the civilian population of Gaza.
“This is the worst and most aggressive form of colonial settler attacks that anyone has been subjected to during the last two centuries. It is unacceptable that we don’t hear world leaders from the West immediately responding to what Smotrich said and saying that ethnic cleansing is unacceptable in the 21st century.
“It’s the Western governments and, in particular, the United States government that is providing Israel a cover to commit these crimes.”
Mustafa Barghouti
Barghouti also called out ongoing statements suggesting that Palestinians leave Gaza and seek refuge in nearby Arab countries such as Egypt and Jordan and the increasing calls on these countries to open their borders and accept Palestinian refugees.
“How can anyone ask people to leave their land and their country? Could anybody ask the German people to leave for France? Or the French people to leave to England? By which law can anyone suggest that Palestinians should be ethnically cleansed,” he said.
He added, “We will not leave our land; this is the land we were born in; this is the land our ancestors lived in for 4,000 years and nobody can force us out of there.”
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