Thumbs up for Cheznoff

Richard Z. Chesnoff has the right idea for "solving" the problem in Gaza. Two thumbs up.

If I were King of the Hill, I'd have the UN carve out a larger area to the south of the current Gaza Strip -- say along Egypt's largely unpopulated Sinai coast, or Saudi Arabia's vast Red Sea coast, or even Jordan's southern tip -- and declare it "New Gaza." Then with Israeli technical assistance and international financing, I'd build sparkling new cities, irrigated farms and ultramodern industrial zones. Next I'd construct a road and/or railway connecting New Gaza to the Palestinian West Bank.

Finally, I'd seriously grubstake every one of Gaza's Palestinian families and move them from squalid Gaza to this new seaside El Dorado. Old Gaza could then become a recognized part of Israel. Gaza's Jewish settlers could return to the lands they've made green -- and more could join them. As Palestinians flourished in their own new homeland, trade and peaceful ties between Israel and the sovereign Palestinian territories would grow. A 60-year-old thorn could start to be removed from the world's side.

Far-fetched? Of course. Fatah and Hamas would reject it out of hand. Nor would Arab leaders approve. Unlike Israel, which welcomed and absorbed 700,000 Jewish refugees from the Islamic world, most Arab states still refuse to allow Palestinians to settle permanently among them. Besides, the very idea of "population transfer" is politically incorrect. Or is it? During the 1947 partition of British India, more than 5 million Hindus moved from present-day Pakistan into present-day India, and more than 6 million Muslims moved the other way. When all else fails, far-fetched solutions become possibilities.