(Ha'aretz) Saad Eddin Ibrahim - Israelis will soon be disengaging from the Gaza Strip, but what will happen to the settlements they leave behind is still undecided. Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute hopes that the buildings of evacuated settlements could be spared and turned to some constructive and/or symbolic use to enhance the fledgling peace between Palestinians and Israelis. For example, the greenhouses in Gaza currently take up about 1,000 acres. If, instead of being destroyed, they were left to be used by the Palestinians, they could provide work and support for many people. If a third party were to buy the Gaza greenhouses, not only would Palestinians be able to work in the greenhouses to support themselves, but the former owners would receive compensation, as well. Another option would be to sell the properties to those who can afford them, with the understanding that they would be used for tourism development, and then to use the income generated from these sales to build low-income housing in another part of Gaza. The writer, an Egyptian pro-democracy activist, is a professor at the American University in Cairo.
2005-05-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive