Matt Yglesias, a well-respected liberal American commentator, has laid out what nations of the Middle East can do to help non-combatants from Gaza.
He writes that a three-step plan would make them “better off.”
It includes:
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- Egypt should open the borders with Gaza and allow unarmed people who can pass some kind of background check to leave the “open-air prison” and enjoy life in a neighboring Arab state.
- Lebanon, Jordan, and other countries should either grant birthright citizenship to the descendants of Palestinian refugees who live in their countries or, at a minimum, create an easy naturalization process.
- The Gulf States, which currently rely heavily on foreign labor, should tilt away from their current reliance on workers from Africa and South Asia and give more visas to Palestinians.
GazaPassage is working to ensure nations like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and organizations within them like the Gulf Cooperation Council in this case, and other nations around the world help non-combatants leave Gaza for humanitarian purposes.
Yglesias incorrectly credits Republicans for this position when Democrats too support the idea of helping non-combatants leaving Gaza.
Yglesias understands the problem to be contentious in part because the Arabs have not supported the Palestinians being “better off” by refusing them work permits and other assistance in resettling after the founding of Israel more than 75 years ago.
