The American Spectator : The Economics of Settlement

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The Economics of Settlement

By George Gilder from the June 2011 issue

If not for Jewish settlers, there would be no Palestine and no economic progress for the region's Arab population.

The root cause of Middle Eastern turmoil, according to a broad consensus of the international media and the considered cerebrations of the deepest-thinking movie stars, is Israeli settlers in what are described as the "occupied territories" on the West Bank of the Jordan River. Even such celebrated and fervent supporters of Israel as Alan Dershowitz and Bernard-Henri Lévy put the settlers beyond the pale of their Zionist sympathies. Remove the settlers, according to these sage analyses of the scene, and the problems of the region become remediable at last.

Lester Brown of the Worldwatch Institute adds to these political concerns a coming environmental catastrophe, also presumably aggravated by the Israeli settlers and their hydrophilic irrigation projects. He sees the Middle East as severely threatened by the growth of population and the exhaustion of water resources. The Institute explains: "Since one ton of grain represents 1,000 tons of water, [importing grain] becomes the most efficient way to import water. Last year, Iran imported 7 million tons of wheat, eclipsing Japan to become the world's leading wheat importer. This year, Egypt is also projected to move ahead of Japan. The water required to produce the grain and other foodstuffs imported into [the region] last year was roughly equal to the annual flow of the Nile River."

Although these two concerns might seem unrelated, they converge in the history of Israel, created by several generations of settlers and constrained at every point by the dearth of water in a mostly desert land. In the mid-19th century, before the arrival of the first groups of Jewish settlers fleeing pogroms in Russia, Arabs living in what became the mandate territory of Palestine -- now Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza -- numbered between 200,000 and 300,000. Their population density and longevity resembled today's conditions in parched and depopulated Saharan Chad. Although Worldwatch might prefer to see the Middle East returned to these more earth-friendly, organic, and sustainable demographics, the fact that some 5.5 million Arabs now live in the former British Mandate, with a life expectancy of more than 70 years, is mainly attributable, for better or worse, to the work of those Jewish settlers.

CHRONICLING THE ORIGINS of this Jewish feat in 1939, nine years before the creation of the modern state of Israel, was one of the little-known heroes of the 20th century, Walter Clay Lowdermilk. An American expert on land usage, he formulated and popularized the best techniques of soil reclamation and watershed management around the globe. Today the agricultural school at Technion bears the lapidary name of this American-born Christian, and the world-leading feats of Israeli water conservation attest in part to his influence.

A Rhodes scholar at Oxford who earned his Berkeley doctorate in forestry, Lowdermilk focused his career on "reading the land" for its tales of human civilization. Married to a Christian missionary, he moved early in his career to northern China to find remedies for the great famine there in 1920 and 1921. Rejecting the prevailing view that the crisis was caused by climate change, Lowdermilk and his team identified the real problem as the huge load of silt borne down the Yellow River every year and deposited in the lowlands of the river, causing floods and depleting the up-country of soils. "In the presence of such tragic scenes," he wrote, "I resolved to devote my lifetime to [the] study of ways to conserve the lands on which mankind depends."

Becoming assistant chief in charge of research for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service (now part of the Department of Agriculture), he embarked in 1938 on a global mission to determine how the experience of older civilizations could guide the U.S. in surmounting its own agricultural crises of the Dust Bowl and Southern erosion. This 25,000-mile peregrination ended in Palestine, where he confronted the question of how the "land of milk and honey" described in the Bible had become a wasteland.

In ancient times, as he knew, Palestine was largely self-sufficient, with a population of millions. Replete with forests, teeming with sheep and goats, full of farms and wineries, the landscape evoked a European plenitude. By 1939, however, when Lowdermilk arrived in the area, it was largely an environmental disaster. As he recounted in his 1944 book, Palestine, Land of Promise, "when Jewish colonists first began their work in 1882...the soils were eroded off the uplands to bedrock over fully one half the hills; streams across the coastal plain were choked with erosional debris from the hills to form pestilential marshes infested with dreaded malaria; the fair cities and elaborate works of ancient times were left in doleful ruins." In the late 19th century around the current Tel Aviv, Lowdermilk was told, "no more than 100 miserable families lived in huts." Jericho, once luxuriantly shaded by balsams, was treeless.

What amazed Lowdermilk, though -- and changed his life -- was not the 1,000 years of deterioration but the some 50 years of reclamation of both the highlands and the lowlands by relatively small groups of Jewish settlers. As one of many examples of valley reclamation, he tells the story of the settlement of Petah Tikva, established by Jews from Jerusalem in 1878, in defiance of warnings from physicians who saw the area outside what is now Tel Aviv as hopelessly infested with malarial mosquitoes. After initial failures and retreats, Petah Tikva became "the first settlement to conquer the deadly foe of malaria," by "planting Eucalyptus [locally known as ‘Jew trees'] in the swamps to absorb the moisture," draining other swamps, importing large quantities of quinine, and developing rich agriculture and citriculture. By the time of Lowdermilk's visit, Petah Tikva had become the largest of the Jewish rural settlements," supporting 20,000 people "where there were only 400 fever-ridden fellaheen sixty years ago." (Today it is at the center of Israel's high-tech industry.)

In the gouged and gullied hills near Jerusalem, reclamation by settlers was epitomized by Kiriath Anavim. Founded in 1920 among thorn bushes, dwarfed trees, and a desolate rubble of rocks, the settlement by the time of Lowdermilk's trip boasted elaborate terraced lands, orchards, and vineyards, with plum, peach, and apricot trees, honey, and poultry, together with prosperous dairies producing milk for Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

In draining swamps, leaching saline soils, redeeming dunes into orchards and poultry farms, in planting millions of trees on rocky hills, in constructing elaborate water works and terraces on the hills, in digging 548 wells and supporting canals in little more than a decade and irrigating thousands of acres of land, establishing industries, hospitals, clinics, and schools, the 500,000 Jewish settlers who arrived before the creation of Israel massively expanded the very absorptive dimensions and capacity of the country. It was these advances that made possible the fivefold 20th-century surge of the Arab population by 1940.

AS LOWDERMILK recounted in his book, in the 21 years between 1921 and 1942, the Jews increased the number of enterprises four-fold, the number of jobs more than ten-fold, and total invested capital from a few hundred thousand dollars to the equivalent of $70 million in 1942 dollars. Particularly significant in Lowdermilk's view were the purchases of large expanses of unused Arab land by Jewish settlers, many of whom had earned the necessary funds by their own hard work on the arid soils. On most occasions, the settlers bought only a small proportion of an individual Arab's holding and paid three or four times what similar plots sold for in Syria (and far more even than in Southern California). Thus the Jewish purchases provided capital for Arab farms, allowing a dramatic expansion of their production. "In cases where the land belongs to absentee owners and tenants are forced to move...I found that the Jewish purchasers had provided compensation to enable the tenants to lease other property."

Lowdermilk reported that many Arab landowners had already begun to resist the agricultural advances and resented the success of the Jews, while the British in the area "are imbued with old colonial traditions and befriend feudal leaders." European diplomats often enjoyed going native by mimicking Arab grandees (who in turn were learning European ethnic prejudices and disdain for "men in trade"). Together they smeared these fully beneficial transactions with anti-Semitic slurs and caricatures. However, the results of the purchases were clear: "During the last 25 years (before 1939), Jews have acquired just six percent of Palestine's 6.5 million acres or 400 thousand acres, less than one quarter of which was previously cultivated by Arabs."

These new opportunities in Palestine attracted hundreds of thousands of Arab immigrants from Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and the desert. With wages for Arab workers double or more the wages in Syria, Jordan, and Iraq, in 1936, a British Royal Commission could report: "The whole range of public services has steadily developed to the benefit of the [Arab] fellaheen...the revenue for those services having been largely provided by the Jews."

Lowdermilk clinched his argument by a sophisticated comparison with conditions in Jordan. A country almost four times larger than Palestine (including Sinai), Jordan partakes of the same mountain fold of mesozoic limestone, the same rich river plains, the same Rift Valley and highlands, the same mineral resources, the same climate, and a several times larger population in ancient times. But at the time of Lowdermilk's visit, its agricultural output and per capita consumption of imports was one-fifth that of Palestine and its population density was one-tenth Palestine's.

Without Jewish settlements, Jordan was suffering heavy emigration (mostly to America and Palestine) while Palestine attracted increasing flows of immigrants, mostly clustering around the Jewish settlements. With Jewish advances in food production and in medicine and public hygiene, Arab health statistics increasingly converged with those of the Jewish settlers. While the Arab birth rate actually dropped by 10 percent, the death rate fell by one-third and infant mortality dropped 37 percent. The net result was an Arab annual population growth rate of 16.2 percent, the highest in the world (exclusive of immigration). Lowdermilk summed it up: "Rural Palestine is becoming less and less like Trans Jordan, Syria and Iraq and more like Denmark, Holland, and parts of the United States [Southern California]."

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About the Author

George Gilderis a founding fellow of the Discovery Institute and author of 15 books, most recently The Israel Test.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (121) | Leave a comment

Intelligent Design| 6.8.11 @ 7:50AM

Gilder nails it: "U.S. strategy has slid into total incoherence, drifting from a futile and deadly funambulism among the tribes of Afghanistan to propping up the Lebanese Army (i.e., Hezbollah) with sophisticated night-fighting gear to be used against no other target than Israel, and enhancing the Palestinian police forces with $100 million in new equipment...."

In 2012 we must dump Obama and his fellow Demo-Socialists into the garbage truck of history. Four more years would be disastrous.

Intelligent Design| 6.8.11 @ 2:45PM

I highly recommend The Israel Test, by George Gilder. Great book! Also, In Ishmael's House, by Martin Gilbert.

John| 6.8.11 @ 8:36PM

You are a dumbshit

Fredrick Ward| 6.10.11 @ 2:35PM

All of your muslim favoring comments, and this is all you can say in reply? Wow, now that comment really does show who is the dumb shit.

irish19| 6.11.11 @ 5:48PM

After an article like that, I doubt there is anything ol' Johnny Jihadi can logically say by way of counterpoint. Gilder had laid out his arguments meticulously and cogently. Johnny can only sputter and name call. Although, that's not much different from what he usually does.

Alan Brooks| 6.12.11 @ 12:30AM

"In 2012 we must dump Obama and his fellow Demo-Socialists into the garbage truck of history. Four more years would be disastrous."

Naturally, the Bush administration is water under the bridge however I feel the eight years under Bush though not pernicious were a waste of time.
It concerns me that yet another four or eight years will be wasted by the GOP.
However I agree with the piece: if Israel disappeared tomorrow, the nations in the region would lose their common enemy Israel, their main 'Other', and simply transfer all their #1 hatred to fellow Arab & Shiite nations (the precedent being the 1980s war between Iraq and Iran).
Israel is the great bugbear of the region.

Alan Brooks| 6.12.11 @ 12:34AM

... Israel is the latter-day Christ of the Arab/Shiite world, Israel is expected to have placed on itself the sins of the Mideast,
and to be "driven (in a sense crucified) into the Sea."

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 8:32AM

Damn, greedy Jews!!!

Ha ha HA, last laugh will be on murderous Palestinians who dispossess the Jews of all they have done in the name of their religion of peace. A destroyed Israel will quickly revert to desert and deserted pre-1870's conditions, leaving the local Arabs impoverished, yet again. Eventually, Jews and Christians will return to the land of their faith to re-build it. They will build it back up, the Arabs will return, and destroy it yet again. Has anybody learned anything, yet?

canuckistani| 6.8.11 @ 9:23AM

I fail to see the connection between this article and the border dispute.
The US policy has been the 1967 borders for forty years.
The Palestinians have the numbers and continue to grow. The birthrate amongst the ultra-orthodox (who contibute as much to the economy as a dust mite) is far outstripping the more productive consrevative and reform stratums.

Make the deal and call out the ultra-orthodox as much of a threat to Israeli economic health as the Arabs are.

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 9:51AM

canuckistani:

I fail to see any connection between the article and your post, and I fail to see any connection between my post and your post.

What is it you are about, then?

To your post, I say, if American policy has been the unilateral surrender of territories won in defensive response to unprovoked attacks as you aver, does this mean that American policy has been that Mexico's northern border should actually be north of Houston and Dallas?

And were it not for the efforts of the Jews according to this article and the book referenced therein, the so-called Palestinians would not have any water, food, or services to support their growth. I believe that was Lowdermilk's and Gilder's whole point. You might want to go to the dictionary between 'club' and 'clueless' to find a clue.

DO NOT TRY TO RE-WRITE HISTORY AROUND HERE, PLEASE.

Oh yeah, and another thing, please give dates and locations of ultra-orthodox suicide bombs, missile attacks, murders of babies in their beds or mothers' arms, and other ultra-orthodox crimes. Be specific, please as you have made some pretty serious charges here, sir.

PS What in the Sam Hill do you mean calling your self 'canuckistani?' Are you a self loathing Canadian of occidental extraction? Are you just making fun of Canadians in general? Are you making fun of people from central Asia? What is up with you? Hunh?

canuckistani| 6.8.11 @ 11:27AM

The article is about the economic state of the region, not about bombings and political factions.

I agree that the Israelis have been superb at making a barren wasteland into a workable land zone - but it has taken an enormous amount of capital to do so, not unlike Las Vegas or Glendale AZ.
To suggest the Palestinians neither have the willingness or even the genetic makeup to do the same defies facts. Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh and Mecca all have invested enormous amounts of capital to do the same thing - in probably more arid environments. The common denominator is not genetic disposition, but money.

If Israel for the last 63 years accomplished what they did without enormous infusions of outside money, then yes, they are indeed the chosen people. But you know the truth is that this was accomplished with the motivation and money of Jews and countries from all over the world. A kind of Marshall plan that Palestinians have not had available to them to date.

My concern is about the long-term success and survival of Israel. I truly believe settling the land issue is step one to doing this.

My point about the Ultra-0rthos is they contribute zero to the economy, but a majority of the venom propelling Bibi's intransigence. Do you not see this as a problem?

Occam's Tool| 6.8.11 @ 8:12PM

The palestinians have not had BILLIONS of DOLLARS Thrown at them, Canuck? But they have. Their leaders confiscate it. How rich was Yasser when he died?

irish19| 6.11.11 @ 5:51PM

OT has it. As the article points out, the more aid that flows in, the lower the per capital income seems to become. Follow the money.

Seek| 6.8.11 @ 1:00PM

Anyone familiar with Israeli affairs knows that the ultra-Orthodox (or Haredim) contribute very little to their larger economy, or for that matter, the Israeli military. They are a rather brutish lot, conformist to the core, have high rates of welfare dependency and fertility (might there be a connection between the two?), and generally lack interest in anything outside affirmation of extreme religious piety. The fact that they don't conduct suicide attacks is small comfort. Most modern Israelis, never mind American Jews, cannot stand them. I know this first-hand.

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 1:46PM

Still waiting for a list of their suicide bombings, indiscriminate missile launchings, et al.

As to Mr. Canuckistan's suggestion that it was outside capital that turned the desert green in Israel, please compare the last 100 years of development in say Israel versus any other major Arab city. Oh yeah, don't forget to subtract oil revenues from the comparison.

The basic thing is this - the Arabs have really developed nothing in their own countries for their own people.

Giving Israeli territory to Arabs is a akin to giving mansions to homeless people. All that happens is that wealth is taken from those who made it and destroyed.

Why was Palestinian (Olde Philistia, no?) empty before the Jews came in the late 1800's? Was that because of the indigent Arab management?

Subtract the Jews and Christians, Israel is an empty, wasted desert....then, now, and in the future.

Exactly what besides the Arabic numbering system has the Arab culture provided to bring humans into a better, healthier, freer state.

I'll wait. But I will go do something else while I am waiting...

canuckistani| 6.9.11 @ 10:42AM

There have been very good axamples of development in Arab nations, where the political will and capital are copious and stable.

The issue with Palestine and the Levant, is that it never had any material interest to investors until the Jews arrived. Until then, it was a transit station for countless colonial powers from the Romans to the French and British. There is no oil, mineral wealth and the land is barely arable and the water has never been copious. Only fools would sink the dough the Jews have into the region.

I put it to you that it was the motivations of european and american Jews that have driven the fortunes of the country from its infancy to today. Native Jews are in the majority seeking a deal, and native Jews are less inclined to support the continued intransigence supported by their fathers and mothers' generations.
If Israel loses this core motivation, the fallacy that the holy land is a viable economic zone will cease - just as it has countless times over the last 3000 years.

As the US continues on its economic gravel road, the options for capital-raising for Israeli growth will dwindle, since their relationship with countries with capital - the Arabs and China - is damaged and irreparable with the US involved.

Your point to subtract the Christians/Jews/desert analogy is well taken, but not for the failings of the Arab majority, but for the innate nostaligia for the Holy Land that blinds people to the fact that money should be invested elsewhere.

Doctor Right| 6.8.11 @ 2:25PM

"The US policy has been the 1967 borders for forty years."

BUZZ!!!!!

WRONG.

That's a lie, pure and simple. This was NOT the policy of Reagan, Bush '41, Clinton, or Bush '43.

canuckistani| 6.9.11 @ 11:19AM

No, Junior suggested 1949 borders:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W73v4p6Yyg

Wake up. Bush grew a backbone AFTER he turfed the neocons from NSA and dual citizens like Fleischer from his inner circle. You want more duals?

Michael Mukasey
Michael Chertoff
Richard Perle
Paul Wolfowitz
Lawrence Franklin
Douglas Feith
Edward Luttwak
Dov Zakheim
Kenneth Adelman
Robert Satloff
Elliott Abrams
Marc Grossman
Richard Haass
Robert Zoellick
Ari Fleischer
James Schlesinger
David Frum
Joshua Bolten
John Bolton

For a president to be so saturated with a uniform ideological bloc like this, he would have to have been a superhero to NOT to go to war based on the tripe being conjured by these people.

I do not fault them, they are doing the work they believe to be right. I fault Bush/Cheney for allowing it to affect their decision-making, and I fault the American people for being so asleep during this period.

the permanent newbie| 6.9.11 @ 7:53PM

Your list is not of "dual citizens." It is of "guys with Jewish names."

Which is all I need to know about you.

canuckistani| 6.10.11 @ 11:39AM

All dual citizens.

I have no issue with them, I have an issue with the administration being unduly influenced by them.

You cannot ask a dual to be objective when it comes to Israel. Not possible, as it contradicts the visceral nature of seeking dual citizenship in the first place.

Fredrick Ward| 6.10.11 @ 2:37PM

"The US policy has been the 1967 borders for forty years."

Read up on your history, Canuck. It would do you good because then you could actually base your statements on reality.

C Smith| 6.8.11 @ 9:30AM

[A] ... nation that still follows the commands of Leviticus 19:33-34:

And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

“If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat….” (Proverbs 25:21). These are not empty words. Unlike Islamic nations who use the Palestinians as expendable pawns, Israel is committed to give to those in hunger. When Gaza crossings were closed by terrorist attack, or when Hamas refused to allow life-giving supplies to their own, or when Palestinians failed to cooperate in humanitarian efforts, Israel alone shouldered the burden. Recently the IDF even investigated the viability of coastal air and sea drops of emergency provisions. One particularly effective Israeli food delivery system has been a 220-meter long conveyor belt circumventing the key Karni Crossing.

“… and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink” (Proverbs 25:21). When Palestinians recently fled from Gaza into the desert, IDF soldiers reportedly opened their tanks and tossed them water bottles.

“Thou shalt love him as thyself” is the motto Israeli doctors follow without partiality as they treat both the Palestinian terrorist and his victims. However, some have understandable qualms: "I don't mind servicing wounded Palestinian patients because that's what we were taught to do, but it does bother me when the television news reports detail how many Jews were killed in an attack and the Palestinian patients break into cheers"....

http://yisraelmyglory.blogspot.....alism.html

nister| 6.8.11 @ 9:31AM

The world is watching brave IDF soldiers shooting unarmed Palestinians.

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 9:52AM

Who are invading their country. Willfully, having been told no doubt that there are 72 virgins waiting for them.

nister| 6.8.11 @ 2:32PM

What a pantload. You're the one calling Palestinians murderous.

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 3:46PM

Once again...please provide documentation of Israelis invading homes, murdering women and babies in their beds, putting shrapnel filled explosive vests on their young people and exploding them among innocent commercial crowds at weddings, in pizza parlors, etc.

From the PLO, Hamas, and all the predecessor organizations, these tactics have been the daily bread of the Israel's attackers.

Remember Leon Klinghoffer, the aged, American Jew who was shot on the Achille Lorro for the crime of vacationing in the Mediterraneam while being Jewish. Of course not. You only remember the provocateurs attacking Israeli Jews and Christians being paid back. No Muslim is ever guilty of anything because their "Religion of Peace" excuses them for the slaughter and murder of infidels.

Hey, geniuses, if you are not Muslim and fundamental, Muslim fundamentalists think its absolutely hunky dory to waste your sorry can - it gets them closer to "heaven" and you closer to their god.

As to the 'pant load' you are the one with your head way out of proper position.

Smell the coffee people - this has been going on for thirteen centuries.

Ever wonder what the Marines in the Battle Hymn of the Republic were facing after the HAlls of Montezuma "...to the shores of Tripoli." It was not a board game - it was Arab pirates, taking and killing hostages for ransom. Wake up! This is not news if you are paying attention.

Sheesh!

nister| 6.9.11 @ 7:59AM

The video of the murder is worth thousands of words..your, and Hirsch's respsones, is worth less than I've typed here.

truthhurts| 6.8.11 @ 8:00PM

Nister, the Palestinians were told by Israeli soldiers you can not cross this line...for the protection of Israel and for protection of Palestinians.

Occam's Tool| 6.8.11 @ 8:13PM

Yes, they are, nister. Hmmm, you're beginning to make me see why Clint dislikes you...

RCV| 6.8.11 @ 11:35AM

The world is also watching Palestinians lobbing missles into Israeli schools.

The Bruce| 6.9.11 @ 2:26AM

From the very territories that Israel has given up, adding insult to injury.

nister| 6.9.11 @ 8:04AM

Name a territory Israel has given up; I'll show you a territory Israel stole.

Fredrick Ward| 6.10.11 @ 2:51PM

Show me someone named nister, and I will show you someone who is a freakin idiot, liberal, dirt bag who supports Muslim terrorists.

irish19| 6.11.11 @ 5:58PM

Let's start with Gaza and the Sinai. Given back. Not stolen, but won by force of arms in yet another war forced on them by the Arabs.
The Palis could have had their own state any number of times over the last 60 yr. They, instead chose to continue to try to wipe out Israel.
They are murderous. They are uncivilized. Civilized people do not celebrate and give out sweeties to celebrate the murder of nearly 3,000 innocent people.
You and the rest of your 7th century savages can kiss my hairy American ass.

irish19| 6.11.11 @ 6:00PM

And lest I forget. As I mentioned on another blog
(www.nicedoggie.net), if it comes to it I, unlike the pretender in chief, stand with Israel.

grethel| 6.8.11 @ 6:49PM

Hmmm. They are getting paid $1000 per by the marxist/progressive powers that be. And the Palestinians are not unarmed. They are well supplied with missles and lob them endlessly.

The oh poor them routine is no longer universally accepted. The Palestinians largely live on the dole (our dole) and produce nothing constructive.

Bruno| 6.8.11 @ 9:33AM

Always moral equivalence from progressive weiner lovers. A progressive will always choose evil when given a choice. It is important to realize that the average elected progressive official like the Weinerman is much better than the average progressive supporter like canuckistani. That isn't saying much though.

canuckistani| 6.8.11 @ 11:55AM

My view on Israel in centered on what it means to America, period.
The welfare of Christians and Christian shrines in the region are sentimental to me, but do not unduly affect my reasoning. They have and will survive all of this.

We have underwritten a state of Israel, that has zero trade with its neighbors, requires extreme interventions to preserve its security, water supply and food, and adamently refuses to address our forty-year old policy proposals.

Why are we in the mix? We have diplomatic relations with all of Israel's neighbors, buy Arab oil readily, use their banks as tax havens, and yet we permit the intransigence to continue.

If I were a Palestinian, with all of the double-dealing going on, I would be more apt to believe Israel and their desire to do nothing than any other rhetoric spewing from elsewhere. The PA knows this and has evolved accordingly.

Doctor Right| 6.8.11 @ 2:26PM

"that has zero trade with its neighbors..."

What an absolutely STUPID statement.

Occam's Tool| 6.8.11 @ 8:15PM

It has enormous trade with its non-Arab neighbors. The Arabs, outside of oil, have primitive economies, Canuck. Israel has the greatest number of startups in the world per capita, and the greatest number of scientific papers published, per capita.

canuckistani| 6.9.11 @ 11:41AM

You have just proved my point. Israel is a tiny island that is a fantasy without enormous capital infusions to support its very existence. It is very much like the emirates, but the money is from without, not within.

Where does the capital for the start-ups come from? elsewhere. How are the university research papers supported? With inputs from elsewhere.

These startups and papers could be created anywhere - at a lower innate cost than the billions poured into the infrastructure each year. The fact it is in Israel is only a matter of choice and has zero to do with the economic viability of the land itself.

Not marketing to the Arabs and Chinese eliminates probably one half of liquidity in the world today. The Turks are backing away, which means even Israel's number one proxy is not viable any longer.

That means the US - you and me, kid, will pony up more and more to underwrite this "mission".

irish19| 6.11.11 @ 6:02PM

"Where does the capital for the start-ups come from? elsewhere. How are the university research papers supported? With inputs from elsewhere."
This is something for which you need to provide some proof.

Michael L. Hauschild| 6.8.11 @ 9:38AM

Thank you Mr. Gilder, best piece here in some time. As you profoundly and with insight narrate, the resource aspect of ME economics is often bereft of the real necessities of life, food and water. Conflicts in the past have always been rooted in water resources; oil is the new kid on the block. There is a saying among the sage oil sheiks, “My grandfather rode a camel, I drive a Rolls Royce, and my grandson will ride a camel.”
The cradle of civilization is going to be a continued hotbed, not because of the religious strife of Judaism and Islam, not because of nuclear weapon proliferation, but because of non-hydrocarbon power generation. The headwaters of the Tigress and Euphrates are being damned by the Turks. The counter of the Arabs for reactors might light the lights, but it will not irrigate crops.
There is a very profound part of that sage sheik’s analysis and it does not concern oil cartels or price per barrel; instead it is organic, camels subsist on very little water.

John| 6.8.11 @ 9:51AM

No end to this vile hasbara. last week we were told that there were no Palestinians in Palestine . Now due to the miracles of Zionist occupation there were millions and millions. Make you're mind up. This unceasing propaganda to stop palestinan statehood in September is hitting new lows. Keep it up uncle aipac. The palestinans will get their state and the refugees will return home. This is inevitable. A finger in the dyke will not stop the flood.

Fredrick Ward| 6.10.11 @ 3:00PM

You forget. The Palestinians have been offered this several times, and turned it down because they do not want a state more than they want the destruction of Israel. Where's your moderate muslims again, John? The only peace they wish to know is in a world that only includes their destitute, degenerate rulership supporting the worst that mankind offers.

irish19| 6.11.11 @ 6:05PM

Y'know what one of the consequences of statehood is? Acts of war, like say..... lobbing missiles into a neighbor's country, can be treated as acts of war instead of just terrorism. That means the IDF would be fully justified in carpet bombing the whole miserable mess and letting the survivors start over.

martin j smith| 6.8.11 @ 10:47AM

The "peace process" has nothing to do with peace or economics. Its underlying goal is to eliminate Jews from the region.

Religious and political Muslim leaders have also the goal of keeping the population illiterate, and poor the more to be controlled.

The "peace process" has gone thru Carter, Two Bushes,Two Clintons,and a Obama and where have we got ? Nowhere. Why These "meetings" have been held under totally false pretenses at least for Israel. Thge Arabs/Muslims have never ever been interested in a regional deal. Ever--the Treaties with Egypt and Jordan not withstanding.

Michael L. Hauschild| 6.8.11 @ 10:53AM

No, but it will probably get someone's arm broken.

KyMouse| 6.8.11 @ 11:08AM

The comments about Israel's poor soil as late as the 1940s remind me of Mark Twain's observation in "The Innocents Abroad," chapter 46:

"...a herd of curious-looking Syrian goats and sheep were gratefully eating gravel. I do not state this as a petrified fact -- I only suppose they were eating gravel, because there did not appear to be anything else for them to eat."

Israel today is a land sharing its bounty of oranges, bananas, roses and hundreds of other crops with the rest of the world. I've seen it for myself on four trips to that country. An irrigation system designed and perfected in Israel has been a blessing to farmers all around the world. Wherever they live, the Jewish people are a blessing to others.

Israel's re-growth is proof not only of the ingenuity and perseverance of the Jews, but also of the truth of the Bible, which repeatedly (and over the course of many centuries) foretold not only the Jewish people's return to their homeland, but also their determination (through God's help) to make Israel blossom like a rose in the desert.

And to defeat their invaders.

And the Arabs? When the Jews were driven out of Gaza several years go, Jewish greenhouses that had produced bountiful crops were left for the Arabs' use. What did the Gazans do? They pelted many of those greenhouses with rocks until they were useless and desolate.

Much like the land of Israel when it was under Arab control.

cicero| 6.8.11 @ 11:16AM

The Israelis cannot allow for the "right of return, as it would mean the end of the Jewish state. Whether there is a Palistinian state will depend where the world tries to place it. If it, like the "right of return" threatens the very existence of Isreal, there will be a war which will result in the annialation of the Jews in Isreal, or the total expulsion of the Arabs from the territories between the Jordan and the Mediterranian. This will not be pretty, no matter what course is taken.
For the rest of the world, it is a game. For the Arab population, it is another tactic using the Palistinians as weapons in their ongoing assault on Isreal. For the Isrealies, it is a matter of life and death.
If the Isrealies win, the game will go on as usual. If the Arabs are successful, the area will soon resemble all of the other Arab countries - no economies to speak of, and the common man begging for sustenance from whoever happens to hold power at the moment.
And who is the United States supporting? We are apparently entering the "silly season" of our national history. How sad.

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 11:31AM

The support of Israel is nothing but a total violation of the American Constitution. That money we send it is nothing but a subsidy of Jewish religious fantasy. Let's send the Pope the money so he can reconstitute the Papal States. They were in business about 12 times longer then only time Israel was united during the 80 year rule of David And Solomon

KyMouse| 6.8.11 @ 12:02PM

"Jewish religious fantasy," Jack? Over the course of many centuries, the men who wrote the books of the Bible foretold (as they were inspired by God to do so) that the Jewish people would be driven off their land and scattered among the nations, because of their disobedience toward Him. They would be persecuted everywhere. See, for example, Deuteronomy 28:63-67.

However, there would come a time when God would bring them back from all across the world to the land He gave them, and they would prosper and never be driven off it again.

Pertinent verses include Isaiah 11:11-12, 43:5-6; Ezekiel 20:34; Jeremiah 32:37; and Amos 9:14-15, but there are many others.

No one who knows anything about the history of the Middle East can deny that the Jewish people were driven out of their land in the late first century A.D.; have lived in just about every country; have been horribly persecuted; and have returned by the millions to their ancient homeland, Israel. And they have repelled attack attack by their Muslim neighbors, and have prospered more than any of them.

The late Zola Levitt (www.levitt.com) always pointed out that no other people have done what the Jews have done -- forced off their land for almost two millennia, but returned to it speaking the same language as their ancestors and revering the same God.

The same cannot be said of, say, Egypt, where the tour guide who shows you the pyramids writes in Arabic, not heiroglyphics, and worships Allah, not Horus and Ra.

And in Greece, your tour guide at the Acropolis is unlikely to speak the Greek of Plato's great-grandfather, nor worship Athena and Zeus.

In Tel Aviv today, however, the prophet Isaiah could walk down the street and easily be understood by any Jewish person he meets.

Zola Levitt was right -- no other people have had the history that the Jewish people have had. The Bible said it all would happen, and it has.

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 1:04PM

So why should the American people support your interpetation of the Bible? What you are doing in Palistine is in violation of the First Amendment and it's putting one religion ahead of another. No other American religion receives any subsidy at all, much less, billions a year.. If any Christian Church recieves any money from the government it has to answer to the ADL, ACLU, or the SPLC.
The fact that the native Palistinians are treated much worse then we used to treat our own black citizens during the years of Jim Crow. That violates the 5th Amendment and the spirit of the 14th Amendment.

There were no more articualte and outspoken group then the Jews for the rights of American Blacks and those in South Africa. It is time for the Jews to practice what they preach. Equal rights for all, with equal protection of the law is what America should stand for. If Israel wants to go another way. Let it support itself without any money from America's taxpayers.

Occam's Tool| 6.8.11 @ 8:17PM

"The native Palestinians are treated worse than we treated blacks under Jim Crow." I call bullshit on that, jack. Among my friends is the first black MD graduate of the University of South Alabama.

Climb back in your hole, StormFronter.

Paul| 6.8.11 @ 8:37PM

I dont give a fat rats ass how they are treated, these are the people that cheered during 9-11 and hold parties when 3 year olds have their heads cut off. They can burn in hell, and being followers of the religion of satan, they will.

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 10:52PM

What about the 5 dancing Mossad agents on the Jersey shore jumping for joy as the World Trade Center Collapsed?I watched the whole 4 day report on Fox News about those 5 agents. That was the last straw for me about Israel. I have never seen a more honest portrail of the israel then that story by Carl Cameron reported on Britt Hume's show.There were also 200 phoney Israeli art students arrested hanging around Federal buildings at the same time. That was also reported on Fox News among other places.

Nick| 6.8.11 @ 11:35PM

You tell 'em, Jack!

Don't forget the strawberries, that's where we got them...yes...the strawberries. We showed them, with geometric logic, that there had to be a duplicate key to the store room. And we would've proved it too, if the crew hadn't turned on us, Jack.

Oh...yeah....and the rabbis who kill Christian babies and drink their blood, right Jack? Weren't those rabbis also on the Jersey shore, killing babies and eating bagels and lox? Then they took a schvitz. Putz.

Jack in Wi.| 6.9.11 @ 12:54AM

I give you facts and you come back with nonsense. Fox News is a reliable pro Israeli source but it put up this devastating story about Israeli agents on 9/11. I don't know why they put it up myself. But it was one hell of a story and quite a few more news agencies followed up on it. To me that was the straw that broke the camels back. Go google it youself. Let Israel support itself and fight it's own wars. This country is broke. Not one penny should be cut from any Social Security or Medicare program until all foreign aid is cut to zero. The vast majority of it goes to overhead, waste, and theft.

Nick| 6.9.11 @ 1:48AM

I'm with you Jack, all the way!

Yes, yes, the 5 agents dancing with the killer rabbis, all eating bagels and lox. Oh...and the strawberries, don't forget the strawberries!

Oh, yeah, and the aliens from Area 51! They were there too! Right Jack? Although, we both know they are from Area 52, don't we Jack? Area 51 is just for the sheep to follow.

Oh...oh...oh...oh...and LBJ, Nixon, and Lee Harvey Oswald! They were all there too! All of their deaths were faked by the CIA and Jooooozzzzzz of Hollywood, right Jack?

And, HALLIBURTON!!!!!! Don't forget HALLIBURTON!!!!! And the Jooooooozzzzzzz! It's always the Jooooozzzzzz!
Yutz.

Doctor Right| 6.8.11 @ 2:28PM

"However, there would come a time when God would bring them back from all across the world to the land He gave them, and they would prosper and never be driven off it again."

Millenialist nonsense.

Jane Doe| 6.8.11 @ 3:43PM

Dear Dr. Right,

I would like to know how you think this applies to KY Mouse's and your comments, then?

"Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob"; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins."
As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable." Rom. 11:25-29.

Doctor Right| 6.8.11 @ 4:00PM

I'd be happy to do so.

He wrote:

"However, there would come a time when God would bring them back from all across the world to the land He gave them, and they would prosper and never be driven off it again."

I replied:

"Millenialist nonsense."

If you are trying to apply the quote from ROMANS 11:25-29 to support a Millenialist position, again I will say:

"Millenialist nonsense."

Let's break it down:

"The Deliverer will come from Zion..."

He did.

"...he will banish ungodliness from Jacob"

He did, but they didn't listen.

"...this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins."

Again, he did.

The Millenialist position holds that there is yet some special role for Israel and the Jews to fulfill the promise of God. That's utter nonsense. Judaism was finished at the cross, and the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., along with all the Temple records.

No Temple, no Judaism, since The Law requires sacrifices and other rituals AT THE TEMPLE.

Yes, God's gift - redemption through His Son Christ - is irrevocable.

The modern State of Israel is a political construct; it is NOT the Israel of the Bible.

Jane Doe| 6.8.11 @ 4:57PM

But you're saying this already happened. How could it have when theses verses are speaking to the future?

When it says "until the full number of the Gentiles comes in," which hasn't happened yet, "so all Israel will be saved".
Are you also trying to say that this has already happened?

Jane Doe| 6.8.11 @ 5:32PM

Dr. Right,

It seems that you are taking these verses to mean Christ's first coming, rather than His second.

grethel| 6.8.11 @ 6:54PM

Ugh. The dreck drips from your mouth. And you're from beautiful WI? How can you grow up around beauty and have such a destructive view of the world .

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 11:24AM

What a pile of absolute hooey. The Israeli's have recieved hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars from The USA, Germany, the Dispora, and the Israeli-Russian mafia. Israel would dry up and blow away without all that subsidy. It is time that we cut Israel off America's teat and see what she can do on her own. After 63 years at daddy's wallet it is time this spoiled brat goes on his own. I used to have some rspect for George Gilder. The only answer in Israel Palistine is a unitary state with equal civil, religious, and human rights for all. Instead of wasting all that money on weapons of war and murder it can be used to pay for reparations to the Palistinians. After having to put up with 63 years of theft and murder they deserve it.

cowgirl| 6.8.11 @ 11:42AM

And the Palestinians have received billions in aid from the United States. The difference is the Palestinians are like the bottom feeders here in United States who suck off the hard work of the taxpayers and the Israelis are like the taxpayers here in the United States who support themselves and bottom feeders who suck off of them.

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 1:08PM

They have recieved peanuts compared to the hundreds of billions the Israeli's have gotten. I think it is time to cut all foreign aid. Most of which goes to kleptocracies like Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain.

grethel| 6.8.11 @ 6:58PM

Peanuts? No, they just don't make the best use of money gifted them. Arafat was given millions and now his wife flits around Paris spending it as fast as she can. The regular Palestinians who were required to request audiences with Arafat to beg for a pittance from the great man never saw the money put to use in irrigation, infrastructure or even welfare for themselves. One man benefited from it all.

Occam's Tool| 6.8.11 @ 8:18PM

Grethel---Arafat was gifeted BILLIONS, not millions. Otherwise, great post.

nister| 6.8.11 @ 2:45PM

Wrong, wrong, wrong. The Palestinians have not received billions from the US. Israel, on the other hand, receives billions annually.

Nunya| 6.8.11 @ 7:05PM

Wrong. Palestinians have received BILLIONS in aid, and most of it went to make Yassar Arafat rich, back before he landed in Hell. They were offered their own state when he was leader of the PLO, and he REJECTED it. He was a lying scumbag, and so are most of the Palestinian leaders.

The Palestinians call "Foul!" against the Jewish state, yet they have benefitted GREATLY--that's what this piece was about. They continue to urge the destruction of the state because they hate the Jews, yet can't see that their own wishes will take away their best hope for the future. They did NOTHING with the land when they had it for themselves, yet Israel has become a net exporter of agricultural goods per the CIA World Factbook. And, don't tell me US dollars were the reason--they had orchards back in the 30's LONG before the US was sending money to Israel.

RCV| 6.8.11 @ 11:39AM

Israel is a modern miracle as anyone who has been there will attest. I've traveled extensively in the Middle East, and have to catch my breath every time I visit Israel. The transformation of the barren desert into a thriving modern, free state is astonishing. Just think what could have been if the surrounding Arab countries, with their wealth of natural resources, could have partnered with Israel instead of trying to destroy it.

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 1:14PM

I agree. Israel could have made a positive contribution to the neighborhood. It could have had a peace decades ago, if it would have accepted something near the 1967 borders. That is unexceptable because then the dream of rebuilding the Temple and having a racially and religiously pure country would never happen. Is this what 3000 years of Jewish thought and religion has come down to? A walled ghetto, hated rightfully, by your neighbors surounded by nuclear weapons threatening to blow up the world, with the Samson option.

Dan Hirsch| 6.8.11 @ 3:53PM

Jack;

Racial purity in Israel?

Quick question for you sir. Are there more Jewish legislators in Egypt than there are Arab legislators in Israel?

There are NO Jews in the Egyptian legislature, even more so now after the "Arab Spring." You, sir, do not know the first thing about which you spout.

You display a real lack of understanding of Middle East history, our constitution, Christianity, the Jewish faith, Jewish history, and common sense. Mebbe you should be quiet for a while and read a LOT more applicable history. It wouldn't hurt at all.

the permanent newbie| 6.9.11 @ 8:00PM

Hell, there are no Jews in Egypt anymore. I doubt that Egypt is any better off for it...

RCV| 6.8.11 @ 6:10PM

Jack - it didn't have peace when it had the 1967 borders. I agree with you that in retrospect, the smartest thing Israel could have done was to return most of the West Bank (Not Jerusalem, which it will never give up) to Jordan. Gaza would have remained a problem, tho, because Egypt refused to take it back. The reality is that neither Egypt or Jordan wanted an independent Palestinian entity and refused to form one for the 20 years they held the West Bank and Gaza, and for the very same concerns that Israel has. No Palestinian entity will be content with the territory it is awarded: they were not content with the UN's partition plan in 1948, and will never give up their "dream" of "reclaiming" what is now Israel.

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 11:01PM

The Saudi's and the Arab League offered the Israeli's a full peace teaty with full diplomatic recognition if it returned to it's aproximate 1967 borders. That has been on the table for almost 10 years and been rejected by the lunatics who run Israel and their supporters here. Over a million Jewish Israeli's reside outside Israel and many more have 2 passports. Israel has no long term survival prospects unless it makes peace and learns to live in the neighborhood. This country can't continue with this nonsense. We are broke. It is probably too late for peace now that all the old Arab dictators have fallen or are falling.

Shai| 6.18.11 @ 7:55AM

The offer was on the condition that the ENTIRE refugee problem be resolved within the bounds of the State of Israel. Get it? Obviously, the Israelis can't accept that.

Occam's Tool| 6.8.11 @ 8:19PM

Jack, where were the peace loving Aranbs between 1949 and 1966? Hitler got your tongue?

cowgirl| 6.8.11 @ 11:40AM

The GNP of the 22 Arab countries surrounding Israel cannot match the GNP of Israel.

That says it all folks.

Occam's Tool| 6.8.11 @ 8:21PM

Even with the goddam oil, they're still primitive.

It is all about culture, folks. It has zip to do with genetics.

Michael L. Hauschild| 6.8.11 @ 8:34PM

Missed ya pal, welcome back. Your contributions are relevant, timely, precise, and refreshing.

Naturalborn Texican| 6.8.11 @ 11:41AM

The Lord God will not allow the annihilation of the Jews, His chosen people.

What they have gone through since time on this rock began is for their eventual benefit...to strengthen them and to draw them back to Him.

The Jewish people - in the end - WILL win.

'Nuff said.

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 1:18PM

Why did God reward the Athieists and Communists who founded Israel and not all those pious Jews who kept the kosher laws and prayed so hard for it?

Doctor Right| 6.8.11 @ 4:02PM

Because there's NO REASON for anyone to keep the Kosher Laws anymore.

That ended 2,000 years ago at the cross.

the permanent newbie| 6.9.11 @ 8:02PM

Okay, so we all now know your view of the Jewish religion. Spare yourself a heart attack and NEVER ask a Jew what he might think of yours.

Seek| 6.8.11 @ 1:03PM

The Lord must have been sleeping during the Holocaust.

Doctor Right| 6.8.11 @ 2:31PM

God had NOTHING to do with the Holocaust.

Where in scripture - either the Old or New Testament - does it say that bad things WON'T happen???

To the contrary, we know from scripture that since mankind is by nature corrupt, and irredeemable without Christ, that bad things WILL happen.

The Holocaust was perpetrated by evil men and women...period.

Seek| 6.8.11 @ 6:14PM

I was responding to a comment by Natural Born Texican. It's a legitimate theologican question asked many times: Why would God allow His people to perish at the hands of the Nazi killers? If He refuses to preside over the annihiliation of the Jews, then why were millions annihiliated? Apparently, in your literal-minded haste, you can't grasp the nature of a rhetorical comment.

Nunya| 6.8.11 @ 7:14PM

Seek: "Annihilation" implies the complete destruction of the jews--i.e., extinction of them. They are not extinct, as you well know.

God does many things that make us wonder where He is, or why things happen. That's what life is about--we are to seek His will, and trust in Him that no matter what bad things happen, He is in control--Period. The holocaust happened because EVIL exists, and evil people perpetrated this great monstrosity upon the Jews. Why? Because they were EVIL. How could God allow this to happen? Hmmm...well, what would have happened if the US hadn't gotten into the fight? Maybe He used us to help him stop this EVIL. I don't know the answer: I just know that evil exists.

the permanent newbie| 6.9.11 @ 8:03PM

If the One True Religion was revealed in the life of Christ, then why/how could God permit Islam to rise?
Just asking...

Cordelia| 6.12.11 @ 9:29PM

Because God doesn't have puppets on a string. He created Mankind and lets each one do as they choose. And it sure does prove how evil we can be, does it not?

David James| 6.8.11 @ 2:23PM

I think that it's fascinating, just fascinating that "Exodus" by the late Leon Uris ended up becoming the "history" of Israel and Palestine. So much of what we read here could have been taken right out of that book. For Americans today that book, and we see so much of it in both Gilder's piece and a lot of the comments about it, that book is really how it went.

Of course Uris was a hopeless romantic where zionism was concerned. And to assume that "Exodus", however delightful as literature or any of Uris's books could be viewed as "history" again amazes me sometimes. Uris wrote historical fiction, and fiction was all too part of his writing. But his narrative, and don't you love that award winning opening song to the movie, needs to viewed with some skepticism and writers in Israel, including at least one professor at Haifa University has done so.

All of you need to be careful here. One of the main problems, and conservative magazines are starting to write about this, is the behavior of the settlers in the occupied lands. When we see grafiti that says "Palestinians to the ovens", that's cause for concern. Palestinians however much so many dislike them still have unalienable rights, a doctrine that IS universal. The question I will pose for all of you is are you satisfied that Israel, in its treatment of individual Palestinians convicted of no crimes, are you satisfied that such treatment meets the standards set forth by our own Founders? Is it acceptable for the government to take land from one private citizen (a Palestinian) and give it to another (a settler) without due process and just compensation? I leave for others to answer that.

Intelligent Design| 6.8.11 @ 3:11PM

Israel was founded 5/14/1948. Five days later it was attacked by Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. About 880,000 Jews were driven from Islamic countries, including Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, and Yemen. In Nazi fashion, the various Muslim governments raided and destroyed the homes of Jews, they tortured and executed Jews, and they took their property with no compensation. Very few Jews are left in Islamic countries, but about 1.5 million Muslims live in Israel in peace and security.

Nothing about Islam has changed. It is an evil 7th century political ideology, which seeks to merge so-called "religion" and state. The goal of Islam is to ban religious freedom, and install so-called "holy law" (sharia). For example, in Saudi Arabia the constitution is the Koran, the law is sharia, and the practice of any other religion is banned. Islam is hostile and subversive to secular law, including our Bill of Rights. There is no such thing as a practicing moderate Muslim. The best thing a Muslim can do is become an ex-Muslim. Reject the 7th century and join the 21st.

Islamic countries share many features, among which are lack of freedom, backward economies, hatred of Christians, Jews, and all other "Infidels", and now very unstable governments. Four and a half million pathetic "Palestinian refugees" are on a UN welfare program which provides them with assistance in housing, education, food, medicine, and cash. They have been on the UN dole for generations, for 60 years, based on the absurd premise that they are entitled to reclaim land in Israel. In stark contrast to the Muslim states, Israel has a strong economy, freedom, advanced technology and medicine, and respect for human rights. Israel is a valuable, essential ally of the United States, whether the Obamas of this world think so or not.

The U.S. Congress should cut off aid to the Palestinian/Hamas coalition, and defund the UN program called UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). If it doesn't, then American taxpayers will continue to fund terrorists.

Big Bill| 6.8.11 @ 3:15PM

Damn straight the Arabs live better now than they did back then! And it is all due to the white European Jewish colonists in Palestine.

Of course th exact same thing can be said for the Zulu and Xhosa in South Africa.

For the Negro down in Alabama.

For the Indians in the Raj. And for the Ghanians, Rhodesians, Ivory Coastians, Sierra Leonians, and every other brown and black skinned aboriginal under white rule!

Look at DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Detroit, East St. Louis, Camden, Harlem, Watts, and Compton, right here in Yankeeland for some domestic examples.

And every one of those brown and black peoples have screwed up since the white man left.

And so will the Palestinians screw up when the Jews move out.

Georgie Gilder, you seem to get it ... at last. Were it not for the white European Jewish colonization of Palestine, the Palestinians would be nothing more than goat-herding, olive growing loser peasant.

But, as you sa , with all the European (Jewish) white man's organization, education, business acumen and technology, Palestine has been radically improved.

Now tell me Georgie, why do you liberal white folks still whine about Jim Crow and white Southerners?

Why do you fight for white Jewish dominance of Israel against the ignorant brown-skinned Muslim peasant hordes ("the Demographic Problem" as Jews politely put it).

Why do you cheer the 30 foot security walls with their innumerable checkpoints around the Muslim ghettoes in Israel yet bitch about Jim Crow in the USA?

Hell, son, black folks kill and rape more whites in America than Arabs EVER slaughtered Jews in Israel.

In short, son, why do you pimp racial supremacy as mutually beneficial logic for the Jews and Arabs in Israel, yet deny exactly the same logic regarding black and white folks in America (and Africa?

I hear you, son, I really do. Hell, I AGREE!! I just can't figure out the grotesque levels of hypocrisy and suck-up.

So repeat this little Kantian mantra after me. I tell it to all my friends: "What's good for the Jew is good for the Gentile."

RCV| 6.8.11 @ 6:17PM

You're a sick little racist, Bill. You don't seem to mind all those killings and rapings the white slave owners engaged in, followed by decades more of lynchings, murders, etc. Nor do you seem to know or care much about the rapes, the dismemberments, the slaughters in the Congo by the civilized white rulers. I could go country by country, but I'll leave with Gandhi's famous response to being asked on his visit to London, "What do you think of Western Civilization?" "I think it would be very good idea."

irish19| 6.11.11 @ 6:15PM

Nicely put!

Jack in Wi.| 6.8.11 @ 5:25PM

The Israel of the Bible was the Northern Kingdom, of the Ten Lost Tribes. They were never lost but just mixed in with the other Semitic tribes in the neighborhood. The Palistinains are the descendents of these peoples. It is time to stop all this racist nonsense and integrate Israel. Let there be a secular state with tolerance for all religions and races. To the poster above who talks about the few Arabs in the Israeli Knesset. That is nothing but a sham. They have no influence and little power just like the blacks in the Civil War South. The blacks had in theory full rights. We all know that was not the case. Most Conservative magazines sing the praises of Martin Luther king. I think he would be for full integration with equal rights for all. I as a Christian believe in the universal brotherhood of man. That includes both Jews and Muslims.

the permanent newbie| 6.9.11 @ 8:06PM

Oh, please. The Palestinians are the descendants of the Arab invaders of the region in the seventh century and are damned proud of that fact.

John| 6.8.11 @ 8:39PM

Of course anyone who gets billions of dollars in aid from the USA can do wonders in the desert. To bad we can't fill all the potholes in the roads of the USA.

Nite| 6.8.11 @ 11:17PM

Israel was doing wonders for that country long before any money from the US. Muslims treat their women as property and don't encourage education. Children learn at their mother's knee, except in Muslim countries. Until Muslims change their attitudes towards women, their countries will be backwards just like they are right now. Israel allows Arabs to live in their country, but it is not the other way around. The Jews are tolerate, but muslims are intolerate of Jews and Christians.

Jack in Wi.| 6.9.11 @ 1:04AM

Nite: What you say is nonsense There were far more Christians in Palistine when the Muslims ruled the place and they were far better treated than now. Who cares what the Muslims do? It's their countries. Christians and Jews lived under Muslim rule in huge numbers for many centuries. You people moved in the neighborhood. It is time to make peace and get along with the neighbors or find a different neighborhood.

Jack in Wi.| 6.9.11 @ 1:04AM

t.c.| 6.11.11 @ 1:00AM

jack in wi.
listen to yourself. complete nonsense coming out of your mouth. in the army we said "talking out your a** 'cause your mouth knows better".

nister| 6.9.11 @ 1:35PM

"We have to kill all the Palestinians unless they are resigned to live here as slaves." Chairman Heilbrun. "We declare openly that the Arabs have no right to settle on even one centimetre of Eratz Israel. We will use the ultimate force until the Paleestinians come crawling to us on all fours." Rafael Eitan, IDF chief of staff.

irish19| 6.11.11 @ 6:17PM

Linky, please. If you have one.

Shalom Freedman| 6.9.11 @ 2:06PM

This article should be required reading for every U.N. delegation, and also for major political figures for instance President Obama. I also believe all the major media people should read this article. They would then understand how distorted a picture of the true situation they present when they imply that Israel is 'occupying' the land of a people who were there before and had a state on this land i.e. the Arab Palestinians.
This article was outstanding also in showing how the economic development of the land, and of the Arabs in it was made possible by the work of Jewish 'settlers'. George Gilder turns upside down the sense of 'settler' which now for most people has become a 'pejorative' and shows how invaluable they have been in developing the land.
An outstanding piece. I knew about Walter Lowdermilk but this piece deepened my knowledge and appreciation of this great conservationist.

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mzk| 6.12.11 @ 6:05AM

"canuckistani" reveals several facts about himself and the anyone else who gets "facts" from mthe MSM:

(1) He is a religious bigot.
(2) He is completely uninformed about Israeli society. There is very little "conservative" or "reform" in Israel.
(3) He is completely uninformed about Israeli politics. He appears to be mixing up the religious "left", which is relatively nationalist, with the religious "right", which is more pacifist. Unless he is referring to Shas, which is a party for the poor and people who lived under Muslim oppresion. Their election slogan, in fact, was "yes we can".
(4) BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if the religious articles business contributed more the the Israel ieconomy than the (subsidized) Kibbutzim, and certainly more than the (left-wing, seditious)universities.

Oh, BTW, as a Chareidi (computer programmer, paying lots of taxes) I consider "untra-orthodox" to be an epithet.

mzk| 6.12.11 @ 6:06AM

Nister, who or what is a "Chairman Heilbrun"?

mzk| 6.12.11 @ 6:08AM

"There were far more Christians in Palistine when the Muslims ruled the place and they were far better treated than now."

This is pure garabage. There were far more Christians and Jews (in the rest of the ME), but its the MUSLIMS who chased them out. And before Israel, both Christians and Jews lived in fear of the Muslims.

mzk| 6.12.11 @ 6:11AM

"Palestinians however much so many dislike them still have unalienable rights".

Does that include the right to kill Jews? Because that's the main, historic right, that we are trying to take away from them. The PA openly calls Israel "the enemy". A couple of pieces of graffiti from people tired of being victims does not change the basic fact that it the Moslems, and the Moslems alone, who are in the way of piece.

mzk| 6.12.11 @ 6:22AM

Oh, I see "Seek" is another religious bigot. No connection to the article at all, he just need a chance to release his venom, like all anti-semites, Jewish or Gentile.

What I find interesting is that there is a connection to the article. The settlement of Petach Tikva mentioned there - now almost a suburb of Tel Aviv - was built by guess who?

Now I have to get back to work, so I can afford to support Seek's fellow anti-Israel leeches in the Israeli educational establishment, arts, and media.

insanity| 6.13.11 @ 11:00AM

good to hear that

nike shox| 8.9.11 @ 2:31AM

is good