Jerusalem Post Sparks Outrage With Column Proposing Gaza Residents Move To Sinai
Titled “Why moving to the Sinai peninsula is the solution for Gaza’s Palestinians”, the online publication the Jerusalem Post sparked major controversy after author Joel Roskin published this post. In the column, he argued that he believes it is economically and politically beneficial for Egyptians and Palestinians that Gaza residents resettle in the south of Sinai.
In his exact words, the geography professor said that “the ongoing obliteration of Hamas… may pave the way to the emergence of the proposed Sinai solution, if presented in a wise and discrete manner that conforms to the Middle East mentality.” Along with that, he attacked Egypt, “The Egyptians locked the residents of Gaza and the refugees of the 1948 War in the Gaza Strip, and, with the backing of the United Nations, still deny them the right to rebuild their lives in all Arab countries, including in the adjacent Sinai Peninsula of Egypt.”
The column did not go unnoticed as once it was published, social media users slammed the article and the author. One user gave an alternative solution to that of Roskin, “The author of the article did forget to consider another great economic option: return all Jews to Europe from where they came from;” while others said that the article is blatantly racist and promotes ideals of ethnic cleansing.
Along with Roskin, back in late October, there was a document compiled by Israel’s Intelligence Ministry that recommended moving Gaza’s population to Egypt’s Sinai. Beyond the document, many Israeli officials and prominent figures have also proposed the same idea but many Palestinians rejected it and likened it to the second Nakba.
