When someone suggests that Israel is planning a "Final Solution" to the Palestinian problem, we of course immediately label it as right-wing paranoia. The problem is that Israel is planning a real Final Solution to the Arab problem. It does not involve death camps or gas chambers but then neither did the original Final Solution as conceived by Himler.

Originally, the Nazi plan for the Jews of Germany, Austria and Poland was to "encourage" them to leave voluntarily and failing that, to forcibly evict them. It was only when Germany was losing the war and they realized that the orginal plan was not working fast enough that Hitler turned to a policy of extermination.

In Israel's case it is not called the Final Solution, it is called "Transfer." The idea of mass deportation of Arabs from Eretz Israel goes back to the very beginning. Theodor Hertzl, the founder of Zionism, recognized that if Palestine (from the Roman name for the province - "Palestrina") were to be a home for the Jews, eventually the indigenous people (whatever you want to call them) would have to be encouraged, harasses or forced to move in some way.

Hertzl wasn't stupid, he was an educated intellectual. When he called Palestine "a land without people for a people without a land." he knew full well that the Arab population of Palestine at that time was already near one million (and this was in 1840, when the population of the United States was only 20 million and that of France only 35 million) but Hertzl also shared the same disdain for non-European natives that most people did at that time. It was not much different from the way American felt about their own native population - subhuman, not worthy of civilization, brutish and contemptible.

In fact, at the same time Hertzl was formulating Zionism, Andrew Jackson was forcing the mass deportation of natives from Georgia and Carolina: 100,000 Cherokees died on what is now called "The Trail of Tears" as they were force marced to the west to make room for "real Americans."

Jabotinsky, the other leading intellectual of early Zionism, differed from his colleages. Most early Zionists somewhat naievly believed that the natives of Palestine would leave "voluntarily" once it became clear that the Jewish state would offer them no chance of economic survival. Jabotinsky recognized that it is a universal human characteriestic to fight for one's home and to fight to the death for the protection of one's family. His solution, however, was twofold:

1. Sweep them away with massive immigration - the "demographic war." and

2. to make life so unbearable and economically unviable that they would be forced to leave in order to survive.

Ultimately, Jabotinksy knew that peaceful means would not be sufficient to separate people from their homeland. He advocated the sudden and swift use of violence to get the Arabs out quickly before the world could react. His approach worked perfectly - 750,000 indigenous Arabs fled combat operations and Irgun terrorism and most of the world still accepts the fiction that they left "voluntarily."

These two points are, of course, Ariel Sharon's exact plan for the Palestinians.

During the 1967 war, Ariel Sharon, then a general in the IDF, captured large sections of Arab terriroty. His first act was to order enough buses and trucks to transport 300,000 Arabs across the border and drop them. It was only because the war ended quickly that he was not able to carry out his plan.

Given the current conditions, and the fact that Hamas and Islamic Jihad plan to continue to harass Sharon to force him to:

1. Get rid of Arafat, the political rival for Hamas leadership.

2. Scuttle any prospects for peace coming from Arafat, the Arab League or the U.S.

3. Provoke the Palestinian people to greater fury and violence.

THE ISRAELIS WANT TRANSFER NOW!
There is a very good possibility that transfer may be attempted soon. Even befroe the Passover massacre, support for transfer was already at 50% among Israeli Jews. Now, it is probably closer to 60 or 65%. Sharon could easily begin a policy of transfer and have the overwhelming support of the Israeli people. Bush and Cheney have strongly supported Sharon and declared that he is free to "do whatever is necessary to protect the state of Israel." It would be very difficutl for them to back down now and in any case, Sharon has shown no reluctance whatever to defy and ignore the lightweight Bush. He is bold, he is driven by a life-long hatred of Arafat and he is old - mass deportation would be his shining political legacy.

(During the 1967 war, as soon as Sharon, then a general, had seized the West Bank, he immediately requested enough trucks and busess to transport 300,000 Arabs across the border to just leave them in the desert. He has alwasy been know for his boldness and his intense hatred of Arabs. Back then, as just a military officer, he was willing to start a policy of mass eviction on his own, without even wating for authorization. Imagine what he is capable of now - as the elected Prime Minister, with public opinion solidly behind him and with the tactic green light from the U.S. President. Bush is too much of a wimp to ever stop him and Cheney is solidly behind a transfer plan. It is Cheney who is calling the shots of foreign policy, in any case. Cheney and Sharon are like blood brothers - they are totally in sync.

WHAT TRANSFER MEANS FOR THE U.S.
Transfer will render 3.5 million Palestinians homeless and stateless. Some will go to Arab countries, but they are not wanted there. As homeless political refugees they will qualify immediately for political asylum in whatever Western country they choose: Germany, Italy, France, Britain and mostly the U.S. (where many already have relatives.) According to U.S. law and international law they CANNOT be turned away.

Imagine this: several million angry, despondent and resentful Palestinians are now resident in Europe and in the same United States that stood by as they were harassed, humiliated and subjected to "targeted assasination." Ask yourself - how long will it be before a bomb goes off in your niece's school? Your mother's bank? Your local Home Depot?

The harder Sharon is on Palestinians, the more likely it becomes that Hamas and Islamic Jihad (not Arafat) will take the war to the backers of Israel: the American public. Secretly Sharon would welcome a Hamas bombing in America -it would be the best thing that ever happened to him. The American Congress resounding backs everything Israel does - there is no doubt that anything Israel does is also blamed on the U.S.

Make up your own mind - how many American lives are you willing to sacrifice so that some more "settlers" can build colonies on the West Bank? It's your choice.