Newsweek is running a story about how Gaza could be a tourist destination and wonders whether it could come to pass or is another cruel pipe dream.
Sorry to break the news to Newsweek, but we've been here before. Back in 1994 to be precise. Back in the good old days of optimism and the nascent Palestinian Authority was told that they could run Gaza, Jericho, and parts of the West Bank. Ol' Yasir Arafat turned around and took all the money allotted to the Palestinian Authority and began a graft program that kept him in power, but created a huge vacuum in the Palestinian economy. Gaza became an even worse place to live than before the Palestinians got control over their own civil administrative affairs.
So, instead of building seaside resort hotels, using the airport to begin daily flights to other parts of the world in order to bring in tourist dollars - the whole of Gaza sits astride the Eastern Med. Nice weather, warm waters, and great sunsets. It should have been the start of a real future for the Palestinian people.
11 years later, and still no tourists, no resort hotels, and a whole lot of dead dreams (not to mention dead suicide bombers and terrorists who bought into the Hamas/PLO/AAMB/Hizbullah 'you may wanna live forever but I'll give you 72 virgins if you blow up first speech').
What makes anyone think that this will change now that Israel has left the Palestinians to their own devices? Hamas is even stronger now than when Arafat was still alive. They still want to drive Israel into the sea and kill everyone in sight. Who would want to build a resort hotel in the middle of that? Not many people.
And no one will build new hotels and resorts unless and until the Palestinians decide that they will tolerate Israel next door instead of seeking its destruction.
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