With Sderot's Growng Palestinian Population, How About A Palestinian Prison?

At a time that Olmert is releasing more Palestinians from prison, a member of the Knesset has another idea on what to do with them:

MK Gilad Erdan (Likud) suggested Sunday that Israel use prisoners from Hamas and Islamic Jihad that it is holding as human shields to deter rocket fire on Israel.

Erdan said that he has suggested that an internment facility for Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners be created in the Gaza belt area. The facility, he said, should be of a temporary nature and it should be unfortified.

"There is no reason why the terrorists who are imprisoned in Israel should be safe," he said.

But oddly enough, this is not a new idea--in fact something similar has been in place for a couple of years now, and obviously has not had any effect:

The threat of Qassam rockets on Sderot brought about a recent exodus of many residents, but their homes have not remained empty. The falling property values allowed many families of Palestinian cooperating with the Israeli government and defense forces to buy homes, even mansions, in the more targeted areas of the city.

In the past six months, some ten Palestinian families arrived in Sderot, joining the 250-300 Palestinians already living there. Attorney Nathan Shreiber, who represents the Palestinians in the region, told Ynet that lowered housing costs are not the only incentive for the families to move to Sderot.

"As the situation in Gaza escalates, so the flow of people will increase," he says.

The Palestinians have become a common sight in the Sderot and surrounding areas. During Ariel Sharon's tenure as prime minister, one such Palestinian set up a tent in front of his farm, protesting that the government was shirking its responsibilities to him and those like him.

An additional community of Palestinians lives in Ashkelon, but is much smaller compared to that in Sderot.

Of course, the fact that these Palestinian Arabs are seen as collaboraters will prevent their being an incentive to Hamas to stop the rockets. Also, as more Palestinian Arabs move into Sderot--and Ashkelon--there will be demands from them for accomodation, such as the building of mosques.

Israel At Level Ground covered the issue 2 years ago, and has video and podcasts of the reaction of Sderot residents to the new neighbors.

Bottom line, since Erdan's suggestion is not going to happen, Sderot residents end up getting the Palestinian neighbors with none of the security benefits.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Technorati Tag: Israel and Sderot.