Pullout alone won't save Gaza
Next challenge is to plan for peace

In the Mideast, all eyes are focused for the moment on the planned Israeli evacuation of its settlements in the Gaza Strip. Will there be violent protests? How will the Israeli Defense Force handle it? Do the Palestinians have adequate security forces to impose a sense of law and order there?

They are all legitimate concerns and, no doubt, such a momentous event will not go without major problems. But there is another set of challenges further down the road to which neither side seems to be paying enough attention. They must. That is the long-term economic and political viability of the Gaza territory. If there is an inadequate economic base in Gaza, none of the prerequisites for a stable, law-abiding society will have a chance of coming to fruition.

The problem is that Gaza has been a political orphan for so long that it has no collective memory or tradition of self-government, let alone a self-functioning economy. A large percentage of the Palestinians who live in Gaza worked in Israel. But the intifada that began in the summer of 2000 has drastically cut off those jobs and it's problematic whether Israel will open its borders to Gaza residents until there is proof the access won't be used by terrorists. It might be years before the Israelis open the border.

Both the Israelis and the Palestinians, working with the United States, must have a longer term plan for making Gaza economically viable. One aspect would be for the Israelis to leave intact the settlements' infrastructure for use by the Palestinians. And the Palestinians must refrain from making it appear they have captured these assets because of the intifada. Israel would just as soon destroy them than give the impression that violence against them had a reward.

At the same time, the Palestinians, working with surrounding Arab countries, must concentrate on building a new infrastructure inside Gaza. That would provide jobs and create new economic opportunities. The alternative - economic stagnation - leads to more poverty, anger and frustration. And that inevitably leads to violence. The pullout is a unique opportunity to get the peace process moving after years of terror. But it's going to take planning and foresight to fulfill its potential.

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.