The US was one of many countries that allowed slavery. Slavery was ended in the US after a bloody civil war. However, slavery in most other countries was ended peacefully.
One of the primary methods used to get slaveholders on board with the change was compensated emancipation, i.e. the government paid the slaveholders for the slaves and set them free.
The UK, for example, paid slaveholders 40% of the purchase price of a slave. In the US, slaves sold for around ~$1000/slave (price varied depending on health, age, skills, etc). $1000 in 1848 is worth about $40,000 in 2023 dollars.
40% of $40,000 is $16,000.
The median household income in Palestine is about $3000. The total GDP was about $10 billion per year (in 2012).
The average household size in Palestine is 6 people, or about 1.2 million households. If every Palestinian household was given $20 K, it would cost about $240 billion (1,200,000*20000).
So, the proposal is this: offer to pay Palestinians $10 K if they move to some other country with no right of return. $3 K up front, plus the remainder paid out over 5 years for every year the family stays in the country. Pay the other $10 K to the country that accepts them on the same terms. The host country must give them green cards (no vote, but they can otherwise live and work as equals).
$240 billion is a great deal of money. But keep in mind that the USG has also already given about $260 billion in aid to Israel since WWII. The US also spent $2.3 trillion on the war in Afghanistan. This is about 11% of that cost.
If the Palestinian population can be substantially reduced, then it will be easier to integrate the remaining Palestinians into the rest of Israel, since they would be less of an electoral threat to the Israeli government.
#archer_politics
