Reassuring the Palestinians [Original Post, ~March 2024]
I was watching Al Jazeera recently, and I heard a commentator mention that there were efforts in the US and Canada to convince Palestinians to apply for visas and come to their country. This commentator was concerned that this was a tactic to dissolve the Palestinian identity and convince them to abandon their lands.
I can understand why the Palestinians would be concerned. However, I would argue that if the Palestinians have more than one home, this is something that will actually make their identity more difficult to erase. I think the goal should be to have some Palestinians move to a small number of western cities, in large clusters. They should create a Palestinian brand and create Palestinian neighborhoods. They should make it a cool thing to have in your city.
The other thing that I think could happen that Palestinians might not realize is that if there are western cities greeting Palestinians eagerly and wanting them to move there, this might make Israelis start to want Palestinians to move to their cities. When many people want a thing it increases its perceived value.
Since I am genuinely trying to help I really want no part in dissolving the Palestinian identity. So maybe the best solution is one large cluster in Toronto, to minimize the chance of that happening.