Free Markets & Security

How much of the hostility between Israel & the Palestinians is the result of socialism? An (AP --caveat emptor!) story in this morning's WaTi makes some provocative observations. Two items jumped out at me. First: there is a way to get Arabs & Israelis to mingle --economic incentives. Actually, when I was there in February, most of my Christian Arab guides said they'd infinitely prefer to live among the Israelis than among Muslims. But if we're talking Jews & Muslims mixed together, I note an interesting effect of the onerous check-point process.

Some Arabs are even moving into Jewish neighborhoods.

Further details:

Mr. Ansari, who speaks fluent Hebrew, escaped the overcrowding by moving his family to the Jewish neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev. He obtained a mortgage on a $170,000 three-bedroom apartment -- cheaper than in a nearby Arab neighborhood, where housing prices have doubled and all transactions are conducted in cash.

Jerusalem historically has tended to segregate itself into religious and ethnic quarters, and the Ansaris are just of a few dozen Arab families in Pisgat Zeev, but the trend is accelerating, Mr. Kimhi said.

No comment on how this desegregation is working, although one must suppose that if things were bad, an AP reporter would have included sob stories about that. Then look at this from two other men who have moved from one side of the fence to the other.

He said he moved to avoid barrier hassles and to secure the benefits that come with Jerusalem residency status, such as national health insurance. Tarek Muna, 35, a U.N. employee, cited the same motives in locking up his villa in the suburb of Bir Naballah and moving into a $500-a-month two-bedroom apartment in noisy downtown Wadi Joz.

So a huge part of this dispute is about unequal access to social programs? Yep. And some folks on the wrong side of the wall might be learning a good lesson from the experience of injustice: that they are capable of doing many things for themselves and needn't wait for Big Brother to do it for them:

the separation has intensified what Israeli city officials acknowledge are decades of neglect and has forced Kufr Aqeb to fend for itself. Tired of waiting for Kufr Aqeb's municipality to act, Mr. Abu Romeileh has helped set up a school for 500 students, hooked the neighborhood into Ramallah's sewage system and organized a 30-doctor clinic, now under contract with Israel's national health service. He has bought a motorcycle to bypass Qalandia's lines of cars when delivering perishable blood samples.

The barrier is at least forcing the Kufr Aqeb municipality to find ways to deliver services, said Ziv Ayalon, an Israeli city official involved in setting up a separate local council for the walled-out residents.

The kicker:

"In the past it was quite neglected," he said. "Paradoxically, after the fence people will get more than what was before."

Paradoxically? How about predictably? Free enterprise encourages peace; socialism encourages piece.