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I heard recently that Russia wants Alaska back. I also heard that France wanted Louisiana back. I don't think either of them has a case because we (that is the U.S. government) bought them fair and square (yes, both were at bargain basement rates, but that's the way it goes). I really haven't heard anyone who thinks that the US is seriously considering giving either of these pieces of land back to the people from whom they were purchased approximately 150 and 200 years ago.

In the 19th and early 20th Century, Jews from Eastern Europe started settling in the area that the Romans referred to as Palestine. Mind you, there has always been a Jewish presence in Israel. There has been a continuous presence of Jews in Israel from the time of Joshua, about 3,000-3,500 years ago.

When Mark Twain came to the area in the 19th century, there were Jews in Israel, but most of the residents were Arabs. His description of the area was that is was:

"..... A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds... a silent mournful expanse.... a desolation.... we never saw a human being on the whole route.... hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."

When the Jews came to this area they began to buy up land from the Arabs who were living there. It meant more to the Jews than it did to the Arabs.

The Jews took this barren land and turned it into a paradise. When people settled in Gush Katif, they took a barren area and made it bloom. Using hydroponics, they turned Gush Katif into an agricultural wonderland. That's when the Palestinians wanted it.

The first time I went to Israel, I was there for a yearlong program. During my time there, the program I was on took us all over Israel. One of the places we got to see was Taba. Taba is a town on the Red Sea near Eilat. When I was there, it was a beautiful resort, nicer than Eilat. It had been an empty, deserted piece of land when Israel won the area in the Yom Kippur war. It was only after Israel turned the land into a revenue producing resort did Egypt want it back.

The issue basically is that the Palestinian leaders don't want the land for their people. They don't want the land to build towns and homes and schools and infrastructures. They want the land because they want the entirety of Israel and the more land they get, the closer they get to their goal. They aren't using the wonderful infrastructure that the Jews built up in Gush Katif. They destroyed the infrastructure that we left for them. And they now use Gaza, formerly Gush Katif as a launching ground for missiles.

So why are we seriously considering giving them more land? Why are we making arrangements to make the same mistake again? Einstein said that insanity is "… doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". So why are we planning on doing the same thing in Judea and Samaria as we did in Gaza and expecting different results?

I realize that people in Israel are optimistic when it comes to peace with the Palestinians. After all, land for peace bought Israel some measure of peace with Egypt and Jordan. But it won't work with the "Palestinians". Jordan and Egypt, both of whom lost wars with Israel, had a vested interest in peace with Israel. The Palestinians do not.

So when Russia asks for Alaska "back" or France asks for Louisiana "back," no one takes them seriously because people in the world respect the U.S.'s sovereignty over these areas and the entire United States. But they do not take Israel's sovereignty seriously. That is why Israeli lands are always on the chopping block.

Just as we take U.S. sovereignty over Alaska and Louisiana seriously, we need to take Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights seriously. Only then will the sellers of land in Israel who ask for it "back" be rebuffed.

Debbie Israel is a graphic artist (see https://www.cafepress.com/compugraphd2 for some of her work) and tutor living in Highland Park.