(Let me preface this with exciting news. For the past 80 years or so, when I looked at a list of most popular baby names, I would never find the name “Arthur”. Alright, so I didn’t look that often, but I did look maybe 5 times over those 80 years, and the answers were always consistent. Very few Arthurs were being born.

But yesterday, I looked at two such lists (no, no news of that type, I promise), and found that on babynames.com, Arthur came in as number 33. I was overjoyed, as you would expect. And then I turned to thebump.com, and guess what? Arthur is number 26.

I welcome all these Arthurs to the world, and wonder how they will navigate the Art/Arthur/Artie/Arturo conundrum.)

Now, let us proceed.

Of course I am thinking about Gaza. Not only about the conditions Gazans find themselves in today, and questions that must be crashing through the brains of Hamas officials (if Hamas has officials), but the practical things, the post-war things. And I am also trying not to think emotionally, one way or the other, about these things. Just, as I said, practical matters.

As we know, the population of Gaza has been exploding, with I have read the average Gaza woman having 5 children (the average European woman now has, I believe, fewer than 2). It is now 2 million plus, with half of the 2,000,000 under the age of 18. As children continue to be born at this level, if they will be, the population of Gaza will soon be 3 million, 5 million, 8 million? The sky’s the limit as they say. (I have seen actual projections of 3 million by 2030 and close to 5 million by 2050.)

But the geography is also the limit. The District of Columbia (and the city of St. Louis, for that matter) is about 60 square miles. The entire size of the Gaza Strip is only about 120 square miles. That is just a little smaller than the size of the city of Philadelphia. The population of Philadelphia (a fairly crowded city) is about 1.5 million. Imagine if Philadelphia (within the city limits) had a population 50% larger today than it has, and it was going to grow at a Gaza rate. Want to find an American city whose boundaries are even more precisely aligned with the Gaza strip? Try Brownsville, Texas.

So, even assuming the war is going to enr assd, or that the war had never even occurred, how is Gaza (or Israel, or the Muslim world) going to cope with that many people on that amount of land?

OK, let’s move on a little further. I have read that about 1/2 of the residential dwelling units in the Gaza Strip have now been destroyed. And I would assume that there has been damage to some (or much) of the remainder. And we know that commercial buildings have been demolished, as have hospitals, other public buildings, and so forth. And of course, even before the war, Gaza couldn’t generate on its own sufficient power or electricity or clean water. Even if the war ends today, how will the population maintain itself with so much of its infrastructure destroyed? And how long will it take to restore it?

Of course, there have been wars before, and massive destruction before, and after peace, there has been restoration – usually taking a matter of years. But these have been larger countries, with more resources, and usually with external help. Who is going to help the Gazans?

And in the meantime, who is going to feed the Gazans?

And (I know – all of this is obvious), what about the Gazan economy? Offices have been destroyed, shops either have been ruined, or have no way to replenish their stock. Commuting to Israel for work is now off the table. We know some people will make a fortune on account of the needed reconstruction of the area, and needs of the people, but this will be a small number and probably not all Gazans. But, in such a small area, with imports limited, how will Gazans survive economically?

The fact is that Gaza cannot recover on its own – it is too small – its resources are too limited – its isolation too great – it is dependent on its neighbors. Its neighbors currently have exclusive control over access to Gaza, through two Israeli gates, and one that goes to Egypt. Gaza has no airport (it could, but it does not, thanks to a previous war with Israel) and has no operating port. Israel says its security requires that their be no independent port or airport (but now Israeli security seems sort of joke, too,right?).

When the war is over (I keep saying that), what will be the result? Will there be no Hamas, and no Hamas redux? (I really like the word “redux”) Will all the Gazans accept Israel as an appropriate neighbor? Will Israelis believe Gazans want to be their friends? Will they work together to build a strong Gaza next to a strong Israel, without fear or suspicion? Will Gazans be able to freely travel to and work in Israel, and will the beaches of Gaza become filled with Israeli (and other) tourists? And everyone live happily ever after?

I think you know the answers to these questions.

There is a summit of sorts going on right now in Saudi Arabia – Iran, Saudi Arabia, and I am sure others. I hope Egypt. What are they talking about? Are they talking about the destruction of Israel? Of Palestine from the river to the sea? Or are they talking about helping the Gazan people post-war, or allowing some to emigrate (to or through Sinai) during the war? Are they talking about health care for Gazans during the war? Are they talking about how to build a lasting peace with Israel? Or are they talking about opening another front – in the north, in the east?

I think you know the answers to these questions, too.

The Gazans are trapped. There is now no Gazan government. They are getting minimal support from outside. They are being attacked wherever they may be, or at least being threatened. Their jobs are gone. Their homes and businesses have been destroyed. Their minds have been poisoned by those who think that Israel (and perhaps Israel’s population) should be destroyed.

What do we need? Leadership. Where will we get it? _________