I am not very familiar with New York or any of the other metropoles during the height of crime rates. What I am supposing though, is that in spite of the disruption and possibly total anarchy in some areas, the society on the whole was not a failure. The major institutions, though at times and places not effective, were still recognized as legitimate. I think not only of police, municipality, but also schools, banks, road system, money system and such. I also think that the law abiding citizens and the elite were still living in the cities. Maybe not in the criminal hot spots, but still in the whole.
Especially 'Aza on the other hand, I fear, might be a failed society. The Palestinians have suffered from a drain of elite ever since the 20's. The rich and educated segment of society has not hung around. In addition, a very large percentage is under 14. In addition, what little institutions there ever have been that were not Turkish, British or Israeli, have always been corrupt, therefore suspect and illegitimate. It may not be as awful as I paint the picture here, but what I am driving at is this: the US situation was basically healthy and therefore a candidate for repair. Like a robust person who needs to undergo chemotherapy. The PA situation may be more that of an early born infant, sickly from the git go, with organs that never functioned well, in need of corrective surgery and yet, at the same time infected with complications. In other words, in the US, basic functions were available, the society on the whole was resilient enough to take on the heavy blows of a severe therapy. In the PA it is questionable whether basic functions are good; they were hardly ever there and as a consequence, a rigid approach may well kill off the life altogether.
In the mean time it could drag the environment with. Israel, but maybe first other countries. The whole region has never had a very stable society with effective institutions. But even in Israel the effect is felt. Many Israeli's, deep in their hearts would rather live in the US. Apart from a brain drain to the US (which goes on from nearly every region in the world), the more pragmatic members of society would rather live elsewhere and not face the burdens of the region. What is left behind is an impoverished and ardently nationalistic populace - we are not there yet, but the tendency could make it so.
A solution that I like and would think can be very effective, but needs a major turn in mind set from two antagonistic camps is to merge the region into one state and abandon the Zionist ideal of a state with a Jewish majority and have the non-Jewish part embrace the Jews.
So far with Utopia; what is good about this approach is that the state of Israel has both the economic and the institutional powers of a very healthy state/society. With the addition of the Arab surroundings it would grow in population and land size and with war ended, it can use its innate power for growth to full potential, with the wide populace to profit.
The reality is that the ethnic groups have much more in common than in difference. They have monotheistic religion, semitic language and a long parallel history (Jews have always lived in the wider Middle East). The potential of collaboration is enormous, the strains on cohabitation seem, in my mind, not much more than on mixed communities of Catholics and Protestants or Roman and Greek Catholics - there are many flourishing communities like that in the whole of Europe. In India Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Jain and Buddhist can live together, so why not Jews, Druze, Christians and Muslims, or Jews and Arabs if you like? On a rational and practical level we are very close to this healthy solution. Only on an emotional level we are a world apart.
I wonder how long we must cling on to these emotions?
Well, that's a post that should stir up some discussion.
