timschochet
Footballguy
9 Presidents since 1967 have attempted to solve the Israel-Palestine dilemma. Nobody's done it. Clinton came the closest, but the Palestinians backed out. Before proposing my solution, let me summarize the problems:
Israel
1. Israel will refuse any solution that she believes will endanger her security or increase the chance of terrorist attacks.
2. Israel regards Jerusalem as the capital and a Jewish holy city and will refuse to give it up.
3. Israel will not agree to any Right of Return for Palestinians which would allow them to enter Israel and swamp the Jewish population.
4. Israel has settlers who continue to move into sections of the Occupied territories. Much like Ulster Protestants and Afrikaners, these settlers comprise the hard core of Israeli resistance to any agreement with the Palestinians. They believe they are God's chosen to occupy these lands. They and their supporters represent a minority among the Israeli population, but it is a powerful minority and they may fight rather than be forcibly relocated to support any peace plan.
Palestine
1. There are two Palestinian areas: Gaza and the West Bank. They are not contiguous. Israel separates them from each other. While the Palestinian Authority is in nominally in charge of both areas, in point of fact Gaza is ruled by Hamas, while the West Bank is governed by the inheritors of Yassir Arafat's PLO. The latter is thought to be much weaker.
2. Palestinians regard Jerusalem as a Muslim holy city and refuse to give it up. They demand it as the capital of any state of Palestine.
3. Palestinians demand as part of any peace agreement the Right of Return, which allows any Palestinian who fled or was forced out after 1948, or their descendants, to return to the state of Israel.
4. Palestinian extremists do not recognize the state of Israel and seek it's destruction. These extremists may or may not represent a majority of the entire Palestinian population. They certainly represent a majority of those who live in Gaza (ruled by Hamas) and those Palestinians who continue to live in Lebanon (dominated by Hezbollah.)
Now, here is my 4 point plan:
1. We're going to set up 2 Palestinian states- one in Gaza and one in the West Bank. The historical precedence for this would be the separate but friendly Orange Free State and Transvaal which were set up in northern South Africa in the late 19th century. (Or, as a much larger example, the formation of Pakistan and Bangladesh as separate Muslim states divided by India following the end of the British Raj.) These states will be self-governing, and, so long as they remain at peace, will receive trading benefits and foreign aid from the United States.
2. The state of Gaza will be whole because earlier in this decade Sharon forced the Jewish settlers in Gaza to withdraw. In order to make the West Bank whole, Israel will have to remove it's settlers from enough of the West Bank so as to allow for a contiguous state of the West Bank for Palestine. This was previously agreed to in 1999 by the Israelis and Clinton, though it falls short of Obama's vague idea that Israel would remove from 100% of the West Bank. The Jewish settlers on the West Bank will be compensated monetarily for their loss of land by the government of Israel with help from the United States.
3. Israel will grant the Right of Return to any Palestinians who fled or was forced out in 1948 and is still alive. No descendants. The descendants will receive a monetary compensation IF they can show evidence of forced removal. The compensation will be paid for by the State of Israel with help from the United States.
4. Jerusalem is the hardest part to resolve. I'm going to adopt the West Wing proposal: Tel Aviv becomes the capital of Israel, and the city of Jerusalem is named an international city (as it was before 1967), with it's holy sites protected and governed by an international force which will include the US military.
That's it. Obviously this would take a lot of work, and it would involve a greater involvement from us, which I'm sure some people around here will object to. But I think it's worth it, because any settlement would save us even more lives and money in the long run.
Israel
1. Israel will refuse any solution that she believes will endanger her security or increase the chance of terrorist attacks.
2. Israel regards Jerusalem as the capital and a Jewish holy city and will refuse to give it up.
3. Israel will not agree to any Right of Return for Palestinians which would allow them to enter Israel and swamp the Jewish population.
4. Israel has settlers who continue to move into sections of the Occupied territories. Much like Ulster Protestants and Afrikaners, these settlers comprise the hard core of Israeli resistance to any agreement with the Palestinians. They believe they are God's chosen to occupy these lands. They and their supporters represent a minority among the Israeli population, but it is a powerful minority and they may fight rather than be forcibly relocated to support any peace plan.
Palestine
1. There are two Palestinian areas: Gaza and the West Bank. They are not contiguous. Israel separates them from each other. While the Palestinian Authority is in nominally in charge of both areas, in point of fact Gaza is ruled by Hamas, while the West Bank is governed by the inheritors of Yassir Arafat's PLO. The latter is thought to be much weaker.
2. Palestinians regard Jerusalem as a Muslim holy city and refuse to give it up. They demand it as the capital of any state of Palestine.
3. Palestinians demand as part of any peace agreement the Right of Return, which allows any Palestinian who fled or was forced out after 1948, or their descendants, to return to the state of Israel.
4. Palestinian extremists do not recognize the state of Israel and seek it's destruction. These extremists may or may not represent a majority of the entire Palestinian population. They certainly represent a majority of those who live in Gaza (ruled by Hamas) and those Palestinians who continue to live in Lebanon (dominated by Hezbollah.)
Now, here is my 4 point plan:
1. We're going to set up 2 Palestinian states- one in Gaza and one in the West Bank. The historical precedence for this would be the separate but friendly Orange Free State and Transvaal which were set up in northern South Africa in the late 19th century. (Or, as a much larger example, the formation of Pakistan and Bangladesh as separate Muslim states divided by India following the end of the British Raj.) These states will be self-governing, and, so long as they remain at peace, will receive trading benefits and foreign aid from the United States.
2. The state of Gaza will be whole because earlier in this decade Sharon forced the Jewish settlers in Gaza to withdraw. In order to make the West Bank whole, Israel will have to remove it's settlers from enough of the West Bank so as to allow for a contiguous state of the West Bank for Palestine. This was previously agreed to in 1999 by the Israelis and Clinton, though it falls short of Obama's vague idea that Israel would remove from 100% of the West Bank. The Jewish settlers on the West Bank will be compensated monetarily for their loss of land by the government of Israel with help from the United States.
3. Israel will grant the Right of Return to any Palestinians who fled or was forced out in 1948 and is still alive. No descendants. The descendants will receive a monetary compensation IF they can show evidence of forced removal. The compensation will be paid for by the State of Israel with help from the United States.
4. Jerusalem is the hardest part to resolve. I'm going to adopt the West Wing proposal: Tel Aviv becomes the capital of Israel, and the city of Jerusalem is named an international city (as it was before 1967), with it's holy sites protected and governed by an international force which will include the US military.
That's it. Obviously this would take a lot of work, and it would involve a greater involvement from us, which I'm sure some people around here will object to. But I think it's worth it, because any settlement would save us even more lives and money in the long run.
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