JBG
06-06-2010, 11:53 PM
Most Mideast peace proposal focus on finding some mythical "mid-point" between that the Palestinians want and what the Israelis want. None seem to focus on what the region would look like under any such "peace". My concern obviously is that the "peace" would be a temporary step on the way towards renewed Palestinian demands and renewed violence. I think the roadmap should be different; either we have peace or we don't have peace.
My tentative proposal for Mideast peace (and I'm not sure I have worked out all the details) would be as follows:
Israel gives back all land except for Jerusalem and environs;
Existing Israeli settlers be provided guarantees of safety, while their land would operate under local West Bank government;
Elected local governments in Gaza and West Bank rule those areas, with a highway corridor connecting them;
All Arab governments accord Israel full diplomatic recognition;
All Arab boycotts of Israel immediately cease;
Realistic economic development projects should be promulgated for land returend to Arab control so there would be an agenda other than continuing warfare;
All Arab governmentsal entities and other stakeholders abandon any claim to a "right of return" of Arab refugees or their descendants;
Arabs and Jews who are now living in pre-1967 Israel and Jerusalem and lawful immigrants have full civil rights in Israel as Israelis;
Arabs and Jews who are now living in pre-1967 West Bank and/or Gaza, except Jerusalem and lawful immigrants have full civil rights in their respective areas;
All people could travel freely through the region, subject to normal, neutral rules of border control and internal security; and
All Arab governmentsal entities and other stakeholders abandon any claim to any part of pre-1967 Israel or Jerusalem;
The Golan Heights would remain under Israeli military control, but prior residents and their descendants would have a right of return; and
Israel would have the right to control and interdict all flow of armaments to West Bank and/or Gaza
The Arab stakeholders should be given a short but reasonable time to accept or reject such a proposal. If rejected, the Israelis would have the full right to continue, full force, the state of war that's been declared since 1948 and never ended. This would involve the likely expulsion of the local Arab population from Gaza and the West Bank.
There is nothing anti-Muslim or anti-Arab in this post. It is too much to expect any country to exist, forever, in a state of warfare where only one side can fight without restraint. The Arabs cannot continue to play a game of "heads I win tails you lose" where they attack Israel, either directly or through asymetrical warfare, and then the world forces Israel to respond with both hands tied behind their backs.
My tentative proposal for Mideast peace (and I'm not sure I have worked out all the details) would be as follows:
Israel gives back all land except for Jerusalem and environs;
Existing Israeli settlers be provided guarantees of safety, while their land would operate under local West Bank government;
Elected local governments in Gaza and West Bank rule those areas, with a highway corridor connecting them;
All Arab governments accord Israel full diplomatic recognition;
All Arab boycotts of Israel immediately cease;
Realistic economic development projects should be promulgated for land returend to Arab control so there would be an agenda other than continuing warfare;
All Arab governmentsal entities and other stakeholders abandon any claim to a "right of return" of Arab refugees or their descendants;
Arabs and Jews who are now living in pre-1967 Israel and Jerusalem and lawful immigrants have full civil rights in Israel as Israelis;
Arabs and Jews who are now living in pre-1967 West Bank and/or Gaza, except Jerusalem and lawful immigrants have full civil rights in their respective areas;
All people could travel freely through the region, subject to normal, neutral rules of border control and internal security; and
All Arab governmentsal entities and other stakeholders abandon any claim to any part of pre-1967 Israel or Jerusalem;
The Golan Heights would remain under Israeli military control, but prior residents and their descendants would have a right of return; and
Israel would have the right to control and interdict all flow of armaments to West Bank and/or Gaza
The Arab stakeholders should be given a short but reasonable time to accept or reject such a proposal. If rejected, the Israelis would have the full right to continue, full force, the state of war that's been declared since 1948 and never ended. This would involve the likely expulsion of the local Arab population from Gaza and the West Bank.
There is nothing anti-Muslim or anti-Arab in this post. It is too much to expect any country to exist, forever, in a state of warfare where only one side can fight without restraint. The Arabs cannot continue to play a game of "heads I win tails you lose" where they attack Israel, either directly or through asymetrical warfare, and then the world forces Israel to respond with both hands tied behind their backs.