PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST? (as submitted to Highestwire)

Submitted by Jonathan Sherman on Sunday, August 07, 2005 at 12:38:35 PM EST.

Peace in the Middle East? Is it possible? Do you care? Should you care? The answer to all of these questions is a resounding, YES!

Peace in the Middle East would not only bring a halt to death and destruction for the combatants, but would finally bring needed stability to a tumultuous part of the world.

Both the Arabs and Israelis already know what a peace agreement would look like. There would be a two state solution:

-- A Palestinian State located on the West Bank and Gaza; and an Israeli State located within the pre-1967 armistice borders, known as the Green Line.

-- However, the Green Line, Gaza Strip, and West Bank will be subject to some revision. Israel will keep its major settlement blocs in the West Bank (known to Israelis as Judea and Samaria). These settlement blocs include the City of Ariel, the City of Ma'ale Adumin, and the Gush Etzion bloc. In exchange, the Gaza Strip will be expanded to include a portion of the Halutsa Sands area in the Negev; and it is quite possible that the Arab-Israeli cities of Um El-Fahm and Baqa el Gharbiya (both close to the Green Line) may be annexed to the new Palestinian State. There will be an above ground and elevated light-rail and highway systems connecting the Gaza Strip to the West Bank. The Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem will also become part of the Palestinian State; whereas, the Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem will officially become part of Israel. The Palestinian governmental buildings will be built in the City of Abu Dis (directly outside of Jerusalem).

-- Although the issue of the Old City of Jerusalem could be purposely delayed for a second round of negotiations, the outcome will probably be some type of joint administration: The Jewish (including the Western Wall) and Armenian Quarters will be under Israeli administration and control; the Arab and Christian Quarters will be under Palestinian administration and control.

-- However, the issue of sovereignty will be held in abeyance. It is possible that, if the issue of sovereignty is ever decided, a decision will be made not to decide.

-- The parties will agree that sovereignty of the Old City belongs to God (Hashem/Allah). Likewise, the City of Hebron (which after Jerusalem, is the holiest Jewish City, but today has a larger Arab population) will come under joint administration with Israel controlling Kiryat Arba and a slice of the City of Hebron and the Palestinians controlling the rest of the city.

-- This city contains a very important religious site known as Machpelah. This location is thought to be the burial sites of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. These are the Jewish Patriarchs and Matriarchs (excluding Rachel, who is buried in Bethlehem). Abraham, of course, is also holy to the Arabs for being the father of Ishmael. Rachel's burial place in Bethlehem will remain under Israeli control; whereas, Joseph's burial place in Nablus will remain under Palestinian control.

-- All of these locations will allow for some arrangement permitting both Jewish and Arab religious prayers. Palestinian refugees will be permitted to return to the new Palestinian state and not to Israel; although Israel will most probably agree to permit a small number to return to Israel for family reunification purposes.

-- Those Palestinian refugees not returning to the new Palestinian state and those Jews, of Arabic origin, will be compensated through a fund established by the major developed countries, with additional contributions from the oil-rich Arab states.

-- Although the airport in the Gaza will be reopened and although a Gaza seaport will also be opened, the borders (including those borders on the Jordan River) will be closely monitored by both parties and possibly with the help of a third party.

-- Afterward, the Israelis would enter into negotiations with the Syrian Government regarding the nature of the Golan Heights (northern Israel/southern Syria).


If all of this is already assumed, then why hasn't peace already come to the Middle East?

The parties do not trust each other.

They have fought each other for decades; and as you can see from the forgoing, in order for peace to work, there must be a great deal of cooperation and coordination between the parties.

Israel believes that it is being asked to make tangible concessions of land in exchange for intangible promises of peace. Those promises of peace can be retracted much easier than the land can be re-conquered. Israel also believes that although moderate Palestinian society has accepted Israel's existence, it still does not accept Israel's right to exist; that the decision to make peace with Israel is a tactical one, and not one to settle the conflict once and for all. Moreover, this solution fails to take into account the known Palestinian terrorism groups, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who openly advocate Israel's destruction.

On the other hand, the Palestinians believe they are accepting much less land than they are entitled to. Even so, they believe that Israel will never really and completely relinquish those lands. This is either due to Israel's "true" intention of keeping the lands and/or due to their fear of terrorism and unwittingly playing into the hands of the Palestinian extremist groups. If moderate Palestinians do not see benefits from the proposed peace, such as an improvement to their lives, the hands of the extremists will be strengthened.

The Israelis and the Palestinians do not always see the other point of view. For example, Israel refuses to release Palestinian prisoners "with blood on their hands." This phrase means those Palestinians who have injured or killed Israelis in acts of terrorism. This policy sounds extremely logical and understandable, especially if one of your family members was a victim of terrorism. Yet, the Palestinians perceive these prisoners as soldiers in the battle against occupation; and, if peace is to be achieved, the "soldiers" must be repatriated, as has happened after every war. This policy also sounds extremely logical and understandable, especially if one of your family members is a prisoner, and your government is now asking you to make a final peace.

The Palestinians believe that Israel will see every terrorist incident as reason to stall and/or stop negotiations. The terrorist groups will use this as propaganda to justify their position that Israel cannot be talked out of the territories, but must be bombed out of the territories. The Israelis counter that the Palestinian Authority is not doing enough to put the terrorist groups out of business and that a Palestinian government cannot succeed with the existence of independent militias. The Palestinians counter that Israel keeps the authority weak, and with few or limited concessions coming from the negotiations, the authority lacks the support of the common Palestinian person in order to confront the militias.

Unfortunately, the parties live in close proximity to each other. This is not a situation where a line can be neatly drawn with each party staying on their side of the line. In order for peace to prevail, the parties will have to compromise and cooperate. Since there is little or no trust between them, each party is reluctant and afraid to take the next step. The ironic thing is that if peace ever comes, and takes hold, it is quite possible that Israelis and Palestinians will end up as the best of friends.

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