Israel & Palestine

I am saddened by the state of affairs in Israel and Palestine. I think the majority of people on both sides would prefer peace, but there are also people on both sides who are opposed to any sort of equitable peace agreement. There are people on both sides who do things which further enflame the situation.

We can argue at great length over who is more to blame. Each side has done its wrongs. Each side tries to blame the other side for all of the ills. Neither side has clean hands. Each side at one time or another has done something to sabotage peace. As I see it, only G-d can truly weigh the actions of both sides and find who has committed the greater wrongs. Regardless, to spend time trying to blame the ‘other side’ for all the wrongs, does nothing to bring us closer to a genuine peace.

In the interests of full disclosure, I am Jewish. I have visited Israel, and want Israel to remain as a homeland for Jews. I also want a fully independent Palestinian state living in peace with Israel. I want to see an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank. I want to see an end to rocket fire from the Palestinian territories into Israel. I want to see an end to the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. I want to see an end to suicide bombings and terror attacks on Israelis.

For a genuine peace, there must be a number of things. The core of it is in the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, though there will be negotiation over the exact implementations of some of the items. The core was as follows:

Israel to affirm:

I-                    Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.

II-                  Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.

III-                The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Arab countries affirm:

I-                    Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region.

II-                  Establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.

There will need to be negotiations over the exact borders between Israel and Palestine. The pre-1967 borders will be the basis for negotiations, and the Palestinian state should have no less territory than that of the pre-1967 borders, but there will need to be territorial swaps, equal in quantity and quality. There will need to be continuous borders, with no isolated enclaves within the West Bank. Israeli troops must leave all areas to be included in Palestine. Palestine will need to be demilitarized, with its territorial integrity guaranteed by Israel, Jordan, Egypt, among others.

The solution to the Palestinian refugee problem will include a nominal amount of resettlement within Israel, but primarily compensation for the refugees along with resettlement within Palestine or other Arab countries. Israel will not accept a mass influx of Palestinians to Israel, and I suspect the greater number of Palestinian refugees don’t want to live under a predominantly Jewish government.

The Clinton plan offered five practical options for the resolution of the refugee issue: (1) Return to the Palestinian State; (2) Return to territory formerly part of Israel that would be transferred to Palestine within the framework of land swaps; (3) Rehabilitation of refugees in host countries; (4) Resettlement in third countries (Canada, Australia); (5) Admission to Israel, subject to the sovereign and exclusive decision of the State of Israel.

East Jerusalem is mostly Arab, except for some Jewish settlements. Most of eastern Jerusalem needs to be part of Palestine. The Old City has shrines sacred to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, and members of each religion need access to their holy sites. The Old City as a whole must have some sort of joint sovereignty shared by Israel and Palestine, probably with an impartial arbiter to help resolve any issues.

Israel needs to be secure within its borders. That means no rockets, no terror attacks, and no threats of invasion. Palestine also needs to be secure within its borders, which means neither Israel, nor any other country may violate the borders with impunity. Both sides must agree that any peace settlement resolves all territorial and other issues between Israel and Palestine, and both sides must agree to abandon any territorial claims against the other.