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Jewish World Review
Dec. 4, 2006
/13 Kislev, 5766
Middle East peace is obtainable in our lifetime
By
Dan Gordon
A captain (Res.) in the IDF during the recent Hezballah/Israel war believes that he has the solution — and even Hamas will embrace it
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
King Abdullah of Jordan has opened the door for a new dynamic in the Middle East peace process. Several years before the Oslo Agreements then Congressman Wayne Owens, who was number two on the House Foreign Relations Committee, and I undertook a trip to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank. During that time we presented what Congressman Owens believed was a revolutionary approach to peace in the Middle East. We met with President Mubarak, then Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, King Hussein of Jordan, Shimon Peres, and Bibi Netanyahu in Israel and various Palestinian leaders in the West Bank. All of them expressed considerable interest and even enthusiasm about the overall concept. I believe this plan could lead to a major breakthrough between the Palestinians and Israelis. At the very least it would marginalize Hamas and knock out from under Hezballah and Iran their pretext of being the hope and model for the Palestinians' quest for liberation.
The notion is to create peace within the context of a new BENELUX type of entity, made up of the Independent State of Israel, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the Independent State of Palestine. That entity would be known, let us say, as the Confederated States of the Near East, or The Confederated States of Palestine.
The area known as Palestine, at the end of World War I, was comprised of what is today, Jordan, Israel and the Palestine Authority. There has always been a link of language, culture, and populations between Jordan and the people of the Palestine Authority. In addition, prior to 1948, when someone referred to a Palestinian they were by and large referring to Palestinian Jews who later became Israelis. My foster father fought in the Jewish Brigade of the British Army in World War II. His shoulder patch was emblazoned with the word Palestine which for him and all those who served with him was a mark of pride.
The majority of issues to be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have already been agreed to. The thorny remaining issues are the "Right of Return" of Palestinian refugees to their homes in pre 1948 Israel and the status of Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. In addition, at the heart of the thorniest of all issues is the Temple Mount and who retains sovereignty over it. For the Jews it is the holiest of all sites. For Moslems the world over Al Aksa and the Mosque of Omer are the third holiest sites in Islam. This plan offers a solution to all three issues.
1) THE RIGHT OF RETURN
In the fighting leading up to the 1948 establishment of the State of Israel and the Armistice Agreement which ended that round of hostilities, refugees were created on both the Palestinian and Israeli (Jewish Palestinian) sides. Palestinian Arabs lost homes in Jaffa and Haifa and Palestinian Jews lost homes in Hebron, Jerusalem and Gush Etzion. The Right of Return of both sides would be mutually recognized within the framework of this agreement. The implementation of that mutual right however, would be divided into two forms.
A) COMPENSATION
Both Palestinians and Israelis (Jewish Palestinians, pre '48) would be afforded compensation for the homes that they could prove were theirs and which were lost as a result of the fighting. The fund to provide such compensation would come both from Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, and more importantly from the World Community. The EU, the United Nations and the United States have all recognized the Israel/Palestinian conflict as the source of discord in the Middle East. It is to all their benefit to contribute to the fund which will knock out forever what many have called the root cause of discontent in that part of the world. Compensation will be given as a means of implementing the mutual right of return of refugees and their descendants on both sides of the conflict.
B). THE PHYSICAL RIGHT OF RETURN
In addition to receiving compensation, all citizens of the Confederated States of the Near East shall have the right to purchase land, settle, and live in any of the member states of the Confederation. However, to treat each side with absolute equality, for every Israeli who is allowed to live in Hebron an equal number of Palestinians will be allowed to live in Israel. They will have equal rights to buy or rent dwellings and property. Thus it will be in the interest of each of the member states to either discourage its nationals from living in another member state, or be prepared to accept nationals of that other member state as residents within their own borders.
In this way the Right of Return of all refugees of each of the member states will have been mutually recognized, both through a process of compensation and the right of physical settlement in any of the member states. More importantly however is the psychological and in a sense spiritual aspect to this mutual recognition of each others' rights. Every Palestinian whether he ever sets foot in Tel Aviv or not, will know he is sovereign there. And every Jew whether he ever sets foot in Hebron or not, will know that he is likewise sovereign there. I as a Californian am sovereign in Arizona. I have no say in the making of their laws, the collecting or spending of their taxes, or anything else concerned with the running of their daily lives including the regulation of their National Guard. But I know that I am sovereign there as well. In this way not only the hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people will have been fulfilled, but the hopes and aspirations of those Jews, who see in the greater land of Israel their own homeland by divine right.
Each country will maintain its own army, with the Palestinian's military being limited to light infantry along the lines envisioned by previous agreements. Their security would be guaranteed by both the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Israel, but more importantly by the fact that they would now have no enemies.
2) JERUSALEM
Jerusalem would be the undivided capital of the State of Israel and the Seat of Government of the Confederated States of the Near East. Just as Western Jerusalem has expanded toward the Mediterranean, far beyond the borders of what anyone would have considered municipal Jerusalem, so would East Jerusalem extend out toward Ramalah. In that extended East Jerusalem beyond the current municipal borders but still within a new greater Jerusalem, there would be both the seat of government of the Confederated States of the Near East (or the Confederated States of Palestine) and the capital of the new Palestinian State. All of the residents of what is today East Jerusalem would be free to take Palestinian citizenship which would enable them to live where they are (within the boundaries of Israel) and yet vote in the Palestinian national elections. They would not be counted as Palestinian refugees who have returned to Israel. Rather they would be Palestinian citizens who are permanent residents of Israel. In this way Israel will not have given up Jerusalem and Palestine will have gained it. Jerusalem the city of peace will be the capital of peace, the capital of the new Confederation and the capital of the Palestinian state. All of the Palestinian Arab residents of Jerusalem will be able to have Palestinian passports and representation in the Palestinian Parliament.
3.) AL AKSA AND MOSQUE OF OMAR
Here now perhaps is the thorniest issue, this tiny square of land holy to both Moslems, Jews, and Christians. Israel will not relinquish sovereignty over it and the Palestinians must have sovereignty within it. There is a solution. The Saudi Royal Family and the Saudi government are the protectors of Mecca and Medina. Let them also be the protectors of Al Aksa. The Temple Mount may well be located inside of geographic Israel, but when one enters Al Aksa, just as when one enters a foreign embassy, one enters territory under the sovereignty of, and protected by, the Saudis. Their flag would fly within the mosques and a ceremonial contingent of Royal Saudi Guards would be responsible for protecting the interior of the holy places. Now not only Palestinians but the entire Islamic world could claim that holy Moslem soil was in Moslem hands. At the same time for the Jewish people, the holiest of their sites would not have left them.
This would be a way of recognizing the sanctity of those Moslem sites not only to Palestinians but to the entire Moslem world. Moreover, this regaining of sovereignty within their holy sites would have been gained not by the sword but through peaceful negotiations between Moslems and Jews.
CONCLUSION — THE SULHA
With all of these issues resolved all parties would have to consecrate themselves to a mutual forgiving of all wrongs. The conflict between the Arabs and Jews would be once and for all, and for one and all, over and done with. Even Hamas which has proclaimed a one state solution should be able to embrace this notion. Israel would be one state within a majority Moslem Confederation. For Israel, far from being relegated to a second class status, this would be the ultimate fulfillment of the Zionist dream. The Jews would have a home of their own at last that was welcomed into the family of nations in the Middle East. Should Hamas continue to not want to recognize Israel and not participate in such an agreement then it would be clear to one and all that their only motivation is not liberation of their people but genocide for the Jews.
Either way, it's a thing worth knowing.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Dan Gordon is a screenwriter and the author of numerous articles on the Middle East. He served as a captain (Res.) in the IDF in the recent Hezballah/Israel war. Comment by clicking here.
© 2006, Dan Gordon
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