The solution to the problem of Gaza is both simple and difficult. Let me explain:Palestine can't function as a nation divided, as it is, between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, nor will Israel enjoy any peace until Palestine is one geographically united country. The solution is to for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip and move anyone who wants to leave (presumably all the muslims who live there) to a territory to the north of and contiguous with the West Bank.
This territory, I believe, should include a territory approximately 25 kilometers wide running north-northeast to a point approximately parallel to the north end of the Sea of Galilee, thence due west to the coastline north of Acre, including the disputed area of the Golan Heights, which Syria ought to be willing to cede permanently to Palestine, though they contest Israel's right to it. This would give the Palestinians far more territory than they presently occupy on the west bank and continued access to the Mediterranean.
Such a solution would raise howls of protest from both Israelis and Palestinians, both of whom would suffer severe dislocations, but it is, in my opinion, the only solution that stands a chance of permanently ending the squabbles between them that threaten to consume them both.
Comment on proposal
I don't think the fact that the Palestinian territories are geographically divided is the main problem in the Israel/Palestine situation and hence don't think a drastic and draconian plan to reunite them (by moving a million and a half Palestinians and some number of Israelis) is at all worth the disruption.
The problem lies instead in the power relations between the two peoples, reflected also in a failure to communicate across "narratives" which talk past each other. In this it is very much like the problem between the US and the third world, or any country in the third world in particular (Afghanistan for one example but far from the only one). The US fears terrorism from Afghanistan, while Afghanistan resents Western influence and wants to control its own destiny; but the US has far more power to disrupt Afghanistan than the reverse, so our response cannot be evenhanded but must be to insist that the US go. In the same way, we must get Israel to end the occupation and let Palestine develop (whether via one state or two).
Peace blog?
Post new comment