I think you have to begin at the end. The wars have been about territory. All parties have to agree to a final map for the Middle East. And then once they agree on the map, then they can do the political work to get there.
I kind of like the Saudi initiative. It calls for Israel to go back to the 1967 borders, and gets all Arab countries to recognize Israel. Israel could be skeptical as to all Arab state and non-state actors would come around to it, but that would be a second step. First you agree on the final map. And if this not be to Israel's liking, it should put its version of the final map on the table. Maybe there is no agreement on the shape of that final map. This also asks for a comprehensive approach. Israel has so far preferred to deal with the Arab actors one at a time. That can make strategic sense. But peace asks for more.
The Arab Peace Initiative -2002
Palestinian refugees do not all get to return to Israel, instead Jerusalem is shared. I think the best thing to do with Jerusalem is to turn it into an international city that no one country has authority over. Turn it into a Vatican. Perhaps a UN administered city. Something creative has to be thought out, since it is mine, it is mine has not been working.
Maybe something creative has to be thought also for the refugees. How many are there in total? Send some of them to Arizona. Some to Germany. Most to the new Palestinian state. And as things calm down, and the countries in the region realize trade not war is the way to go, living standards will go up across the board, and there will be a regional economic integration. When the world is going global, Middle East is going in the other direction: it has been going territorial.
The Middle East has too many emotional entanglements and too much history for something neat to emerge right away. You do have to think bold thoughts.
The US misadventure in Iraq might be about democracy, but Middle East peace is about land first and foremost. These guys are fighting over real estate.
But first comes ceasefire. The hostilities have to end. The fighting has to come to a stop. As they say at the UN, let's jaw not war.
Israel's skepticism might be something to do with the fact that it does not trust there's any power that can deliver such a comprehensive peace. There are non state actors that do not answer to these Arab leaders. Will they come around to it?
That is where a country like the US comes in. But then Bush has been on vacation. Step in UN.
The cultural differences between Israel and the Arab countries are huge. There are religious differences. There are wealth differences. There is the thick fog of history. Make it smog. The biggest difference is the lack of democracy in the Arab countries. You have these organizations and governments that are not really answering to their own people. They claim to, but they don't in the technical sense of the word. And so they engage in a lot of posturing.
- Call a regional summit of all state and non state actors to work out a Final Map. Let that be the starting point.
- End all hostilities right away.
- Get creative on the sticklers like the refugee issue, and some choice pieces of real estate.
- Think long term. Think peace, think trade. Think economic growth.
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Right Wingers In Power In Israel And America
Lieberman, Lamont
The Israeli Offensive
Three Pillars, Draft 2
On The Web
MidEast Web - Middle East Conflict and Peace Process Historical ...
The Arab Peace Initiative -2002
MIDDLE EAST: Peace Plans Background - Council on Foreign Relations
How to Bring Peace to the Middle East - Worldpress.org
Israel - Palestine - Saudi Arabia - Peace Plan - Prince Abdullah ...
Dean's World - peace in the middle east
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Arab League endorses Saudi ...
The Saudi Initiative: Fact or Fantasy?
Middle East Peace Process
Foundation for Middle East Peace
MidEast Web - Middle East Conflict and Peace Process Historical ...
MidEast Web - Middle East Conflict (Palestinian-Israeli Conflict ...
Churches for Middle East Peace
CENTER FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE & ECONOMIC COOPERATION
Middle East Peace Camp for Children
CNN - Struggle for Peace
Foreign & Commonwealth Office Middle East Peace Process
Colorado Campaign For Middle East Peace
Foundation for Middle East Peace
BBC NEWS | In Depth | Israel and the Palestinians
Peace Research Institute in the Middle East (PRIME)
[PDF] The Middle East Peace Talks
ICAMES Middle East Peace Process - Links
ICAS Middle East peace web project
Ariga: Peace: Historic Documents and Treaties: Home Page
Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations
middle east wire - middleeastwire - middleeastwire.com
Prospects for Peace in the Middle East
Middle East Peace Network (MEPN)
[PDF] Developments in the Middle East Peace Process 1991-2000
List of Middle East peace proposals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In The News
US-France Agree to Middle East Peace Plan 580 CFRA Radio, Canada
Peace Activists Bear Witness to War in Beirut
For a lasting Middle East peace, look back to 1967 UN plan Christian Science Monitor, MA Israel remains the dominant military power in the region: It is in no danger of being vanquished ...... even with all the firepower at its disposal, Israel is incapable of imposing its will by force on the Lebanese and Palestinian people who are - and will always be - its neighbors. ....... the region's most urgent needs are to win a complete and fully monitored cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon (and, if possible, between Israel and the militants in Gaza), and to link that cease-fire to an explicit plan to have the United Nations convene an authoritative peace conference within, say, two weeks that aims to find a speedy resolution to all the unresolved strands of the Arab-Israeli conflict........ all the remaining strands of the Arab-Israeli conflict are closely connected, and none of them can be resolved without the others ...... The past 39 years of peace diplomacy have shown what the basic outline of a sustainable "final outcome" will look like. It will roughly resemble what the UN Security Council envisaged in 1967 when it called on Israel to withdraw from territories it brought under military occupation that year, and on the Arab parties to accord full recognition and peace to Israel....... the peace plans discussed intensively between Israeli and Arab negotiators in 2000, and to the one the Arab states all endorsed in March 2002 ......clear majorities of citizens in Israel and neighboring Arab communities all expressed support for such an outcome. ...... Almost exactly 50 years ago, Britain and France - both of which still had significant political influence over the Middle East - allied themselves with an aggressive Israeli military assault (against Egypt) aimed at transforming the regional balance in Israel's favor..... Because of the political miscalculation Britain and France had made in backing Israel's assault, they lost nearly all their political clout in the region. ..... Now, Washington's decision to give strong backing to Israel's assault against Lebanon looks eerily like a replay of the error that the British and French governments made in 1956. Today, only the UN Security Council can play the same role - stressing fairness, deescalation, and nonviolent problem-solving - that the US played in 1956.......
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