No more blame game, enough with the violence

Submitted by Bryan Jackson (Canada), Jun 26, 2007 at 21:56

Hamas has to accept a reality here which the entire Middle East also has to accept, which a few Arabs have - Israel is a nation, and it will NEVER go away. It will always be there. Go ahead, keep on trying to kill them - because you'll never get rid of them. After 5000 years of persecution and 60 years of rough, violent nationhood, do these morons think they will destroy them?

You really want the best for the Palestinians? Alright then. First off, treat Palestinians like the other people in your countries. Saudi Arabia doesn't do this, the Gulf states don't do this and Egypt frequently treats them like dogs. Using them as pawns does nothing to help them, and both Egypt (in 1979) and Jordan (in 1994) came to the realization that Israel is never going away. NO support for Hamas if they use terrorist tactics anywhere, but that must also go for Fatah. Either side attacks anybody without cause should mean them being cut off, right then and there.

Israel's part in this is also there. Those settlements in Palestinian territory must go - they are illegal by most nations' laws, including Israel itself - and any land on their side of the border will be compensated to the people that own them. If the owners wish to stay in Israel and pass Israeli background checks, they become Israeli citizens or become on the path to being Israeli citizens. If they don't wish to stay in Israel, they get fairly compensated for the land that is annexed. Israel will also give full rights to all of its Arab citizens. Most of this they have already done anyways, so going the final few steps shouldn't be terribly hard.

The Palestinian state is a free one, with no interference by anybody - not Israel, Iran, the US or anybody else. If that means a nasty brawl, oh well not much we can do about it. (If Israel wants brownie points, help the refugees that will inevitably result from this conflict.) They are their own people, their land is theirs to use as they choose, and the Israelis leave if they don't wish to be Palestinians.

How do we convince all of this to happen? That's easy.

In 2004, Javier Solana commented that because of Israel's population being heavily biased towards European origins, Israel could conceivably be a candidate for membership in the European Union. Settle the Palestinian issue and Israel joins the EU, which would mean big money in help from the EU Commission, Israelis traveling freely within the EU, likely investments in Israel, the common defence policy......endless possibilities. With Turkey likely to become part of the EU eventually, that would certainly help bridge the gap between Muslims and Christian Europeans, wouldn't it?

Every side - Palestinians, Israel, Arab States, US, EU - have roles to play, with a common goal - a Palestinian state. Permanent peace for the Israelis would be enough incentive for them, a nation of their own would be good for the Palestinians. The rest have their own agendas - but the ultimate goal is the same.

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