Divide & Conquer - A Five (5) State Solution

Submitted by Ludvikus (United States), Jun 9, 2014 at 11:28

It is now 2014, substantially after the "Arab Spring. And in that context, Wikipedia lists the "Palestinian Refugees" (extracted today) as follows.

• Gaza Strip 1,106,195^[44]
• West Bank 778,993^[44]
• Lebanon 425,640^[44]
• Syria 472,109^[44]
• Jordan 1,983,733^[44]

There is also a very strong worldwide consensus for Palestinian statehood. But little understanding of the relatively new phenomena of Nationisl.

Furthermore, in spite of Pan-Arabism, no Arab state wants to absorb Palestinians as citizens of their own states.

In every Arab country, a form of Patriotism has emerged to support the "national" identity of the people who are its citizens.

In this context, we need to recollect Britain's, and France's, carving up of the Arab world into separate nation states (often arbitrarily) as produced distinct Arab "nations" - which are the basis of Islamist desire for unity ("United Arab Republic"); the aim is fundamentally intertwined with the dream of a revived Caliphate.

This is only a brief sketch of the context in which the Palestinian Question is to be judged strategically, in my opinion.

Focusing on Gaza and The West Bank, it is not in the interest of the West (including the USA & Israel) to complicate its already difficult relations with Jordan or Egypt, buy merging Palestinian Sovereignty with these "peaceful" states; in fact a Palestinian sovereign entity is already itself divided (bewteen Gaza and the West Bank) in spite of the current effort at unity. And that effort is the consequence of Syria's, Lebanon's (Hezbollah'), and Egypts adversarial relations with the Gaza "Brotherhood" international activists. In spite of the reconciliation of Hamas and Fatah through the unity government of "technocrates" the likelihood of this Palestinian unity is small, in my assessment.

In summary, it is far better, for all people's interests, in the long run, not to burden Egypt with Hamas Islamist citizens, and burden Jordan with additional, unabsorbable non-Hashemite Palestinians, since Jordan already has almost 2,000,000 Palestinans who aren't citizens of Jordan.

Two of the other Palestinian states should be Syria and Lebanon; this would strengthen the Sunni-Shia's divide, with a kind of balance of power, in these respective states,

Regarding the West Bank, and mindful of the Bedhouin tribal nomatic life stiles of these "Palestinian" peoples, we should look to our American democratic tradition in which Native Americans live in 350 Indian Reservations managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the federal juristiction of the Department of the Interior. In fact, Israel already manages quite well Palestinian Bedouins who remain nomadic, or who have chosen to "settle" in permanent non-tent permanent residence in villages.

The issue should focus also on citizenship, and perhaps dual-citizenship. Palestinians should be granted citizenships, exclusive, or dual, in every Arab country in which they reside. On the other hand, there is no reason, strategic or polemical, who Jews, or Israelis are not to have Palestinian citizenship in and land deemed Palestinian.

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