A constructive proposal for Gaza …
The good people at Tikkun have placed a major ad in the New York Times. It begins like this … (after the jump)
Cease Fire Now in Gaza!
President-elect Obama:
It’s Time to End the Violence in the Middle East-Once and for All
Convene an International Middle East Peace Conference to facilitate a lasting and just settlement for all parties.
The world’s attention is focused on the Middle East for a fleeting moment. Let’s seize this opportunity to insist on an end to this struggle in all its dimensions.
A Call for Lasting Peace
President-elect Obama: When you become president, please call for an immediate CEASE-FIRE in GAZA and for an International Peace Conference to implement a fair and lasting solution to all aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The solution must also address the conflict between Israel and other states in the region. The international community must stop the violence and terror against Israeli civilians and against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. The international community must also stop the hidden but persistent violence of the Occupation itself.
Such a solution would be based on the following conditions:
a. The creation of an economically and politically viable Palestinian state (roughly on the pre-1967 borders, with minor border modifications mutually agreed upon between Israel and Palestine).
b. The withdrawal of Israel from the Golan Heights, and simultaneously the full and unequivocal recognition by Palestinians and the State of Palestine and all surrounding Arab states of Israel’s right to exist. Meanwhile Israel must offer full and equal rights to all of its non-Jewish citizens. Preferential treatment for Jews should exist only with regard to immigration, and that must be phased out when anti-Semitism in the world has disappeared. The same preferential treatment for Palestinians should exist in the Palestinian state as long as they face discrimination, reduced rights, or threats to their safety in other parts of the world.
c. The creation of an international consortium to provide generous reparations for Palestinians who have lost homes or property from 1947 to the present, and generous reparations for Jewish refugees from Arab states from 1947 to 1967.
d. The deployment of a long-term international peacekeeping force to separate Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, to ensure demilitarization of the Golan Heights, to protect Israel and Palestine from each other, to police the borders and the corridor that will need to be established linking Gaza with the West Bank, and to protect both Israel and Palestine from other forces in the region that might seek to control or destroy either state. In addition, treaty agreements must be made with the United States and other Western states to protect both Israel and Palestine from any assault by other countries (e.g. Iran, Pakistan, China, or Russia).
e. The quick imposition of robust sanctions against any party that refuses to sign or that violates these agreements.
You can learn more at tikkun.org.
