The Solutions Rant: A Modest Plan To Solve The Middle East Conflict

About two weeks or so into the Israeli attack on Lebanon in July, after having received my first few rants on the conflict, a friend wrote and asked me what I saw as the solution to the disaster that is the Middle East Conflict. Since then I've been asked similar questions by a couple of other friends. It would appear that just because someone chooses to rant on a topic they are expected to somehow have all the answers to solve it. This, obviously, isn't the case, as I clearly have no idea, for instance, what The Poor Dutch Fan should do come the next World Cup or European Soccer Championships, or what a Dylan fan should make of The Bob's descent into fundamentalist madness for a few years there back in the late-70s and early-80s; but, in this particular case I do, in fact, believe I can suggest some solutions for a lasting peace, however unlikely it may be that they'll ever be implemented. So, here, below, is the gist of what I wrote to that first friend back in July. It may never happen, but this, I believe, is the minimum needed for any semblance of a just and lasting peace:

The solution for lasting peace in the Middle East? Well, even though it seems very unlikely that it'll ever actually occur, it would obviously revolve around the implementation of some REAL justice. Israel, by all interpretations of international law, must let the illegally-expelled Palestinians (and their descendants) return home. And since Israel is not going to let that happen they should at the very least give up a big chunk of Israel proper in exchange. Then they must leave ALL of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and ALL of the illegal settlements they've been building for decades on stolen land. ALL of the Palestinian and all other Arab prisoners interned in Israeli prisons/gulags must be released. Then there must be some serious financial compensation/reparations for all the suffering and destruction that's been inflicted on the Palestinian people over the years. Next, and extremely importantly, there has to be a serious and genuine apology. In return for all of this the Palestinians have to recognize Israel's right to exist and sign a peace deal similar to the ones Egypt and Jordan have signed with israel. And then Palestine must be given its FULL freedom, and not some sort of semi-colonial status with Israel violating its airspace, land and sea borders, and denying them the right to possess a normal army, navy etc.

Next, the Shebaa Farms region must be returned to Lebanon. And an international force should be stationed on the Israeli-Lebanese border, as has now occurred. Israel must compensate Lebanon for it's 18-year occupation as well as issue a genuine apology. As part of that deal Hezbollah must disarm and the Lebanese army should take over the south and become a truly nationwide army, incorporating all of the Hezbollah fighters and patrolling all of Lebanese territory. Furthermore, the Golan Heights obviously must be given back to Syria, as it is stolen land. Again some serious compensation must be paid to Syria and an apology issued for the 40 years of occupation. Oh, yeah, and the Americans could actually be honest brokers for peace in all of this, rather than simply cheerleaders for Israel...

Must I go on? Little, if any, of this will ever happen because almost no one in Israel, certainly none of those in power, accept that Israel has ever been in the wrong at any point in its history. The only way to ever have any sort of lasting peace in the region is for Israel to own up to what it's done over the past 60 years. But I don't see that ever happening. I mean, I could go into more detail, of course, but that's the broad outline of how you'd start to make a lasting peace... if it was actually desired.

Which brings us to a key point. Does Israel truly want full peace with all of its neighbors? As you may already know, many people, including many Israelis, believe that if Israel were to lose its enemies and its sense of constantly being under siege there is a very high chance the country could descend into civil war and be torn apart by the opposing ideas and ideals of what the country is and should be. You know, between the secular majority and the Orthodox (the Jewish religious fundamentalists - though, for some strange reason, we don't call them that) who have so much control and power in the country. Aside from reading all about that for years now, I was also told basically the exact same thing by some of the Israeli travelers we met on our trip through Asia. As Plato said many years ago, and as has been very apparent for most of human history (case in point: America throughout most of the last century and right up until the present), having an enemy ("The Other", "Barbarians", "Communists", "Terrorists", whoever) can often be very desirable, even indispensable. Peace is most likely not what the leaders of Israel - nor the leaders of Hezbollah, nor the dictators in some of the surrounding countries, for that matter - really want at all.

Finally, any chance at real peace would of course have to involve America seeking true justice in the region, rather than simply backing Israel blindly. Real pressure must be put on Israel by the Americans and for this to ever realistically happen the American government, media and public have simply got to recognize that blaming the victims and labeling all resistance as "terrorism" - while justifying all Israeli actions as "defensive in nature" no matter how heavy-handed, barbaric, ruthless and illegal they may be - is simply unfair, unjust and unproductive; at least if they truly desire peace in the region.

As British MP George Galloway so succinctly put it in that great Sky News interview he gave back in July: "No justice, no peace!"

Mike Cowie (Oredakedo)
Sunday, September 17th, 2006