Solving the Arab Israel Conflict
Reader comment on item: The Palestinian-Israeli War: Where It Came From, and How to End It

Submitted by David Goshen (Israel), Mar 23, 2006 at 05:40

1. Loss of Arab pride as a result of the numerous defeats.
To the leaders of the Arab countries around Israel there is & was a major loss of pride and status as a result of the numerous defeats .Lost pride & honour are the main factors ,in my opinion ,in keeping the struggle going.in the Middle East & before anything some solution must be found to restore their status & pride.

2. Major embarassment arising from persuading Arabs of Palestine to leave with the promise of returning to pick up the spoils.
The majority of Arabs in Palestine in 1948 were landless poor peasants working the large lands belonging to wealthy non resident land owners who lived in the surrounding countries who stood to loose heavily from an independent Arab Palestine .The surrounding countries have thus kept the struggle going for their own aims in the hope of recovering their lost wealth.

3. Ensuring the poverty of the majority of the population
The practice of not allowing the refugees to integrate in their host countries & the policy of the PA to keep the majority poor uneducated etc is also to keep the struggle going.

4. The blockage of any efforts to emancipate women who have no rights whatsoever.

The Solutions

1. Forget about dipomatic negotiations for the short term & concentrate on active involvement of USA & EU & Wealthy Arab Countries in drastically improving the living conditions of the vast majority of the PA citizens. This should be done by hands on involvement in infrastructure where experts actually supervise & contol the flow of huge funds to specific projects.Power Stations,Desalinisation Plants, Good Housing,Transport Systems,Harbours Airports ,Education Health etc etc

2. Make the PA completely independent of Israel -cut off dependence on Israel for jobs electricity supply ,water supply .(There are those who want to keep the PA dependent on Israel)

3. Employment will be so extensive that no worker need worry about looking for a job in Israel.

4. Concentrate on converting Gaza quickly into a "Singapore"

5. Imports & Exports should be with rest of the world keeping the 2 economies separate for several years. When the pride & independence have been restored-there will be time to consider dealing with diplomacy.

6.The funds required are much greater than the USA EU & Wealthy Arab Countries like to provide or think are necessary.One of the problems has been underfinancing of the PA (I know the PA has been corrupt but this does not justify limiting flow or not contolling it-
One cant just pump millions into the PA & then be suprised that the results are invisible

7. I firmly believe that a prosperous PA is the guarantee that the PA citizens will not want to loose their prosperous land.The situation when Israeli Arabs wish to live in the PA area will be the signal that progress is being made.

Finally , I once heard a lecture dealing with the Prophet Muhamed & was surprised to learn that he is alleged to have promised part of Palestine to the Jews.It would be interesting to know if it is true. It is known that the Prophet never set foot in Palestine or Jerusalem other than the story of his assent to heaven from Jerusalem after his death. If this is true it might help eventually to persuade our neighbours.

Thank you for your article which as usual was most informative.

Regret the length of my comments


Yours sincerely,

David Goshen

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