2006-08-04|Federal Country of Israel-Palestine (PalestIsrael)
To the editor
It is disturbing to observe the current Crisis in the Middle East. As long as everyone is taking sides, there will be no permanent resolution. I see no hope since they have been fighting with each other for 3 000 years, unless a creative solution with fundamental paradigm shift is adopted in order to address the root cause of the conflict. The goal is for individuals of different languages and religions to live side-by-side peacefully with pride, dignity and mutual respect, without drawing a line here and there.
Here is an innovative idea based on micro-territorial collectivity. The present Israel and its occupied territory would be defined as the "Federal Country of Israel-Palestine (PalestIsrael)", comprising 2 independent nations, i.e., the "Jewish Nation of Israel" and the "Islamic Nation of Palestine", neither of which has a defined territory. The land which is owned by an Israeli belongs to the "Jewish Nation of Israel", while the land which is owned by a Palestinian belongs to the "Islamic Nation of Palestine". Thus, each nation's land ownership changes dynamically as the land is sold and bought. Each resident belongs to either one of the nations as its citizen. Thus, there would be no ghettoised second-class citizens like Arab-Israelis and Jewish-Palestinians. There would be no threat to Kibbutz in the West Bank, Mosques in Nazareth, etc.
Each nation is completely independent with a seat in the United Nations, and has a parliament, a president, a prime minister, etc. Each nation has absolute powers in language, religion, citizenship, passport, health care, education, welfare, court system, armed forces, etc. If either nation wants its armed forces to participate in external conflicts, for example, they would do so freely without the consent of the other.
The "Federal Country of Israel-Palestine (PalestIsrael)" to which the 2 nations contribute, has no seat in the United Nations, but maintains economic union, common currency, border security, customs, etc. The country's constitution guarantees peace between the 2 nations. The country is also responsible for things that the people would not care who does the job, e.g., paving roads, maintaining parks, water supply, sewage, garbage collection, police, etc.
The alternative is another millennium of violence and war. The same model could be used in Iraq with the formation of a "Shia Nation", a "Sunni Nation" and a "Kurd Nation", in order to avoid the imminent civil war.
