Assalam aliekum
Hmmm, it sure doesn't seem like anyone here has any better solutions than the governments have.
I am sorry, but I feel that I asked a legitimate question and no one really was serious. I mean, I was thinking about it the other day, and I don't know what a real CURRENT solution would be...I do think that there needs to be 2 separate countries, but where to draw the borders? I don't know. Also, there has been so much destruction in the Palestinian areas - who or where would they get money to rebuild what was there and then work on improving the economy? There aren't that many natural resources to fall back on...
I don't want to spark arguments, I just want to know, seriously, what would you do?
The population of Gaza is estimated between 1.5 and 2 million people (based on averages and differences I found on different websites); the West Bank is around 2.5 million; the population of Israel is a little over 7 million, with 1/4 ( about 1.77 million) being Arab - that comes to an approximate break down of about 6 million Arabs and about 5.5 million Non-Arab Israelis.
The area of Gaza (now) is about 360 sq km, and the area of the West Bank is about 5800 sq km. The area of Israel is about 20,000 sq km.
So, the populations (I don't know about the % of Arabs that are Non-Muslim, so I am using the Arab vs Non-Arab as my division) are roughly equal, but Israel has about 4 times the amount of space.
I guess If it were up to me, I would work to make a more equal division of the land of the countries; I would require the school systems to jointly approve a curriculum on regarding the relations (to try to start breaking down the hatred); I would offer lots of opportunities for cross-border communication and cooperation; I would make Israel pay for the repair of the buildings and basic infrastructure, schools, and hospitals, but use Palestinian workers, in order to bring actual income into Palestinians as well as promote job skills that are lacking due to the destruction of schools and the oppression; I would put Jerusalem under the United Nations control as a separate entity, with a governing body comprised of Jews, Christians, and Muslims, since all 3 regard the city as a holy place for their respective religions; I would have Israel required to offer a budgeted amount of money for a fixed amount of time to be allocated as small-business loans to the Palestinians; I would have the 2 countries be sort-of "open border" with each other, so that until the time that Palestine is functioning on it's own, its citizens can go across and get the things they need easily (this will also widen the customer base for the Israelis, as I am sure otherwise they would ask, why should we be happy with your decision).
Do I think all these things would work? Probably not, but I think it is the positive thinking that we need to work with. There is really no functional way to "deport" 5+ million people (ask the Americans what they are doing with around 10million illegal immigrants now!) - and when I pointed out that the majority of the people in Israel had nothing to do with its creation (the Israeli children didn't ask to be born there anymore than the Palestinian children did), it was only to show that there are a lot more "home-bred" Israelis than there are "imported" Israelis. So, if you were to deport them, seriously, where would they go if they and their parents (and possibly grandparents) have all been born and lived their whole lives there? What would you do, look at their family lineage and say, well, 70 years ago, your great grandparents came from Poland, so we will send you to Poland? Heck just over 100 years ago my family emigrated to the US - but my family has married other cultures, so I am part German, Polish, Norwegian, and English - where would you deport someone like me to? I know, someone will post "that's not our problem", but you know what? We all share this Earth and more often than not it is better to work together than to pull apart.
So, I would like to again, ask people with serious problem solving skills to again, give your input as to what you would do if you had the power to settle the situation. I gave some thoughts that I had (and I am sure someone will will criticize me or flame me, or just literally type-scream at me; I am not perfect, but I am trying to think of things that could be positive), I think if more people try to think of ideas, then insha'Allah, those ideas will grow and expand, and maybe some day, actually become solutions.
Peace,
Lana
