An answer for Mick Verran - A Peace Compromise

[Jack's Gaza Update 15 is here!]

In an unpublished comment, “Mick Verran” makes two requests:
1) Not to lie about him (regarding my allegation that he has posted under various names)
2) To offer a legitimate vision for Middle East peace, which could be accepted by both sides and not lead to nuclear war

Regarding the first: I am fairly certain that Mick was also the commenter known as Milosevic, and he has admitted posting under Anonymous. But if Mick insists that he is not Milosevic, then I accept it and retract; it is possible for ISP trackers to be misleading.

Middle East peace, though, is somewhat harder.

Mick’s version of peace, from his comments here and elsewhere (you can Google “Mick Verran” and see for yourself), seems to involve Israel simply giving the surrounding Arab nations everything they want:
A) Egypt wants safety from Islamism;

B) Jordan wants safety from anti-Hashemite Palestinians;

C) The descendants of Palestinian Arabs who left Israel in 1948 want to move back into their grandparents’ towns, en masse;

D) And the Muslim population of the Middle East would like to proclaim Dar Al-Islam in this land that they consider historically Muslim land, and ban Jews from living there.


Since, until that happens, the Arab Muslim population of the Middle East will be unhappy with Israel’s existence, Mick seems to suggest we might as well get it over with and save as many Arab lives as possible with the following Peace Plan:
1) Institute the fabled Right of Return;

2) Do as we did in Gaza and parts of the West Bank – Ban Jews from living there;

3) Do as we did in Gaza and parts of the West Bank – Turn over all sites holy to Jews to Arab control, for them to deface and, ultimately, raze.


I am uncomfortable with this approach, though. I am not looking to get everything that I want, but survival is sort of a bottom-line requirement for me.

Here are the things I would want, in a perfect world:
A) A Jewish Israel that goes from the Mediterranean to the eastern borders of Jordan, this land which was historically Jewish. (Jordan was supposed to be the Palestinian State created alongside Israel, a Jewish concession to the Arab world back in the days of the Mandate.)

B) Arabs would have the right to live as full and equal citizens in Israel if they would renounce killing and acknowledge the right of a Jewish state to exist.

C) Let the Arab nations repatriate all remaining inhabitants of refugee camps, just as Jews found ways to repatriate the 800,000 Jews who were kicked out of Arab lands in the 1940s and 1950s.


But I know I can’t have everything I want. And, both religiously and personally, I can’t stomach this ongoing bloodshed. So here is a Peace Plan compromise I would consider responsible for both parties:
1) Accept that Jordan will be an Arab state east of the Jordan River;

2) Accept that there will be a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, and trade good, arable land for the large areas of Jewish residence in that area. Make this contingent on complete abolition of anti-Israel groups, the complete cessation of anti-Israel propaganda, and full diplomatic recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. If this agreement is not possible, then we live in a state of war; there really is no tenable in-between;

3) Accept that there will be a separate Palestinian state in Gaza. Make this contingent on complete abolition of anti-Israel groups, the complete cessation of anti-Israel propaganda, and full diplomatic recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. If this agreement is not possible, then we live in a state of war; there really is no tenable in-between;

4) Compensate first-generation descendants of Arabs who chose to leave Israel in 1948, by offering them their choice of money for resettlement or the opportunity to earn citizenship if they will formally recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

5) Keep Jerusalem as it currently is organized: An Israeli city, with Al Aqsa under the control of Muslim authorities. Muslim authorities (the Waqf) must agree to stop destroying Temple remains on the mountain, though, and anti-Israel sermons must be banned from the mosques under Waqf control.


I have serious doubts that we will ever see an Arab state on the western side of the Jordan, or in Gaza, accept Israel's right to exist; the rest of the Arab world won't let them do it.

And I know quite well that many Jews will find this plan to be too much of a concession to accept.

And I know very well that Items 2, 3 and 5 will be too much for many Arabs to accept.

But that’s why it’s called a compromise.

And I think it’s far more honest a compromise than yours, Mick.