SYNOPSIS:
The
current troubles in Palestine began in the middle of the
last century.
Arabs and Jews were separated—but
in ways unsatisfactory to both sides.
Violent warfare has erupted again and again in this area of the Earth.
If we imagine a disarmed planet without national military forces,
we might see some immediate steps toward a settlement of land claims
that will result in stable peace between the hostile parties.
OUTLINE:
1.
BACKGROUND HISTORICAL FACTS.
2.
NEEDED: A THOUSAND-YEAR SOLUTION FOR PALESTINE.
3.
IF THE WORLD PEACE FORCE WERE FULLY ESTABLISHED.
4.
IN THE EMERGENT YEARS.
5.
FINAL SETTLEMENT OF LAND-CLAIMS.
6.
NOW BACK TO THE REALITIES OF 2021.
WHAT
WOULD THE WORLD PEACE FORCE DO?
Separate
the Arabs and Jews in Palestine
by
James Leonard Park
1. BACKGROUND
HISTORICAL
FACTS.
The facts of the state of Israel are well
known:
In 1948 the British mandate,
which had been in effect since the Second
World War, came to an end.
A homeland was established for Jews in the land of
Palestine.
The Arabs in Palestine were mostly moved across the River Jordan,
into what was then called "Trans-Jordan".
It is now the Kingdom of Jordan.
Arabs were forced into "refugee camps" within the
new state of Israel.
These were supposed to be temporary, of course,
but there was no plan for a permanent settlement of these displaced
Arabs.
So they have lived for generations in internal exile from
their homeland.
In their most primitive thinking, they hope to
reclaim all of Palestine.
In 2009, fighting broke out between the Gaza
Strip and nearby Israel.
Jews and Arabs began killing one another again
---mainly because they belong to different ethnic groups.
If they were all Arabs or all Jews, they would not kill one
another.
In 2012 and 2014, the same thing happened again:
the two sides began raining death upon each other, almost at random.
2. NEEDED: A THOUSAND-YEAR
SOLUTION FOR PALESTINE.
When the British left in 1948,
fighting immediately
broke out between the Jews and the Arabs,
because neither side was satisfied with their part of
Palestine.
Almost always the Jewish fighters prevailed.
And whenever more land has been taken since 1948,
it has always expanded lands for the Jewish people.
The one-thousand year solution for this conflict
is to establish firm and
realistic borders
between the hostile factions
of the Semitic peoples.
Large populations will have
to move to establish permanent peace.
And new political arrangements will emerge within each group.
Moving
people is always better than killing people.
Some people will have to give up their 'sacred' claims to land
in exchange for permanent peace.
A new state will be created for the Arabs now living in
'refugee camps',
which have become modern cities.
3. IF THE WORLD PEACE FORCE
WERE FULLY ESTABLISHED.
We can begin to think about the current situation
thru the lens of the most utopian possibility.
It will take 100 years to establish the World Peace Force,
but once it has been established,
it will handle situations like Palestine much differently
than anything that is even remotely possible now.
But if we have the ultimate goal in mind,
we can make small steps in that direction,
even if the ultimate resolution will not be reached by anyone now
living.
Once the planet Earth has been civilized and disarmed
and this disarmament is being firmly enforced by the World Peace Force,
then the wars between Arabs
and Jews would not be possible.
Neither side would posses any
of the weapons of war
that they have frequently used against each other:
The Arabs would not possess rockets to fire at Israel.
The Jews would not possess planes and tanks to harm the Arabs.
Neither side would have any organized military forces.
Whenever there is a dispute between peoples,
they are required to take it to the World Court,
instead of resorting to violence to subdue or destroy the other group.
In other words, violent conflict would not be
possible
if the World Peace Force were fully operational in a disarmed world:
No national or private military forces would exist.
Small conflicts would be handled by the World Peace Force.
The WPF would prevent killing while any dispute is settled
rationally.
Officers of the WPF would be stationed
everywhere on Earth
—just
as local police now cover every geographical location.
One of the most important functions of the World Peace Force
would be to prevent anyone else from having any weapons of war.
The manufacture,
transportation, possession, & use of war-weapons
would be prohibited
everywhere on the planet Earth.
Whenever and wherever this universal disarmament is violated,
the World Peace Force would have unquestioned authority
to remove and destroy the weapons of war.
And all persons who have violated the ban on weapons and warfare
will either be put into
prison
or (if they resist) killed.
The World Peace Force would know about attempts
to re-arm.
Neither side would have the capacity to kill people on the other side.
And the final settlement of the land-claims would make a lasting peace.
4. IN THE EMERGENT
YEARS.
In the 100 years of transition to the World Peace
Force,
there will be some national forces still in existence on the planet
Earth.
And sometimes these national forces would cooperate with the WPF,
especially when it is clear what needs to be done.
In the situation of Palestine in 2030,
officers of the World Peace Force would already be present
to prevent as much killing as possible
and to imprison any people
using weapons.
If they cannot be convinced to stop killing,
the killers might have to be killed themselves.
In the emergent years, the killing would eventually
stop
and a large contingent of the World Peace Force
would prevent any further violence coming from either side.
Then the dispute would be submitted to the World
Court.
This could be expected to take several years,
since passions run so high on all sides.
But at least all peace-loving peoples of the Earth
could point to the on-going legal process
that will eventually result in a just settlement of the land-dispute
between the Arabs and the Jews of Palestine.
And even a legal dispute that takes several years to
resolve
can take place in a world at peace:
The various sides to any dispute will not be killing one another.
Rather, they will be discussing
their different perspectives.
If we were now in the emergent years of the World
Peace Force,
there would be automatic responses to all acts of killing:
Everyone would first think of the World Peace Force:
How many more members of the
WPF are needed to stop the violence?
There would be no meetings
to decide what to do.
The officers of the World Peace Force
would automatically enforce
the world law against killing.
5. FINAL SETTLEMENT OF
LAND-CLAIMS.
The Arabs and Jews were
not properly separated in 1948.
The lands controlled by each group were not firmly and justly
established.
So, this would be the work of the World Court.
Judges who have no vested
interest in any particular outcome
—and
who could not even be suspected
of favoring either side—
will hear all claims from anyone who has a legitimate right to be
heard.
Who controlled these lands in ancient times,
before nation-states in our modern sense emerged?
Who can claim to be the successors
of the ancient peoples?
Who controlled these lands thru all historic periods
for which we have reliable historical records?
Should any military victories of the past be allowed
to stand?
Or should lands once taken by force be returned
to the descendants of those displaced at that
time?
Since the World Court will be creating a permanent
peace,
it will allow ample time for
any land-settlement to
become effective.
If the World Court were to draw new instant borders
between warring factions who still have weapons to kill their enemies,
then they would begin fighting when the new
borders are announced,
since neither side is likely to be satisfied with the new lines.
(In fact, that would be a sign of the justice of new borders:
Both side would reject the settlement decided by the World Court
because they did not get everything they wanted.)
Ten years
might be a reasonable period of time
before the new borders were permanently established.
This would give time for further arguments before the World
Court
about some details of the new borders between Arabs and Jews.
During the transitional period, the World Peace Force
will have to maintain a large contingent of armed officers
to keep the people from killing one another.
Once we have a reasonable homeland for the Arabs of
Palestine,
the rest of the world can begin to adjust to this new fact.
Arabs and Jews who do not wish to live within new borders
where they will be in the minority
can arrange to sell their homes and businesses
to people who will be moving in
when they move out.
No lands or other property will be taken by force.
No buildings will be destroyed because of their former ownership.
Each transfer will take place between a willing seller and a willing
buyer.
And they will agree upon a price both can accept.
They will set a date for transfer,
within the period of transition to the new borders.
During this ten years of transition,
everyone in Palestine will be free to emigrate to other countries.
If any people do not want to
be parts of the newly-established states,
they can apply to move to any other country on Earth.
Peacefully the populations still in Palestine can be
separated.
Jews will live within borders established by the World Court.
They will no longer build settlements outside
their borders.
Arabs will have a new homeland to call their own.
And they will stop claiming any right to kill Jews or eliminate Israel.
Peace between the two new geographical states
will have to be enforced by the World Peace Force
for several years after the final land-settlement,
since some people will
keep their anger for a generation or
two.
But their
children will grow up accepting the facts
of the new borders.
And they will proceed with their daily lives
without thoughts of changing the borders again when they get older.
They will accept the permanent borders as decided by the World Court
and enforced by the World Peace Force.
As more decades of peace are achieved,
the old warriors will die out.
And with them some of the bitterness that possessed their lives.
The World Peace Force can be gradually reduced
as the people on both sides prove by their behavior
that they have ever-diminishing inclinations to kill one another.
And if the expectation of peace proves to be
mistaken,
the World Peace Force can increase
the number of officers at any time.
6. NOW BACK TO THE
REALITIES OF 2021.
Because there is no established World Peace Force,
the nation-states of the present world
will have to do something to improve the present situation.
Talking with
responsible persons on all sides
will probably lead to a cease-fire
and the beginning again of talks between the warring sides
to establish the next
temporary solution to the conflict.
Because there is no established rule of law in
Palestine at present,
anyone who has weapons feels free to use them against 'the enemy'.
Perhaps international peacekeepers will patrol the affected
areas
where they can at least reduce
the level of violence
while more responsible people on both sides
become engaged in active negotiations to resolve their disputes,
perhaps one small step at a time.
But if the negotiators in 2021 envision a
peaceful settlement,
they will make the necessary compromises to diminish violence
and to help everyone see that a permanent settlement is being
created.
Without some on-going peace
process,
the warring parties will just continue to arm themselves
for their next 'legitimate' opportunity to kill more of their
'enemies'.
For now, we will probably have to muddle-thru,
but wiser heads might be able to envision
moving toward a just and permanent peace in Palestine
that will last for one thousand years.
AUTHOR:
James Park is an independent philosopher
living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
He has no ties to any of the parties involved in Palestine.
More information about the author will be discovered on his website:
James
Leonard Park—Free
Library
LINKS
TO SIMILAR THINKING:
The future
we create will depend on what we imagine
now.
And the Internet will be one way
that creative imaginations from anywhere on our planet
can share their visions of a world without war.
When such similar thoughts are discovered,
they will be linked from here.
World
Peace
Force—Early
Thinking
This
link leads to a collection of other essays by James Park
dealing with various dimensions of the proposed World Peace Force.
Created
January 8, 2009; Revised 1-15-2009; 3-26-2009; 4-1-2009;
6-8-2010;
6-18-2011; 8-12-2011; 12-1-2011;
4-19-2012; 11-28-2012; 9-3-2013; 9-19-2013; 9-23-2013;
7-22-2014;
4-8-2015; 4-21-2016; 1-5-2017; 12-11-2020;