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A Proposal to Solve the Settler and Refugee Problems - UN Security Council - Global Policy Forum A Proposal to Solve the Settler and Refugee Problems
By Richard W. Murphy and David Mack*
International Herald Tribune
July 21, 2003It is time to break taboos in order to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Of all the problems confronting the peace process, none have proved more paralyzing than the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, and the Palestinian position on the right of return of the 1948 refugees.
Today there is an opportunity to resolve both through a judicious combination of money and diplomacy. The upcoming visits to the White House by the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers - plus the presence in Washington of a Palestinian researcher with some encouraging findings - offer a chance for a new set of U.S. initiatives.
Both the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships have avoided educating their communities on the real danger these problems pose, the former on the danger of tolerating settlements, the latter on the danger of clinging to a narrowly defined refugee rights. It is Israel's demographers who point to the quickly growing Palestinian population as the most powerful argument for supporting Palestinian independence.
Israelis have yet to internalize that the settlements have become a haunting symbol to Palestinians that Israel does not want peace and rejects any real concept of a viable and independent Palestinian state. Even those Israeli leaders who believe that the settlers' ambitions constitute a serious threat to their nation's future have not consistently tried to curb the spread of new outposts in occupied territories. For their part, Palestinian leaders have largely avoided telling their public the plain truth, that to insist on the right of Palestinians to return to pre-1948 homes within the state of Israel only fans Israeli fears that the real Palestinian intent is to destroy the Jewish state by eliminating its Jewish identity.
Today Washington has the ability to strengthen the recently revived peace process in two ways: The administration should make a major pledge to resettle the 200,000 Israeli settlers now living in the West Bank and Gaza to areas inside Israel proper. Washington should also draw as much attention as possible to the real thinking in the Palestinian territories, as reflected in a new poll by Khalil Shikaki, one of the region's most respected analysts, who combines impeccable nationalist credentials with thoughtful analysis.
Shikaki's has publicized his findings among Palestinian refugees, that while a sweeping majority insist that Israel must recognize the right of return in principle, most refugees are prepared to accept creative solutions to their demand. A minority of Palestinians continues to believe that such ideas are treasonous. On July 12, Shikaki was attacked by a mob in Ramallah.
Shikaki is visiting the United States to explain his findings, and Washington should take this opportunity to express support for his conclusion. It is that the majority of Palestinian refugees agree that realizing their "right of return" could include compensation and returning to the state of Palestine when that is established, or settling where they live today, or accepting resettlement outside the region.
An American pledge to underwrite the construction of houses for the resettlement of Israeli settlers within Israel can be a significant contribution to the problematic issue of settlements.
Israeli polling has shown that 80 percent of the settlers are "economic settlers" who moved into the West Bank and Gaza after 1967 to enjoy better and highly subsidized housing. If fairly compensated with comparable housing, they could be brought to resettle. Such a U.S. pledge could be coupled with a challenge to other donors to help fund the permanent settlement of Palestinian refugees either in the new state of Palestine or in third countries.
Israel would also enhance its role as a good neighbor by leaving the housing and infrastructure of the settlements intact for refugees as it relocates its own citizens into secure housing in Israel.
Now is the time to raise both the settlement and refugee issues with the two visiting prime ministers who will be meeting with President George W. Bush in coming days. This could advance the security talks now under way between Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the broader agenda of peace, which both affirm they are seeking.
*Richard Murphy is senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. David Mack is vice president of the Middle East Institute.
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