Solution for Peace in the Middle East (3/7/02)
by Dean Hartwell
As violence continues
in the Middle East, President Bush has decided to send special envoy Anthony
Zinni there to participate in peace talks. The President has made a good move,
but this situation calls for a great one.
A state of conflict has existed constantly since the creation of Israel in
1948. Israel, Palestine (a.k.a. the Palestinian Authority) and other neighbors
have held peace talks over the years. With the exception of the Camp David
Accords in the late 1970s (which effectively ended hostility between Israel and
Egypt), little has come out of them.
Both of the principals in this conflict, the Israelis and the Palestinians,
claim the area as Holy Land to the exclusion of the other. Both of them claim
to be the victim, the Israelis citing several invasions against them throughout
the years. For their part, the Palestinians say they are out-numbered in forces
and that Israel has received weapons from the United States. Both have made a
habit out of rejecting solutions offered by the other.
Since neither side will likely ever compromise, the United States, in its role
as a nation concerned about the Middle East, should think big. We should stop
selling weapons to Israel and invest in a plan that would create peace.
Here is my plan: We should offer to sell Puerto Rico to either Israel or
Palestine. We could then use the money to re-locate Puerto Ricans. As 3.58
million people live in Puerto Rico, Israel's 5.9 million people may be a bit
large, but some of them may choose to live elsewhere, anyway. Palestine's 3.5
million people would be alright.
It may sound crazy at first, but how else can we stop the killing over there,
short of both sides destroying one another? As for the people of Puerto Rico,
some may complain about the move, but the United States has the right to sell
its territory to another nation, subject to a two-thirds Senate Confirmation.
Some day, after peace talks continue to fail and enough people die, this plan
won't seem so crazy at all.