It is time for the world to face facts. Control of the violence in Israel is out of the Palestinian leadership's hands. Yasir Arafat can no more stop the suicide bombings than can the Israeli army, even if it is backed by all the armies in the world. This is a "moral" war being fought by people who, right or wrong and regardless of what their elected leaders may say, will continue to fight until their land is returned. The understandably sympathetic response to the torture and mass murder of 6 million Jews caused the world to overcompensate by taking someone else’s property for the purpose of giving Holocaust survivors a safe place to live. Many Jewish friends of ASimplePeace have reported that being "Israeli" and being "Jewish" are two different things. Those who have visited Israel in the past year (pre and post-September 11th) say uniformly that "the Israeli army is a bully and, at times, acts like Nazis." That's why over 1,200 soldiers (enlisted and officers) are now refusing to serve in the West Bank and Gaza. The international press reports that Israeli soldiers are harassing people, and doing despicable acts like driving tanks through narrow residential alleys, purposely destroying the walls of innocent people's homes on either side. With all due respect for Mecca and the Vatican, for purposes of this discussion Jerusalem is the religious "center of the universe." It is also the center/focal point of the terror universe. This ancient city has been called the "nuclear engine" of a radical religious-fanatic terror movement that is fueled by perceived Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians, and the perception that America has taken the side of the Jews, unconditionally. The Israelis have proven incapable of controlling an often brutal military that is largely funded by the United States. Israeli political leaders sustain themselves by constantly stirring up trouble at the expense of innocent (and some not-so-innocent) Palestinians because it gets votes. They have little incentive to reduce Middle Eastern tensions for fear that it will trigger a reduction of the $3 billion that the United States government sends each year. Money that is used to buy the Jewish-American vote while providing a secure Middle Eastern haven for US interests and a staging area for the US and its allies in time of war or when the area’s oilfields are threatened. For proof of this assertion of a "constant troubles" dynamic tension mindset, one need look no further than Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit (September 28, 2000), accompanied by heavily armed guards, to the top (i.e., the Islamic section) of the holy Temple Mount at a time of intense social unrest. Even members of the Israeli press argued that Mr. Sharon knew it would cause trouble, and that he views it as his job to "keep the pot boiling." Acts like this come from the same arrogant, hubristic mindset that claims that, because the land purportedly belonged to the Jews (who wrote the Old Testament) 2,000 years ago, it should have been given back to them even if others have called it "home" for centuries. ASimplePeace sympathizes with their yearning for a homeland, but maintains that neither religion nor religious history should ever be used as an excuse to take someone else’s property. Similar instances of provocative behavior by PLO leader Yasir Arafat and his lieutenants occur with alarming frequency. The difference is that Mr. Sharon & company are fighting to keep property that was taken from the Palestinians, and Mr. Arafat is fighting to get it back. His mission is noble, his tactics are not. Trite as it may sound at first, "Love" is the answer to both the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and the larger problem of sectarian violence that plagues the entire world. When two unruly toddlers violently squabble over a prized possession, a responsible parent separates them and, if mediation fails, he or she "lays down the law" with love, not hate or retribution favoring one over the other. The fact that the US and Britain forcibly formed the country of Israel and that the US alone sends over $3 Billion to Israel annually constitutes "parenthood." It is time for America and the UN to take the "high ground" by stepping in and separating the Palestinian and Israeli combatants by the scruffs of their necks and then laying down rules of conduct from that point forward. Only then can cooler heads prevail. This is far better than continuing to let them kill one another, and giving radical fanatics a rationale and a platform to kill not only Americans, but citizens of virtually every nationality and religion like they did on September 11th. The Holy Land belongs to the world, not to either side in this dispute. The solution to the root cause of what happened on September 11th, and to the devastating violence in Israel and Palestine, can be summed up in five points: 1. The United Nations must take responsibility for its 1948 mistake, no matter how well intended it may have been. Three of the most courageous words in any language are: "We were wrong." This simple statement can melt the hatred, sadness and resentment that has grown like a cancer inside millions of people for over 50 years. "Peace" will then obediently follow. 2. It must take this matter out of the hands of diplomats who, like their politician counterparts (both Palestinian and Israeli), have proven incapable of halting the violence and have a vested interest in seeing the game continue. No more 54-year-long meetings. Action. 3. It must declare Jerusalem and all of Israel and Palestine a demilitarized zone that will govern itself but be protected by the full force and might of the United Nations. This territory must be considered "sacred" not just on religious grounds but on secular grounds as a place that was once in the "cradle of civilization" but has since become a breeding ground for hate and emblematic of all that is wrong with humanity in the 21st Century. 4. It must create a sovereign Palestinian State, not a bantustan, based on a return of land seized in 1967. 5. The future must be planned for NOW. The United Nations must provide the funds to build a Palestinian infrastructure that will permit the active pursuit of competitive commerce and a decent quality of life for its citizens. This must include a robust entrepreneurial and vocational training environment based on the adage, "If I feed you a fish, I will need to feed you tomorrow. If I teach you to fish, I will feed you for life" (ASimplePeace has a complete business plan for just such an entrepreneurial training and financing center). This infrastructure will likely cost less than the price to rebuild the New York World Trade Center. Half-hearted attempts at this kind of solution have failed miserably. Referring to the concept of responsible parenthood, mentioned above, what has been done could be likened to a mother separating two children fighting over a prized toy. She gives one the toy and everything else he wants in life and shoves the other into a closet. You’d be angry too. Instead of attacking Iraq and Iran economically and militarily, making their people suffer for the acts of despotic leaders who, like their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, actually thrive on chaos and violence, we can defuse them by demilitarizing Israel-Palestine and making Iran, Iraq, Syria, etc., part of the peacekeeping force. Peace through INCLUSION, not exclusion can also preclude another Beirut Marine barracks disaster. It would be self-defeating to attack their own troops when they are defending their "brothers-in-the-faith." In February of this year, Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler proposed that if Israel withdrew from all the occupied territories, including the Arab quarters of Jerusalem, then the Arab states would offer full normalization of relations. His proposal was attacked by influential Arab leaders and scholars as one that "… will only confuse and weaken the stance by the Palestinians and the Arabs," said Wahid Abdel Maguid, vice president of Al Ahram Center for Strategic Studies in Cairo, adding that he worried that any attempt to appease Israel now might strengthen the political fortunes of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister. "Sharon will be the winner," Mr. Abdel Maguid added. "He would say `See, my oppression worked, and the biggest Arab countries are making unprecedented offers because of my policy.' " This is no time for argument; it is time for action. The world is at war with a terror cell that draws its strength largely from its hatred of the Jews and America for 54-years of Palestinian suffering. The concept of compelling the two combatants to sit a table and talk to each other is a requisite, but only for the purpose of the UN telling them how the demilitarization process and transfer to a violence-free zone will be implemented and maintained. The Ultimate Face-saving Solution: After 54 years, we know that the Israelis are NOT going to "do something to end their occupation." ASimplePeace's suggestion to forcibly separate two unruly combatants who have proven that they cannot settle differences that are now affecting the entire world provides the ultimate face-saving solution. If the United Nations (in the truest sense of the word) steps in and satisfies the 5 points listed in this White Paper, then we will be well on our way toward defusing radical violence throughout the world. The cost of such a venture is far less than what we all are paying on a daily basis. And no one will look the weaker. Thus, the final piece to Crown Prince Abdullah’s proposal is the creation of a "sacred ground" demilitarized zone that will be as untouchable and autonomous as Mecca or the Vatican. The Palestinians have a lot of work to do in preparation for such an event. Before they can sit as equals at the peace table, the Palestinians must mount a major public relations campaign to reposition themselves on the world stage. Until the Palestinian people can rid themselves of their image as Keffiyeh-wearing masked terrorists, they cannot hope to enter into a dialogue and demilitarization settlement that will have any chance of success in the court of world opinion. No one negotiates when one side is considered to be inferior to the other. This public relations campaign must also educate the American public (including our US Congress, many of who are too young to know what really happened in 1948, and have only 50-years of one-sided reports from the American press). The Israeli Palestinian crisis is a major feeder of hatred of Jews and the United States on the part of radical Islamic fanatics the world over. We can continue to ignore them and they will continue to murder us (Jews, Muslims Hindus, Bhuddists and Christians alike) both here and abroad. ASimplePeace is working on the best means to implement the 5 points listed above, and invites your participation. Once we put out this urgent fire in the Middle East, we can commence a similar effort for citizens of other nations who have been subjected to the kind of injustice suffered by WWII era Jews and by the Palestinians. For more information, go to the FAQ ("Frequently Asked Questions") section of this Website.