Updated Peace Negotiation Entry

After further reflection and research, I have changed my position on the peace negotiation process and have updated this journal to reflect these changes. These changes are located at the end in the recommendation section.

This assignment immediately brought to my awareness, the feeling that I needed to more deeply and thoroughly understand proposals for peace made previously and those currently being debated. So, rather than designing a proposal from my current level of understanding I elected to research the Arab Peace Initiative and the Geneva Initiative and to reflect upon my own perspective in relationship to these proposals. So, I didn’t start from fresh. My plan in what follows is to briefly outline these proposals and in conclusion to outline my own perspective in relation to the ideas contained there within.

The Geneva Initiative

-Two state agreement

-Israeli and beyond the 1967 border would be annexed to the Palestinians at a 1:1 ratio.

-Jerusalem: East Jerusalem would be the Palestinian capital. West Jerusalem would be the Israeli capital. There would be free and unimpeded movement/access to the Old City.

-Palestinian Jerusalemites who are permanent residents of Israel would lose this status upon the transfer of authority to Palestine of those areas in which they reside.

-An Implementation and Verification Group (IVG) would monitor and resolve disputes and implementation of the agreement.

-Refugees would be entitled to compensation for their refugee status and for loss of property and would have the right to return to the State of Palestine. Refugees could elect to remain in current host countries or relocate to third countries including Israel at the discretion of the third countries.

-Palestine would be a non-militarized state.

Arab Peace Initiative

-Full withdrawal of Israel from all territories occupied since 1967.

-Palestinian right to return to the homes from which they left or were expelled.

-Recognition of Palestine as a state including the West Bank and Gaza strip with East Jerusalem as the capital.

-Arab countries would provide security for all the states of the region.

-Arab countries would establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.

-Assures the rejection of all forms of Palestinian patriation which conflict with the special circumstances of the Arab host countries.

In reflecting upon these two initiatives I agreed with the idea of a two state solution and with returning to the 1967 border. I can see advantages and disadvantages to both a divided Jerusalem and an open Jerusalem, but symbolically prefer the idea of a shared Jerusalem. I agreed more with the compensation of refugees and the opportunity to remain in third host countries including Israel according to the discretion of third countries than an open right to return policy. This is the most complicated issue for me as I consider the layers of a peace agreement.

Current Position: One State Solution with full right to return of refugees. Democratic Government with full representation of the diversity of religions and cultures of the people.