A WAY TO SOLVE THE CONFLICT

JACQUES HADIDA

MONTREAL

JUNE 9, 2003

 

Fellow Moslems, we all agree that Israel is not only an inconvenient speck in this vast Middle Eastern Arab land of ours, but it is also a thorn to all of us who see no reason for its existence. Indeed, none of us needs a democracy in our world of monarchies and dictatorships.

 

Jews have no business in our Moslem world.

It is therefore agreed that this is not their place and they must be moved away from this area of the world.

 

Yet for over fifty years, this problem has not been solved.

Like a bad wound that does not heal, it festers and gets worst day by day, year by year.

This situation must come to an end. Peaceful resolutions between such enormous social contradictions have yet to succeed.

It is time to shift the paradigm and look at the situation from a logistically naïve approach.

 

Here is a new suggestion:

 

We are all in accordance that Israel can not live in our midst.

We have been taught to hate them and our entire identity has been established on our desire to remove them from this geographical location. The rest of the world understands our message. Everyone  knows what our intentions are. We do not want Israel in this region.

 

Yet, here my friends is our dilemma: what are we to do with the people of Israel once we have taken over the land.

We understand that we are still part of the family of man and we will need to live amongst our non Moslem neighbours, therefore we can not go ahead and pass through the sword every Jew in Israel in order to get this land. That will not be a wise move.

Again, I ask, what are we to do with the people?

I suggest we find them a place in this planet where they can be moved to, to live in peace. To avoid any further conflicts, my first recommendation is that we find them a place far from Arab neighbours.

 

 

 

OK! I already sense some of your reactions.

Since Israel has been the staunchest ally of the United States, maybe the U.S should find them a place in their big continent?

Is this what some of you think?

Can you picture one or two or three states agreeing on abandoning their place of birth to give room to a country, to a people they hardly know?

What advantage is it to them?

What do they get in return?

 

For you must remember that all of you Arab states, must chip in in all costs related to such a move, since you will inherit the country of today’s Israel.

 

Ok. So the U.S idea is not that good after all.

Let us look at Africa. Where in Africa could we relocate the Jews? I believe they will have no problem as to which place we send them, since they are intelligent and laborious to make a go out of anything.

Which African country will cede its place for Israel?

 Can you suggest one?

And if you come up with a name, then we will have to ask that country if it agrees, right?

 

To appreciate the importance of the question, we might as well apply it to an Arab country that will let go of its possession to allow the establishment of a third party, say Palestine instead of Israel, in this context

So I ask you, who amongst you will sacrifice its place for the sake of another people?

 The answer is hard, right?

 

So after we look at the whole world, we come to the conclusion that there is no place for Israel on this land.

Unless we find some undiscovered Island where we can drop them and forget them. But we all know that there is no such a thing, all that had to be discovered has been discovered.

 

So I urge you to think about this dilemma for the next two weeks and let us meet again to assess the possibilities.

 

2 WEEKS LATER

 

Well, we have looked at all the possibilities and the only place we found where it will not affect other people’s lives is either the South Pole or the North Pole with lots of land and uninhabited.

 

Indeed, I command you for having found at least one place on this planet susceptible to meet our requirements.

The question now:

Is it a good idea?

Can you picture anyone living there?

Can you see for example anyone of you living there?

By the look on your faces, I doubt anyone would be a candidate.

Why?

Is it because you believe it is not a livable place?

If it is not livable for you how can it be for someone else?

No.

I am sorry the North or the South Pole are not the answer.

And we are back to square one.

 

I am afraid to come to the conclusion that if we  could not find a place for Israel’s Jews, they must then stay where they are.

Yes, I know you do not wish them there, but we did the exercise and could not find them a place, remember?

 

Maybe now we should repeat the same exercise and apply it to the Palestinian people.

 

Who amongst you can give his country to them?

A country sounds like a big word, say then some of his country.

Maybe two or three of you with contiguous borders can each sacrifice a parcel and draw a circle or a square and make room for a place to accommodate few millions  people who are just like you, speaking the same language, sharing the same faith, thus they will not be distressed or at a loss.

 

Give it some thought.

 

Several places come to mind, but I will only bring one up and ask you to consider the suggestion.

 

At the aftermath of the war in Iraq, many people are thinking as to how to divide the country to satisfy all its elements.

Let me propose to use some of Iraq’s southern area, bordering Jordan, say take a portion equal to 10,000 square kilometers and do the same at Jordan’s northern frontier with Iraq by taking here too 10.000 sq.km.

We now have a piece of land representing a decent size, the equivalent of today’s size of Israel.

 

Why Iraq and Jordan rather than Saudi Arabia and Iraq or Saudi Arabia and Jordan, or say portion of southern Tunisia and Algeria etc… the reason is simple

The area I propose is almost made up entirely of desert that no one will lose to much in dispensing of it, but mostly due to changes in Iraq and after all, most if not all Palestinians were first Jordanians, so in a way it is sending them back home. It is more their home than Israel is, for those who lived there fifty years ago are mostly dead now.`

 

I want you to consider seriously this proposal.

I know your main objection is that we will not have anymore Jerusalem, al Qods,  but let us be objective, Jerusalem is not to the Arabs what it is to the Jews. All the Jews have as a holly city is Jerusalem, for us we have first Mecca, then Medina, then Kerbala and more holy sites.

Yes we have our own divisions, Shiites, Sunnis, Wahabis etc…

It is time we look at ourselves and start making peace with ourselves, for this lack of harmony cannot help us in the long run.

It is time we become objective and honest with ourselves.

 

We all know that peace under Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah,  Al Aqsa martyrs, Tanzim and others cannot be achieved.

So we have to ask ourselves: do we want this status quo to perdure, to last permanently with dead on both sides of the fence?

Until when are we going to burry our sons and daughters?

 

To arrive to a reform in the Arab and Muslim world, we must understand that all political trends used thus far have not managed to realize a single one of the ideas such as Arab unity, democracy, freedom or social justice. All that we have proven is that when in power, we turn into a hedonistic echelon, leading a life of comfort and luxury, and suppressing the people in unconceivable ways.

Are we the kind of people who never learn lessons?

The example of the tragedy in Iraq should teach us what tyrannical leaders can do to their own people.

 

We, the Arabs are in need of a revival of enlightenment, away from the revolutionary ideas for which our people paid a high price. When you look at the United Nations report on Arab human growth, you are shocked to learn that we are at the bottom of the human scale. Enough discussing purely on theoretical problems. It is time we believe in information, statistics, technology, communication with others. Enough hostility towards the stranger. It is time we shake up conventions and investigate our convictions

 

Is it not time we look at our well being?

Is it not time we restructure our lives and be counted amongst the nations? For today, Palestinians are not. They will be in their own country.

It won’t be easy but the whole wide world will join in this enterprise. It is one of the conditions for such a move.

 

Did you think how much it would cost us to get rid of Israel just in dollars and cents?

We all know that  they built a country, most modern by everyone’s standard, the envy of many, thanks to their intelligence and laboriousness.

 

In other words and as a recap, once you study the two possibilities I propose, you will agree with me that for the interest of everyone, option two is wiser.

 

Give yourself another two weeks to think about all we said and we shall reconvene to arrive to a solution.

 

Tentative end

JACQUES HADIDA

MONTREEAL

JUNE 9, 2003