ISRAEL: How to change its geography

There is an easier and more practical way to solve the Israel issue than suggested by the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejade of Iran recently. Initially, he urged Germany to provide space for moving the Israelis there if it felt guilty for what was done by the Nazis to the Jews. But Germany does not have space. In fact, Hitler started the Second World War because he wanted lebensraum (“living space”), or additional territory for Germany’s continued existence and economic well-being.

The Iranian President later suggested that Israelis might be shifted to Alaska or some other state of mainland U.S. Most Americans may not like to have a Jewish state in their midst. It may also set a precedent for the African Americans and Hispanics presently spread all over the U.S. There may even be a demand for a state mainly for the Muslims because of their security and other concerns since 9/11. The “United States” may end up having an entirely different meaning!

The basic problem that President Ahmadinejade and all others in the Muslim World have in mind is the conflict between the Israelis and their neighbors that has to be removed for peace in the region. It can be done in a somewhat unconventional way, while simultaneously solving another vexatious problem in the neighborhood.

Way through Cyprus. Cyprus never saw peace since the British left the island in 1960, instead of partitioning it between the two major communities, as they did in case of India 13 years earlier. The Greek Cypriots continued to suppress and persecute the Turk Cypriots for 14 years. They went too far when they announced enosis (union with Greece) in 1974. Turkish army moved in to occupy about a third of the country. Since then, all attempts for a settlement have failed. The latest was the referendum on a peace plan in April 2004 that was accepted by the Turks but rejected by the Greeks. No reconciliation appears likely in the foreseeable future.

The way out on the Palestine issue may lie in Cyprus. The first step will be to evacuate the entire population (about one million), with the Greek Cypriots going to Greece and Turk Cypriots (over 200,000) to Turkey. The UN, in consultation with respective governments, may determine the value of all properties and assets of both communities, to be paid as compensation to Greece and Turkey for resettling the evacuees. The vacated island will be handed over to Israel to be made a part of it. Israel will pay the compensation for all properties and assets, with financial assistance from the U.S. and the European Union.

Out of the Israel’s population of 6.5 millions, 80% are Jews. About 60% of them are Ashkenazi, of European descent. (They dominate the government and have been the main opponents of ending the occupation of the West Bank.) Many of them have security concerns. The others, who migrated from Asia and Africa, can adjust rather easily and live sided by side with the Palestinians.

Only those Israelis worried about their security may move their homes and businesses to Cyprus. They may continue to run their factories and farms in the mainland Israel, as the commuting distance will be only about 200 kms. If New York’s Manhattan island, with an area of just 109 sq. km, can have a population of 1.5 million, Cyprus, with an area of 9,251 sq km., can accommodate all of them. Security will also be easier to maintain in the island, with every intruding boat easy to spot and capture.

With security concerns reduced dramatically for the mainland, the Israelis may be ready for a bigger step towards peace in the region.

Here is a plan that will resolve all of the major issues between the Palestinians and the Israelis, without requiring either side to make unacceptable compromises.

New state. The starting point should be the creation of a new state that will include the present territories of Israel, West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and, of course, Cyprus. There will be only two provinces, to be called “Israel” and “Jordan.” West Bank will become a part of Jordan, just as it was before the 1967 war. Gaza will be a part of Jordan for 10 years and then become a part of Israel due to the compulsion of its geographical location. In the meantime, its present residents may be encouraged to move elsewhere in the province of Jordan.

The Golan Heights will be returned to Syria after it agrees to keep the territory demilitarized, like the Sinai, and signs a peace agreement with the new state. (It will have no good reason not to do so.)

The name. Unless the people agree on another one, the name of the new state may be “Palestine.” It has been the geographical name of the territory for centuries, without any religious or ethnic connotations. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “The Arabs living in Palestine had never had a separate state. Until the establishment of Israel, the term Palestinian was used by Jews and foreigners to describe the inhabitants of Palestine, but it was rarely used by the Arabs themselves; mostly they saw themselves as part of the larger Arab or Muslim community.”

The formation of a new state would not be a novel idea. Even when the territory was partitioned, the intention was to keep the two parts close to each other. Encyclopedia Britannica says, “On August 31 [1947] a majority report of the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) recommended the partition of the country into an Arab and a Jewish state, which, however, should retain an economic union. Jerusalem and its environs were to be international. These recommendations were substantially adopted by a two-thirds majority of the UN General Assembly in a resolution dated Nov. 29, 1947.”

Federation. The new state will be secular and a federation, with only minimum powers for the center, such as defense, foreign affairs, currency, banking and telecommunications. All other powers will go to the federating units, the two provinces. To provide a permanent link between the provinces, the state will be a constitutional monarchy, headed by a member of the present royal family of Jordan that has always been quite friendly to Israel. When the need arises, the federal cabinet will select any member of the royal family as a heir to the thrown. The majority support of each Provincial Assembly will be required for the approval of a new monarch.

The federation will have a single house, National Assembly. It will have half of its members from Israel and half from Jordan. To ensure maximum support, every law will be passed by two-thirds of the total members.

The Prime Minister will be alternately from each province and will serve for five years. The key ministries will also rotate between the two provinces. The federal cabinet will have half of the ministers from each province.

To avoid wrangling and intrigues that will be inevitable in the National Assembly, the Prime Minister will be elected directly by the entire country. He will have to get over 50% of the total votes cast in each province. This will ensure that the winning candidate will be a moderate and acceptable to the majority of the Jews and the Arabs. If no candidate gets more than 50% votes, there will be a run-off contest within a week between the two top candidates.

Provinces. The entire territory having become a single country, all boundaries, of 1947 (in UN plan), pre-1967 and post-1967, will lose their importance and may be ignored. The two provinces will set up a joint commission to study the present boundaries and redraw them to remove the difficulties of the people at the local level and give due regard to natural geographical divisions.

The executive head of a province will be a Governor, who will be elected by a direct vote for five years. Each Provincial Assembly will have the same number of members. The provinces will be free to legislate on religious, cultural and social matters. Jordan may make Islamic laws for the Muslims in the province but without affecting the Jews living there. Similarly, Israel may make religious laws for the Jews in its jurisdiction. Each province will have its own police to maintain law and order.

While the federation will deal with international relations, the provinces may sign directly trade and investment agreements with other countries.

Arabic will be the official language of Jordan and Hebrew that of Israel, while both will be the official languages of the federal government.

Friday will be the weekly public holiday in Jordan and Saturday in Israel while the federal government will have both days as weekly holidays. So will the private commercial organizations if they want to have a five-day week. Provinces may also do the same ultimately. The religious holidays of both Muslim and Jewish will be observed officially in both provinces.

Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be an international city, with every foreign visitor getting a 10-day visit visa on arrival. While a mayor elected by the direct vote of the entire population of the city will run the administration for a five-year term, the National Assembly will decide the policy matters with a two-third majority. The mayor will be alternately a Jew and an Arab.

Every citizen will need the approval of the city administration to work, set up a business, purchase property or have permanent residence in Jerusalem. No new housing will be allowed and present population will be encouraged to move out of the city in order to open it up for the large number of visitors of all three major religions that will be going there.

New capital. For the present, Tel Aviv and Amman will serve as joint federal capitals. However, a new site for the federal capital will be selected with the consensus of both Provincial Assemblies and construction will start there immediately. The new capital will have the offices of only the federal government. Its name will be a word that is common in Arabic and Hebrew.

Citizens. Every citizen will have a national identity card, showing his permanent place of residence, besides other data. He will be free to travel anywhere but will need the approval of the relevant provincial government to work, set up a business, purchase property or have permanent residence in its jurisdiction. That will control the migration of citizens and workers from one province to the other. The province of Israel will control the return of Arab refugees. All Arab refugees, who were born before 1948 in what is now Israel, will be allowed to return to their ancestral homes. (After 55 years since the creation of Israel, there will not be many such refugees left.)

The Jews, who settled in the West Bank after 1967, will have to move out while the present residents of Gaza may be allowed to take their place in the settlements. The Israeli government may pay compensation to the Jewish settlers. It will also pay reasonable compensation to the Arab refugees and others, who were uprooted because of the Israeli actions before or after 1967. It will not be a financial burden because the reduction in defense expenditure will easily cover the compensation amount.

Defense. The UN will guarantee the security and integrity of the new state from an attack by any country. The new state may also have bilateral defense agreements with other countries. Once its security is ensured, the new state will merge the present armed forces of Israel and Jordan and reduce the total number to the minimum. It will destroy its nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction because it will no longer need them.

Benefits of the plan. When considered in its entirety, the plan proposes minimum changes in the present setup while it will solve all of the major problems between the Palestinians and the Jews, viz.

a) Israel will continue to have its identity. Two examples are relevant. Holland is only a province but it is quite often synonymous with the name of the country, the Netherlands. Similarly, England is a region but is usually considered synonymous with the United Kingdom. Therefore, Israel will continue to enjoy its present recognition.

b) The Jews in the U.S. and elsewhere will continue to do for the province of Israel whatever they want. The Jews in other countries will also be able to immigrate to the province of Israel as they have been doing for decades.

c) The Palestinian refugees, presently dispersed in many countries, will be able to return to the province of Jordan, subject to the policy of the provincial government. That will be the end of the Palestinian refugee problem. The expatriate Palestinians will be free to invest in Jordan.

d) The residents of Israel will no longer have to worry about security. The withdrawal of Israeli forces from the West Bank will remove the basic cause for organizations like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The public support for them will also disappear because there will be no longer any cause for hostility against the Jews. The local police will take care of the remaining elements to ensure complete security for all.

e) The economic development will increase all over, as industries will be able to move to the locations that are closer to raw materials, cheaper labor and potential markets.

f) There will be no major changes in the internal affairs of Israel and Jordan. The present domestic policies in a province will continue as long as the other province is not affected.

With a solution provided for every major problem, the plan offers the most practical way out of the hostilities that have plagued the region for decades. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will lose any of their vital interests or fundamental rights. Rather, it will be a win-win situation, not only for them but also for the rest of the world.

January 27, 2006

NATION: Promoting pride and patriotism

Anybody who was astonished at the pride, brotherhood and generosity of the people after the Kashmir earthquake never felt that he was one of them. The ordinary people were always like that but expressed it on all albeit small occasions. Why did they not do it more often at the national level? Because they were led to believe that they were still under colonial rule.
During the Independence movement, the vast majority of the elite – politicians, bureaucrats, media, intellectuals – were lukewarm towards the people’s demand for a homeland. When Pakistan did come into being, the elite did not let go the powers and privileges that they had acquired by being close to the colonial rulers.
If we are to become a proud and patriotic people, the elite must abandon their practices and policies of colonial period. They must remove the barriers that keep them aloof from the ordinary people.
Here are some suggestions for the elite, some symbolic, some fundamental:
a) Use the national langue in public. Also in interviews with the non-English foreign media. Use interpreters on formal occasions as a symbol of honor, even if you don’t need them. Avoid unnecessary use of English words. Be ashamed of yourself if your Urdu is not better than your English because being fluent in English does not make you a superior human being.
b) Wear the national dress in public, on all formal occasions, even abroad. The Arabs do it. So do the Africans. If you wear a three-piece suit, the former gora sahib (white colonial) will still treat you only as an obsequious subject, not as an equal. So, why bother? Drop waistcoat and sherwani to bring your official dress closer to that of the common people.
c) Teach English only to those who need it. Stop pretending that all 150 millions of us want to become scientists and technologists, have international relations or intend to study or work abroad. Despite a century and a half of trying, only about 10% (or 15 millions) people actually manage to learn acceptable English. Why make life miserable for the remaining 90%?
d) Teach every subject in schools and colleges in the national language because nobody can learn properly through a foreign language. (How many of us can study the Holy Qur’an through Arabic alone, when we are Muslims?) Add the glossary of equivalent English terms at the end of Urdu textbooks for those who may later need them. The quality of education depends on teaching and school standards, not on the use of a foreign language as a medium.
e) Ban O and A Level examinations. Then the parents, who prefer these examinations for their children, will work to improve the educational standards of the whole country. These British examinations were not a craze even during the colonial rule, or for several decades afterwards. Rather than humiliate yourselves before the former colonial masters, improve our own educational institutions.
f) Use the national language for all official purposes. Don’t be like Brahmins, who use Sanskrit to remain aloof from the masses. English terms may continue to be inserted in official correspondence until all bureaucrats become familiar with the Urdu equivalents. Where immediate switchover is difficult, the use of English may continue for some time.
g) Never denigrate your country. If you are good, your family is good, your friends and relatives are also good, how come everybody else is not? After all, the country is only your extended family.
h) Do not create inferiority complex by comparing us with countries that are ahead. Compare our present status with that of our own 10, 30 or 60 years ago. If our today continues to be better than our yesterday, we shall find ourselves in the top tier in due course.
i) Take pride in your culture. Appreciate your heritage, values, arts, music, architecture, literature, food, dress. Everything that comes from the West is not better by definition. Don’t prefer foreign heroes and role models to your own.