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FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES ********
“You shall not bear false
witness against your fellow.” - Commandment nine of the Ten
Commandments.
“O ye who believe! Stand
out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against
yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be against
rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts of
your hearts, lest ye swerve, and if ye distort justice or decline to
do justice, verily Allah is well acquainted with all that ye do.” -
Qur’an 4:135
The case for fresh
thinking.
Resolving the Arab-Israeli
conflict has thus far defied long term efforts by the affected parties
and by outside mediation. The Oslo Accords that were negotiated
between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization between
1993 and 1995, and soon flagrantly violated and abrogated by the
Palestinian Arab leadership, have been re-introduced as the “Roadmap”
plan by the so-called “Quartet” of great powers, dressed in new
clothes, and with the possibility of an externally imposed solution,
(these peace plans are described for readers in Part I: the Historical
and Factual Background of the Conflict, below). Merely calling
something a “peace plan” does not necessarily make it so. A
genuine solution requires the courage to engage in radically fresh
thinking that is free of prior assumptions and constraints.
Furthermore, this conflict cannot be solved in isolation from its many
historical, religious, political, economic and social roots, all of
which must be taken fully into account.
The time is long overdue to
consider other approaches and open the field to independent grass
roots initiatives - i.e. a ‘free market’ for peace plans. History
shows that good ideas can originate from non-official sources and that
those ideas should be judged entirely on their merits rather than
their origins. All those claiming to seek a just and peaceful
resolution have a moral obligation to consider all proposals,
regardless of origin, and with an open mind.
Crafting a new approach.
It is far more difficult now
to introduce an alternative plan than it would have been years ago,
before hurtful attitudes based on hatred and prejudice became so
deeply entrenched. In addition, we realize that any new and unfamiliar
approach to peacemaking may generate intense opposition from
entrenched interests. But these are not reasons to forgo the effort.
Because the current situation
is so dangerous, any real peace plan must be bold and imaginative, yet
fair and practical.
We believe this plan can
withstand scrutiny, reasonably answer any objection, and win out in
any open debate. Success toward peace and security cannot be
guaranteed, but no harm can come from advocating for this plan and
debating it. Failing even to try new approaches would be
irresponsible.
“Official” peace plans,
such as the “Roadmap” enjoy an automatic credibility by virtue of
the power of their sponsors and their attendant prestige. This
makes it difficult for any alternative plan, having only grass roots
origins, to be noticed, much less allowed into any serious debate. It
will therefore be necessary to first demonstrate the unworkability of
the existing approaches to the “peace process.” Once this is done,
people may be ready to consider seriously alternative approaches to
peace, and to engage in a free and open debate.
We invite serious readers to
patiently examine this plan with an open mind. We will try to respond
to serious and sincere questions. A conflict possessing such deep
roots cannot be solved in a simplistic manner. We do not claim to have
a perfect solution containing all the answers. We do claim that our
plan is an advance on others that have been put forward. We believe
that it deserves to be given a fair hearing and allowed to compete on
its own merits with all other proposals.
Four essential principles
for peace-making that guide this Initiative.
There can be disagreement
over ideologies, but there must be some common starting points upon
which all people of integrity and goodwill can agree. We believe that
any viable approach must begin with faithful adherence by all parties
to the conflict, regardless of ideology or religion, to the following
four principles:
1). Truth and peace,
especially in the Middle East, are inseparable. All parties to the
dispute, including the masses of people in the Arab and Islamic
countries, and in Israel, need to learn the actual historical and
factual background of the conflict, as well as the actual character
and history of the Jewish people and the Jewish religion, all of which
have been relentlessly distorted and misrepresented by over six
decades of war propaganda. The distorted and false perceptions in the
minds of politicians, diplomats, and the great masses of people in the
Middle East, and even in the Western world, all of them products of
this propaganda, must be dispelled. And all of us need to accept and
acknowledge the truth about these matters if peace is ever to be
achieved.
2). Reciprocity must operate
throughout all stages of the peace process. Both sides must keep all
the promises they have made. One side cannot be expected to carry out
its commitments under an agreement when the other side fails to keep
its commitments. Israel’s unilateral fulfillment of its commitments
under two successive peace agreements, the Oslo Accords and the
Roadmap, while the Palestinians have consistently failed to meet their
commitments to renounce violence and keep the peace, have doomed these
plans. In order to insure compliance with any future peace accord, “aggressive
regime” verification and monitoring procedures must be adopted and
applied equally and without exceptions to both parties. Both sides
must first meet their commitments in full under each phase of the
agreement before either side progresses to the next phase.
3).The bias and double
standards that the international community and the great powers have
manifested when seeking to acts as mediators or arbitrators of the
Arab-Israel conflict must end. The nations and organizations that act
as mediators of the dispute cannot continue to ignore and condone Arab
acts of aggression, and violations of promises to renounce violence
and keep the peace, while condemning Israel for defending itself
against Arab attacks.
4). The vital interests of
all sides must be respected in any peace agreement. There can be no
“winner take all” solutions.
We believe that a lasting
peace in the Middle East is indeed possible once these four principles
win general acceptance.