A private organization of Israelis and Palestinians has just issued a very detailed, updated draft of their original 2003 Geneva Initiative proposal for mideast peace.
Updated Geneva Initiative
Quoting from Haaretz, a leading Israeli newspaper:
The initiative envisages an independent Palestinian state, with no army but with a strong security force. The Gaza Strip and the West Bank will be connected by a land corridor, which will be under Israeli sovereignty but with full Palestinian control.
An international force will be placed in Palestine to aid the two sides in implementing the agreement, and another international force will be stationed on the flashpoint Temple Mount- Haram al-Sharif compound in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City.
Sovereignty in the Old City of Jerusalem will be divided between Palestine and Israel and the two sides will redistribute their shared water.
The plan calls for the evacuation of one third of the 300,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, but also says that areas near Jerusalem containing large settlement blocks should be annexed to Israel, while Palestinians will receive territory adjacent to the Gaza Strip and along the south-west Israel-West Bank border.
Haaretz Story
The Egyptian Foreign Minister has spoken in favor of the Initiative, as a good starting point for resuming negotiations.
So far, I've found no other official comments on the new Initiative, but it was only released yesterday, and is 400 pages long...so I guess people are still reviewing it.
So far, from a cursory review of comments on the Haaretz website, it appears this new draft will not resolve all the issues, heh...the more hard-line elements will dig in their heels and resist any peaceful resolution, on both sides, no doubt. But a lot of the comments are very positive, and hopeful...
The plan is very detailed, and from what I've read about it, sounds very reasonable and equitable.
I think if serious negotiations ensue, and actual resolution of the conflict begins, the whole world will stand up and cheer, for both "sides", and everyone will rally to help to advance that process, financially, technically, and culturally, any way that we can.
It's about time for this, and all the ancillary conflicts it has led to, to be resolved...and no better time to do so, I think, than now, in the early days of Obama's administration.
Again, the full text of the Initiative, and the new additions to it, can be found at the Geneva Institute website:
Updated Geneva Initiative