UW-Madison
Student Proposes Peace Plan
A
Palestinian from Jenin calls for Israeli and Palestinian state
in a federal union
By
Beth Williams
Despite
seeing the ruble of his hometown of Jenin on television, Nasser
Abufarha believes there can be peace between Israelis and Palestinians
"What
we really need to understand is that Palestinians and Israelis
today comprise integral components of the same space,"
Abufarha said. "The resolution to the conflict lies in
developing ways to share the space both consider very dear."
That's
why the UW-Madison anthropology grad student spent more than
two years travelling back and forth between the US and the Mid
east researching his plan for peace.
Abufarha
presented what he calls the Alternative Palestinian Agenda at
a UW-Madison forum this month.
The
Agenda calls for the creation of an Israeli state and a Palestinian
State with borders drawn based on the population of an area.
Each state would have its own government to manage law and order
within the state, education and social services. Both states
could have their own holidays and keep their own customs.
But
the states would also be in a federal union managed from a shared
Jerusalem. The federal union of Palestine-Israel would have
a senate and parliament to manage to foreign policy and external
security. The states would have one unified army and the federal
union would be responsible for managing relations between the
states.
After
a transitional period, people could live in either state subject
to its laws.
Abufarha
and other students and professors who believe in the proposal
have posted it on the internet and sent it to activists and
experts worldwide.
UW-Madison
psychology professor Arthur Glenberg said the proposal recognizes
the Israeli need for security and the Palestinian need for a
homeland. "There are these very strong aspirations of the
Israelis and very strong aspirations of the Palestinians,"
he said. "the aspirations cannot be met independently.
They are in fact interconnected."
But
both Abufarha and Glenberg it wont be easy to get people to
talk about this proposal for peace.
"The
prospects aren't good," said Michael Barnett, a UW-Madison
political science professor. "Right now both parties would
prefer to fight… Both sides are just scared for their lives
and don't trust the other side."
Trust
is a required element of Abufarha's peace plan.
UW-Madison
freshman, Ilad Amir was born in Haifa and he said Israelis are
frightened of giving the Palestinians a state they could use
to attack Israeli. "A day later I see ships loaded with
fifty tons of weapons pulling into the future Palestine coming
to destroy me and that's going to scare me," Amir said.
Rick
Woolman, a UW -Madison junior and president of Madison-Israel
Public Affairs Committee, said there is still hope for peace
in the region but no one is sure how to get there.
"I
don't think anyone has a clear understanding of what the right
thing is to do," he said.
An
expert on the Middle East, Barnett said both sides probably
won't be able to decide how to achieve peace unless the United
States and other countries take a more active role in the conflict.
"My
personal opinion is you're going to have to have an imposed
settlement," he said. "Because the parties aren't
going to be able to do it themselves."
