Proposed Solution For Middle East Peace: Instead Of Land Swap--How About A "Population Swap"?

I am willing to accept the presence of a third-party [force] that will [serve in a] supervisory [capacity] after the reaching of a solution – for example a NATO [force]. [But] I will not agree to the NATO force including Jews, and I will not accept even a single Israeli living in our midst, in the PA territories.
Abbas, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), Al-Quds (Jerusalem), July 30, 2010--translated by MEMRI

Arab News.com reports on a potential solution to break the current deadlock in the Mideast peace talks--allowing Jews to live in Palestinian state under Palestinian rule

It has become an article of faith in the Israeli-Palestinian equation: Israel’s withdrawal from occupied lands must be accompanied by a removal of Jewish settlers.

But perhaps there’s another option.

Although it’s hardly mainstream thinking, voices on both sides are quietly contemplating an alternative: Perhaps some Jews can live in a future Palestine, even if only in small numbers, the way Arabs live in Israel.


That would reduce Israel’s challenge, perhaps avoiding possible violent settler resistance. It would also absolve the Palestinians of an uncomfortable charge sometimes leveled at them using a Nazi term — that they want a state that is “judenrein,” or “free of Jews.”

By “allowing those Israelis who always claim to love the land more than the state to live out their dreams ... you have the chance to defang one of the most difficult issues (among many) and set a solid foundation for a just, robust, free and democratic Palestine,” said Akram Baker, an independent Palestinian analyst.

The problem, of course, is that most settlers have no desire to live under Palestinian rule — and in fact moved to the West Bank to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. Others are radicals who could well prove problem citizens.

Among the reactions to the idea:

• Rabbi Menachem Froman of the West Bank settlement of Tekoa: the idea of leaving settlers in a future Palestine resonates “very weakly” among Israeli politicians.
  
  
• Dani Dayan, chairman of the settler umbrella group Yesha Council: it a “preposterous, insane idea” that would endanger Israeli citizens.
  
  
• Yossi Beilin, a former Israeli peace negotiator: Settlers rejected the notion outright when he and Abbas discussed the idea in 1995. Beilin claims that he hears the idea brought up more often in settler circles.
  
  
• US-based Palestinian commentator Ray Hanania: “I think the trade-off is that Israel take some refugees back as part of an effort to end the conflict and to establish confidence-building.”

Read the whole thing.

There is no mention of a response to the idea from Abbas, who as quoted above has stated that he wants a Palestinian state that is completely free from an Israeli presence.

As for Hanania's comment, by now we have already seen that the phrase "confidence-building measures" covers a multitude of sins.

By the same token, if Abbas would accept a number of Israelis in the West Bank equal to the number of Arabs allowed into Israel--that could be interesting.

Technorati Tag: Mideast Peace Talks.