separation of church and state

[cabcxx]

is a necessary step to peace. The jews have done this, many arab nations have not.

UN prop 242 was approved by every nation on this planet, and
then was vetoed by the US .. Colin Powell said on PBS [Dec.01]that USA will NOT veto it again.

Prop 242 more or less requires the 1967 borders to be honored.
gaza [etc] will be returned to the palestinians.

the biggest problem is what to do with Jerusalem itself.
perhaps the example of WashDC is the answer.
In the 1700's Maryland and Virginia decided to 'make a gift'
of this land for the new govt.

Now, DC is NOT a state .. it is NOT owned by any individual ..
it is not run by any religion..yes.. it is a mess and a joke, but
it works peacefully.

I am appalled by some of the posts in this forum .. so many
negative feelings .. can no one envision peace in this region?
has 2 generations of violence wiped out a vision for the future?

In the 1700's NO ONE could see a future with the black man
as equal. Some might say:

'WHAT !! a black congressman !! they'll be WAR to prevent THAT
from happening !!'

Thomas Jefferson compared it to holding a wolf by the ears:

" you didn't like it .. but you didn't DARE let it go either "

100 years after 'letting it go' the future seems to have worked
out for the better.. [not perfect mind you]

Can any of you out there see a bright new future for the region?

[NewsGuy]

Originally posted by cabcxx
Can any of you out there see a bright new future for the region?

First of all, welcome. It's especially nice to see you here, considering where you are coming from. :)

As for your comments about Jerusalem, you may recall that Israel has offered several peace plans where there was cooperation and a division of control over Jerusalem, with shared ownership between Israel and the Palestinians. For example, the Palestinians were offered control over the Arab part of the old city, control over the mosque and also governmental offices in Abu Dis, which is part of Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem issue was pretty much settled in the Camp David meetings, but Arafat rejected the overall peace offer and turned to terrorism again. The main problem with the peace offer that Barak offered was that it did not include the complete demise of Israel, and so the plan fell below the minimum requirements of the Palestinians.

As for a bright future, there can certainly be one. To achieve this future, all that is needed is a state of non-war, not even full peace, although full peace would be preferable. This way, the Israelis and Palestinians could stop wasting precious financial resources on the war between then, and they can get back to investing in their futures.

All that Sharon asked for is 7 days of non-terrorism and then he would be willing to gradually hand over more land to the Palestinians and resume peace negotiations resulting in an independent Palestinian state.

But it seems like asking the Palestinians to stop terrorism againt Israelis even for 7 days is too much to ask, and so the war goes on, and a bright future is delayed indefinitely.