Citizens Proposal for a Border between Israel and Palestine
  • Home
    • Page 2
  • About
  • General Issues
    • Access
    • Culture and Identity
    • Land Transfer
    • Right of Return
    • Gaza
    • Security
    • Jerusalem
    • Other Areas of Joint Administration
    • Jewish Settlers: Those Who Return and Those Who Remain within Palestine
    • Arab Communities within Israel
    • Legal Protections, Human Rights and the International Community
  • Maps
    • Overview Map
    • Northern West Bank
    • North Jerusalem
    • Jerusalem -- Eastern Areas of Focus
    • Ma’ale Adumim, E-1 and Access
    • South Jerusalem
    • Southern West Bank
    • Gaza and its Future Development
    • Conclusion
  • Position Statements
    • 2011 >
      • Har Homa C
      • Giv’at Hamatos
      • The Question of Recognizing Israel as a Jewish State
      • Let Us Prepare for Two States
      • Can Palestinians Recognize Israel’s “Jewish Character”?
      • Next Steps: Negotiating an Initial Border
      • Etzion Bloc Expansion: Israeli Overreaching
      • Israel’s Tussle with Europe
    • 2012 >
      • Time to Negotiate the Northern and Southern Sectors of the Israeli-West Bank Border
      • President Peres and Dr. Ashrawi: Thank You for Staying on Track
      • Playing the Victim Card Will Not Bring Peace
      • Negotiations By the Parties
      • The World Should Help the Palestinian Hunger Striker
      • ...and only afterwards move to discuss the topic of Jerusalem
      • A Question of Accountability
      • Israel Twisting in the Wind
      • Netanyahu: Too Big for His Britches
      • Netanyahu's "Israeli Comfort"
      • How Shaul Mofaz Can Jump-Start the Peace Process
      • Netanyahu on the Brink
      • Time for Taking Stock
      • Israel in Wonderland
      • Whatever Happened to the Quartet?
      • The Palestinians Want to Negotiate
      • A Time for Hope and a Call for Restraint
      • Israel Can Win in Gaza, But Not Now
      • Congratulations to the New State of Palestine!
      • Security and Borders: Both Required for Peace
    • 2013 >
      • It Is Up to Israel to Restart Peace Negotiations
      • Israel and Palestine: Changing the Terms of Agreement
      • The Knesset Bill to Increase the Number of Women that Elect the Chief Rabbis Is Important for Jewish Women
      • Proposal on Governance of the Holy Basin
      • Time for Netanyahu to Reach Across the Aisle
      • Tzipi Livni's Challenge
      • Women Should Be Free to Pray at the Wailing Wall
      • Proposed Highway through the Jordan Valley Will Backfire on Israel
    • 2014 >
      • Secretary Kerry, Please Beware of Israel’s Stalling Tactics
      • A Proposal on the Issue of Palestinian Recognition of Israel as a Jewish State
      • Proposed “Jewish State” Law a Threat to Israel’s Democracy
      • Journaling: Hope and Despair - Seven Weeks In
      • Netanyahu's War
    • 2015 >
      • We Should Applaud Herzog and Livni for Reclaiming Zionism
      • The Next Israeli Government
      • West Bank Citizenry and Receipt of Individuals of Palestinian Origin
      • What Next for Israel?
      • Palestinian statehood
      • Mischief in the Trade Legislation would Hinder Progress
      • What Next for America?
      • Could American Firms Choose to Gradually Disinvest from Israel?
      • Boycotting Israel is not anti-Semitism
    • 2016 >
      • Isaac Herzog's Diplomatic Initiative: Can This Detour Be Reframed Into a Road to Two States?
      • The Choice of Friedman as Envoy to Israel Is a Challenge to the Soul of American Judaism
      • America’s Abstention at the UN: Well Played!
      • Lapid: A New Leader for Israel?
    • 2017 >
      • Outcomes of SC Resolution 2334
      • Release the Tapes of the Noni Affair
      • Yair Lapid: A Strong Leader for a Secure Israel
      • Bill to Annex E-1: A Knife in the Heart of the Two-State Solution
      • Thus Endeth the Jewish State
      • CP Suspending Operation
    • 2019 >
      • Return to Two States
      • ​Benny Gantz Can Do Better than Pander to the Settlers
      • The Joint List Should Join the Government
    • 2020 >
      • Israel's Moment of Opportunity
      • Trump’s Unfair Middle East Plan Leaves Nothing to Negotiate
  • Resources
  • About the Authors

A New Perspective on the Problem of Borders 

The Citizens Proposal brings in a new perspective, which some might call feminine, to the problem of borders. Instead of conceiving of drawing borders in terms of political contests and struggles over ownership, it emphasizes parameters that make for a peaceful and prosperous life for the people on both sides of the border. They include concern for people’s living environment, attention to process, and the expectation of future economic and political development. Some of the principles used in drafting this proposal include:
  1. Viewing Palestinians and Israelis as equally deserving of respect and consideration, while also recognizing their different cultural and historical outlooks;
  2. Balancing the need to minimize the number of people who might be dislocated from their homes with the need for territorial contiguity and a border that causes minimal interference in people’s daily lives;
  3. Creating and maintaining road links that permit speedy and unobstructed travel between major cities and diminishing the need for lengthy detours to travel between nearby villages; 
  4. Removing obstacles to the growth of urban areas, anticipating that cities such as Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Qalqiliya will expand;
  5. Setting up joint administration of sensitive areas, to balance the claims of national sovereignty with the need to assure the rights and well-being of citizens of the opposite country who live in or who travel through them;
  6. Anticipating protections for the legal rights for settlers who choose to remain a Jewish minority within Palestine and expecting that they will strive to be good neighbors; and that the Arab minority within Israel will receive better services and support;
  7. Providing for management of border crossings to encourage the smooth and voluminous flow of people and goods between Israel and Palestine, particularly at the border between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, which this proposal has designated the “women’s border”;
  8. Encouraging magnanimity and humility to assuage the resentment and pain manifest in such demands as the Right of Return; and
  9. Providing opportunities for Israelis and Palestinians to pursue joint ventures for trade, industry and agriculture, to build stronger links between the two nations.
Access

Culture and Identity

Land Transfer

Right of Return

Gaza

Security

Jerusalem

Other Areas of Joint Administration

Jewish Settlers: Those Who Return and Those Who Remain within Palestine

Arab Communities within Israel

Legal Protections, Human Rights and the International Community

Conclusion 

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