If you were in a position of power, a strong International leader, what would you want the Arabs and Israelis to do to find a lasting peace? What would you expect to happen? Explain why you would choose your course of action and how you would expect each to respond.
- Robert Dallin
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Bob -
If I were in a position of international leadership, I'd try and rectify the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors by organizing a joint meeting between leaders at a neutral site.

There we'd begin the process with a short speech by some ethnic person emphasizing common ground between cultures: shared history, both peoples' debt to the prophet Abraham, that sort of thing.

Then I'd propose that Israel no longer receive any kind of military or economic aid from the US and its allies, that it turn over the West Bank and other contested territories to the Arabs, and that it discontinue the manufacture and testing of nuclear weapons.

For its part, I'd propose that Arab states formally recognize Israel’s right to exist as a free and independent republic, that it discontinue any acts of aggression toward its neighbors, and that it officially declare sacred sites shared by Islam, Christianity and/or Judaism joint places of worship open to all religions equally.
Lastly, I'd seek a unanimous decree making aggression by either party an affront to international law, punishable by exile to the Australian outback.

History shows that the conflict between Muslims, Jews and Christians is a cycle of victory, defeat and mutual mistrust. Though each of my proposals would no doubt meet with intense opposition, it's my belief that only by enforcing non-violent, unilateral diplomacy might we finally succeed in undoing much of the damage that capitalist interests have wrought upon the region in years past.
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Interesting thoughts, but why exile to Australia? What did they do to deserve such a headache?
- David Mothkovich
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Dave -
Australia is an island continent with a sparsely-inhabited desert interior that's largely inhospitable to human life. Seeing as the Arabs and Israelis are historically acclimated to such an arid terrain, I'd think they should be able to adapt fairly well. I'd hope the aboriginal folk who currently inhabit the region would be able to keep them more or less in line, perhaps even teaching them that there are other, less aggressive ways of coexistening with fellow creatures. If all else fails, I hear the natives chuck one hell of a boomerang.

Australia's been a penal colony for years; its caucasian population's propensity for big trucks, middling beer, funny hats and queer dialect(spoken in an obnoxious accent, no less) strikes me as decidedly reminiscent of the Southern US peckerwood culture with which I have become so familiar, making the continent ideally suited for sustaining those among us who remain incapable of residing peacefully in modern society.

'Course, if I ever really was to get elected to anything, nine to one this fucker's assassinated soon as I outlaw boxing.