A Proposal Facilitating Middle East Peace By James Edward Lansberry

A Proposal Facilitating Middle East Peace

By James Edward Lansberry

Al-Jazeerah, December 23, 2004

Editorial Note:

Al-Jazeerah publishes the following proposal as an idea that may be used to facilitate a peace agreement. It addresses a specific area, which is how to expand Palestinian and Israeli lands towards the Mediterranean Sea. But it is limited to the this issue only. It is by no means a proposal that addresses other aspects of the conflict.

Finding a solution to the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is a very difficult challenge. The simplest way to bring both sides to the table is to offer the Palestinians and the Israelis each a way to create a more beneficial state. This could most easily be accomplished with the financial and political cooperation of many other countries, and the support of their peoples. Without the commitment of the international community to an acceptable peace treaty, it could be several hundred years before that area of the Middle East is able to effect a lasting peace. It might be possible to create a peace treaty within one year if all of the following countries could be induced to participate in the following proposal : Israel, Palestine, The United States, Russia, China, France, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt ,Sudan, Eritrea, Jordan, and Lebanon. The support of the European Union would also be very valuable financially and politically. It would be best if the electorate of these countries voted to indicate their support of the plan before participation was promised. That would establish the project on a firm and sustainable basis.

An acceptable dividing line between the Israeli and Palestinian lands (comprised of the West Bank and Gaza) was proposed by Saudi Arabia to be the border established by Israel as a consequence of the 1967 war. This boundary could be abolished if sufficient additional land were created in order to be partitioned between the two.

The biggest impediment to peace for the Palestinians is that the lands of the West Bank and Gaza Strip include only 22% of the Palestinian population; this means that 78% of the Palestinians don’t have a true home. They are scattered throughout various countries, many in refugee camps. I propose to give all of the Palestinians the opportunity to return to a Palestinian State in the following manner:

All of the Palestinians throughout the world and all Israeli Jews in the affected area are to vote on the proposed peace plan. If more than 50% approve, then a poll is to be taken among the countries invited to make financial contributions, to determine the extent of their participation.

The General Assembly of the United Nations is to draw up a resolution allowing for the reclamation of parts of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, in order to expand both the land and sea boundaries of Palestine. This newly created land is to be divided between Israel and the Palestinian people. The total land area created must be sufficient to accommodate all the people who indicate a desire to live on it. All Palestinians who so choose will be guaranteed the right to return to areas under Palestinian control. If residences are available for them and they decide not to exercise this option, they will forfeit this right.

The land for the program can reclaimed in the following manner:

Create a checklist for each step to track the project and the estimated cost and set aside an extra 50% for cost over runs due to unforeseen problems.

Have an agreement among all parties concerned as to what land is going to be reclaimed in both the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Both these seas have parts that are very deep. Obviously the project needs to be built mostly in shallow waters. Thirty-foot wide roads will be constructed as barriers around the land to be reclaimed. These will need to be reinforced in such a way that materials used will keep the water from being able to breach the perimeter due to storms or terrorist incidents.

Check with environmentalists to reduce damage to marine life. This will probably be one of the major hurdles to completing the project.

The general idea for the reclamation of the desired land area is as follows: the water in the affected areas is slowly displaced using several large latex sheets which are deployed one at a time and held in position by ships at their perimeters. These are filled with sufficient sand to cause the latex to sink very slowly, where they will conform to the existing contours of the sea bottom. After they are positioned correctly, they are filled out with air, then coated with a thickener and allowed to dry. Then the newly formed pits, when filled in, become the perimeter protecting the reclaimed land. An elaboration of this process follows:

Make sure that the exact contours of the sea floor are accurately measured so that the information can be sent to the manufacture of the latex/balloons used as a mold to start the foundation for each of the structures. The project will require two ships with very large efficient air compressors on them that can set their anchors at predetermined spots (these anchors will probably need to be larger than the anchors for most ships). Many barges and tug boats will be needed to carry the dirt and the gravel. The completed structure could look like a road pier that encloses whatever land area that was decided to be reclaimed from the Rea Sea and from the Mediterranean Sea independently. It will need to be thick enough and high enough to keep any water from getting through to the areas reclaimed. The project can be accomplished by using several ships to stretch a plastic/balloon type latex Shaped closely to the contour of the area having a wide base rising to a top thirty-foot wide segment and the length of the latex can also be determined by careful measurements of the seas contours. The length could be up to several blocks long (length should be determined primarily by the total cost, weight, and maneuverability of each segment). Weigh down the latex sheets after they are spread out by the ships with sufficient sand to cause the latex to fall to the sea very slowly. The latex should be very close to the middle of the area to be covered over. Then put air into the balloon slowly while divers make sure the balloon structure is formed correctly on the sea floor. Once the contours are correct, fill the rest of the balloon structure with air. Coat the structure with several feet of thickener and let the mold dry. Then coat the floor with a small layer of gravel and then add sand and gravel etc. until you are at least 10 feet above the sea. Build as many of these structures as necessary to encompass all the sides of the area needed for reclamation. If the coast line of the country is used, obviously one side of the enclosure would already be completed. Drain all water from the area to be reclaimed unless there is a specific reason for not doing so. Reinforce the side of areas where fresh water lakes could retain water to be used close to the ocean to prevent contamination. By keeping lakes close to the edges they will probably already be near the deepest areas and keep digging to a minimum. Remove excess salt from almost all areas of the new land before allowing any rain water to fill any newly created lakes. The Red Sea is very salty and you don’t want fresh water to mix with salt water. These fresh water reservoirs can be built cheaply. Those lakes could be stocked with fish etc. The mold could even be expanded to cover parts of the lakes to decrease water evaporation. Reinforce the reservoir structures to make sure that the top of the structure is higher than the rest of the Red Sea or Mediterranean Sea, and then get extra dirt from various locations to be placed on the sides to expand other areas of the perimeter as needed. Build the contours of the land, so that the highest areas of the man-made lakes can allow the lakes to properly drain into the sea, decreasing the chance of flooding. Once the large construction project is complete the elevation of the reclaimed land could rise by accepting garbage from nearby countries to fill in many potential landfills in the newly built area. Man-made streams will have to be built to decrease flooding. Grass and other vegetation will need to be planted to keep dust down and prevent soil erosion. Donated grass and weeds could be used to improve the soil for growing crops. Towing garbage to the new lands is relatively inexpensive by barge and tug boats. Perhaps some of the garbage could be donated by Egypt to keep its landfills from filling up quicker. The project managers could request that people donate garbage to fill up the landfills from many countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea creating more, higher, and a more stabile land over time. Create plaques in various locations to thank all of the people for their donations. Make sure these plaques are visible through advertising and continue building several monuments to all the people for their contributions on this huge project.

Landfills produce methane gas that could be used as an energy source. These gas deposits should not be allowed to build up to dangerous levels. The energy could be used by building small generating stations for local communities. Careful planning would be required to run gas lines on any areas that have been reclaimed by landfill because of an increased chance for the gas lines to rupture, especially during earthquakes or avalanches. Follow all safety precautions.

The cost of the project could be paid for in many ways. Here are some examples:

Offer countries that sponsor the project the right to build themselves a military base between five sq. miles and fifteen sq. miles in area to be occupied by them in perpetuity in each of the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

Invite interested companies to build numerous hotel/resort /casinos near the coast and use the profits to expand the reclamation effort. Quite a few American Indian tribes raise millions of dollars annually through casinos. This allows many members to receive checks every year from their tribes, and various of their medical and other expenses are covered by the casinos as well. Casinos by themselves would only allow the project to expand slowly. As more projects were completed the expansion should continue to gain steam. Even if the casinos weren’t making a lot of money, the increase in jobs should improve the local economy, and wages for the casino jobs would be higher than for most jobs. Many tourism projects could be created on reclaimed land.

Set up Internet and telephone sites to solicit money for specific projects, to raise money around the world, and to encourage tourism and make the whole world a part of the project. Follow rules and regulations of each country regarding telephone solicitations.

Make advertising space available on billboards and sell it to raise money for the projects. Also use billboards to attract tourists interested in seeing the largest construction project since the building of the Great Wall. Tourists will be visiting the area for hundreds of years in the future. Make them feel welcome.

Set up training centers so that most of the workers for the project will be the Palestinians themselves. This will greatly reduce the expense of the work force. A properly trained work force will have a much higher standard of living.

Establish apprenticeship programs for workers who don’t have any skills so that they might become skilled workers and earn higher salaries.

The Netherlands has an average elevation of only 37 ft. above sea level. The country is protected from the ravages of the Atlantic Ocean by a series of dikes. Many hundreds of square miles of land in the Netherlands are below sea level. The draining of the areas around Zuider Zee has allowed more land to be reclaimed. If all of the above projects were completed the land reclaimed could exceed 3,000 sq. kilometers (2,000 sq. miles).That much territory is sufficient for several million people to live productively. The Netherlands has 3,500 miles of canals. This is a valuable transportation network and might be adapted for improved efficiency in the reclaimed areas, with one or more of the Palestinian cities perhaps being similar to Venice.

Money spent by governments to build roads and to improve water and electrical services should be recovered quickly because of the improved productivity of the country. A total of 10 new large electrical generating stations will need to be built. Then factories and foundries can be built to produce many of the items needed for the project. By this time Palestinians should have close to 100,000 workers on the project. The project will continue to expand from there…

Parallel projects:

Use dirt from the Rea Sea, The Dead Sea, and possibly from digging a large canal close to the Jordanian/Israeli border as extra fill-in to reclaim more land. This could create a port in the West Bank and could be very beneficial to Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank. It might even make parts of the region a little cooler.

Many countries have large populations in relation to the amount of land area they have and yet they are still able to provide for their people. As part of the process several factories need to be built in the areas reclaimed from the nearby water and many buildings erected to house all of the new inhabitants.

Require each member of the Palestinian police and the Palestinian military to complete a rigorous one-year training course as soon as possible. They should complete their entire training regimen before being assigned duties on the reclamation project if possible.

James Edward Lansberry, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He spent thirteen years in the US Navy.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

Apartheid Wall


The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03).

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