The Foreign Service Journal, December 2006

be palatable if presented as a project to provide housing for Palestinian refugees returning to a new Palestinian state rather than to their former homes in Israel. A Just, Permanent Peace The compromise offered in the Arab Peace Initiative is not designed simply to “appease” the Arabs or Muslims in general. Rather, it provides the only means of ensur- ing the near- and long-term security of Israel as a normal, legitimate state in the Middle East. It would also help restore the standing of the United States as an agent of peace rather than of conflict in the world. These results cannot be achieved by legitimizing Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights and the incorporation into Israel of still more Palestinian land in the West Bank now occupied by hun- dreds of thousands of Israeli settlers. A return to the 1967 borders is the sine qua non of any comprehensive solution. But the most difficult element to resolve is no doubt the status of Jerusalem. Israel claims it all, even expand- ed far beyond its previous boundaries, as its sole and eter- nal capital. Is this just? Is it fair to the adherents of three great religions with indisputable ties to the city that only one of them have it all? Would it harm anyone’s faith to share it with others of a different faith? The city has had a long history marked by struggles over its possession. So would it not cement a general peace in the area to end the struggle and make it truly a city of peace, to be shared by all who hold it dear? Is there any rational reason why Jerusalem could not be the shared capital of two states living in peace with each other? It is essential that any comprehensive peace agree- ment designate at least some part of Jerusalem as territo- ry to serve as a capital city for the Muslims and Christians of Palestine. Such a gesture would enlist adherents of those two religions all over the world as strong support- ers of a just, permanent peace, increasing the chances it will take root and endure. F O C U S D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 51