AND NOW -FULL SPEED AHEAD

The withdrawal from Gaza has created a great opportunity, but also a great danger.

A GREAT DANGER :

If the peace process will be frozen, for whatever reason, another intifada will break out within months. Both Gaza and the West Bank will become bloody battlefields.

A GREAT OPPORTUNITY :

If we adopt at once a bold plan and move quickly to carry it out, we can achieve within a year a peace settlement and a normal life.

GAZA FIRST :

 The remnants of the occupation of the Gaza Strip must be removed at once.
 The Safe Passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank must be opened.
 The Palestinians must be enabled to build Gaza harbor and reopen the Gaza airport.
 The border passage between Gaza and Egypt must be opened.
 If both sided agree, international observers might be asked to oversee the border crossings, to make sure the no arms will be smuggled into the Gaza Strip.

AT THE SAME TIME, IN THE WEST BANK :

 The « outposts » that were established since 2000 must be removed, the same way as Homesh and Sanur.
 The building of the wall and the enlargement of the settlements must be completely stopped.
 The roadblocks that turn life of the Palestinians in West Bank into hell must be removed.
 Palestinian prisoners must be released.

START NEGOTIATIONS :

 Negotiations with the Palestinian leadership for a permanent peace agreement should start immediately, with the prior understanding that within a reasonable time the occupation will come to an end and the State of Palestine will come into being.

THE PEACE AGREEMENT WILL INCLUDE :

 The Green Line will be the border between Israel and Palestine. Exchanges of territories may be agreed upon.
 All settlements in the Palestinian territory will be evacuated.
 Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel and Palestine, according to the Clinton formula ("What is Arab will go to Palestine, what is Jewish will go to Israel".)
 The refugee problem will be solved in agreement with Israel.

We have proved that the settlements can be dismantled. The Palestinians have proved that they can keep the peace. The great majority of the two peoples want peace. The momentum of the withdrawal from Gaza must be kept up.

THERE IS A HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY. LET’S NOT MISS IT AGAIN !

GUSH SHALOM

Special big ad, published in Haaretz, August 26, 2005