Questions to World Leaders
Publication date: 2002-05-10

Text of the WCJ Questionnaire on Resolution of the ME Conflict Sent to Bush and Blair

Below is the text of the covering letter and the questionnaire that have been sent on 10 May 2002 by the World Court of Justice to G.W. Bush (US President) and T.Blair (UK Prime Minister), as persons who could be instrumental in resolving the Middle East conflict:

“In spite of months of on-going violence and preoccupation of heads of states and international organizations with the issues of the Middle East, there is still no solution in sight.The reason for this is that the methods tried so far have been ‘political’.

The essence of the “political” method is that those, who could have been instrumental in resolving the conflict, take sides, allow themselves to be influenced by the emotional reactions to the current events of the public in their countries, react to the influence of various pressure groups and are guided by various 'political' considerations, which have nothing to do with the dispute itself.

Because such approach is incapable of yielding a workable solution to the conflict, we propose a different approach.

We propose to resolve the conflict by understanding the main causes of the conflict and finding a practically workable way of eliminating these causes.

The main cause of the Middle East conflict is the belief of the Palestinians that they have suffered an injustice at the hands of the Israelis. Because they see no practical possibility of achieving justice by any peaceful means, and because they do not have at their disposal of sufficient ‘military might’, which they could use to further their cause, they resort to acts of violence against the Israelis, which they see as the only means available to them.

The Israelis, on their part, react to acts of violence by the Palestinians against their citizens by retaliative military strikes, causing destruction of people and property on the Palestinian side. They hope to put an end to the Palestinian hostilities in that way. But the destruction of people and property by them only strengthens the feeling of injustice among the Palestinians and leads to further acts of hostility from their side, and the vicious cycle continues.

Thus, if the cause of violence is removed the conflict would be resolved.

To remove the cause of the conflict it is necessary either to prove to the Palestinians that they have not suffered any injustice, and their feelings of injustice are not justified, or, if they did suffer the injustice as they claim, to show to them that there exist practically workable peaceful means of redressing their injustice and they should use these peaceful means, or, if no such means exist at present, to create such peaceful means and to redress that injustice by these peaceful means.

Enclosed with this letter is a table containing the three issues, which the Palestinians see as injustice inflicted upon them by the Israelis.

As a person, who can be instrumental in resolving the Middle East conflict, you are invited to comment on these issues.

You can either state that the facts underling the issue are false and state your reasons for that belief, or, if you believe that the facts are true, select the action that you suggest should be implemented to deal with the issue, and, if this action is to resolve the dispute, describe the solution you propose.

Your views will be communicated to other persons who can be instrumental in resolving the conflict and published for public scrutiny.

Mr. Jack Straw, the British Foreign Secretary, said (2002–05–08) that any planned Middle East conference must be meticulously prepared and assured of success, a conference that fell apart would be a disaster for the region.

Clarity of understanding of the issues is essential for the success of that or any other conference. Your comments will help to establish that clarity of understanding. Failure to provide clear and honest comments will be seen as an indication that you are not interested in resolving the Middle East conflict, but are seeking to exploit it for political ends.”
The Issues in the Middle East Conflict
No.IssueConsequencesJust Solution
(if true)
True/False
(Give reason if false)
Proposed ActionProposed Solution
1Expulsion of Palestinian Arabs in 1948 from their houses in the pre‐1967 Israel.The expelled Arabs tried to return to their houses and a number of military style organisations have been fighting for that cause. This has been the primary cause of the Arab hostility towards Israel, and is one of the causes of Palestinian “terrorism” up to now.Although some Palestinians see the only possible just solution in destruction of the State of Israel, it is possible to resolve this issue by payment to the victims (or their successors in title) of a just monetary compensation. This will make it possible to preserve the State of Israel within its pre‐1967 borders, as suggested by the Saudi Peace Plan. true
false
ignore the issue
keep talking about it without resolving it
try to resolve the issue by imposing a compromise
resolve the issue on the basis of justice
 
2Occupation by the Israelis of additional Palestinian territories from 1967 onwards. The occupation consists of military presence and Jewish civilian settlements.This has been the second cause of the Arab hostility towards Israel, and is one of the causes of Palestinian “terrorism”.The Palestinians see the just solution in total withdrawal of any Israeli presence from post‐1967 territories, as suggested by the Saudi Peace Plan. true
false
ignore the issue
keep talking about it without resolving it
try to resolve the issue by imposing a compromise
resolve the issue on the basis of justice
 
3The present Israeli incursion into the Palestinian territories has resulted in a massive (as relative to the size of the country) destruction of people and property. The Israeli acknowledge that there have been destruction of civilians (including women and children), although they justify it by military necessity.This is the third cause of the Arab hostility towards Israel, and is one of the causes of Palestinian “terrorism”.The just solution in this case would be payment of compensation for the damage caused. true
false
ignore the issue
keep talking about it without resolving it
try to resolve the issue by imposing a compromise
resolve the issue on the basis of justice
 
Name:
Country:
Capacity:
 

Note: The above form is a copy of a printed from that was faxed to G.W. Bush and posted by First Class mail to T. Blair on the 10th of May 2002. This form is not for use by the site visitors and will not be processed in any way. If, however, you happen to be a person who can be instrumental in resolving the Middle East conflict, you can fill it in and email to info@worldjustice.org .


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