The problem of Palestine / Israel has been going on for seventy-six years without any progress toward a final and definite peace despite the Oslo Accords and the efforts made by both sides of the conflict. Yet, the children of Abraham are still fighting for a piece of land that is precious and holy to both. Even if it looks like it the conflict is neither religious nor ethnic. It is not a war between Jews and Arabs or Jews and Muslims nor it is a holy war. Not all Israelis are Zionists and not all Palestinians are Muslims. The media always omits the fact that Christian Palestinians have been living in the holy land for centuries. 

Before 1948, many Arab Jews were living in Palestine and considered the land as their home as well as the Muslim and Christian Arabs who were living there for centuries. The coexistence between Jews and Arabs was most of the time peaceful and Jerusalem was the land of the three religions. When the Crusaders occupied Jerusalem, they killed Jews, Muslims, and maybe even Christians while massacring civilians dressed the same, sharing the same culture, and speaking the same language.

When Muslims took over Palestine and Jerusalem, Salah Eddine (Saladin) spared the lives of the Christians living in the holy city and allowed the Jews who fled the city because of the Crusaders to come back. Churches, mosques, and synagogues were open, and coexistence was back to where it was. To avoid the conflict between the different Christian denominations the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher were given to a Muslim family who still has those keys to open and close the church for generations. When Omar visited Jerusalem in the seventh century, he was welcomed by the patriarch and prayed in the ruins of the temple holy to Muslims and cited in the Quran as the Holy House, blessed by God.

The Jews fled a barbarian genocide in Europe looking for a place to build a nation and it happened to be the land that was the kingdom of David and the land given by God to Abraham and his descendants.  We also omit to remember that the offspring of Abraham includes Ishmael and his descendants who are today’s Arabs melted since the time of Ishmael with the population of Arabia. Israelis and Palestinians are cousins, who look alike and share not only the same origins but also the same culture. The extremists on both sides want war because without bloodshed they cease to exist.

If the people of peace had their way and some power in their hands, they would cease the war. There will be no more killing of civilians no matter what their religion or ethnicity. Killing is wrong and war is wrong. As for the land sharing it equally would be a good solution, in a way that both sides of the conflict have the same amount of land (50/50), both a border with the Jordan River, the Mediterranean Sea, and the desert.

Regarding the holy city of Jerusalem and the holy sites like Hebron/ Al Khalil ( the tombs of the prophets), Bethlehem and all the places of worship. It would be independent like the Vatican City with the authority given to a clergy including Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious authorities to oversee the city and the holy shrines.

The shrines should be open to the three religions and all visitors. No house of God would be closed, but open for all members of the human family. The two states will coexist in peace and no babies will be killed and no mothers will be crying. It is not a dream, it is a reality easy to put to life with the love of God and the love of peace.