An Honourable Middle East Peace Proposal

Currently the Old City "the real Jerusalem" has an Arab population of 32,635 and a Jewish population of 3,942.

I propose purchasing all land and buildings in the city, and making it an international historic site to be managed by UNESCO charged with preserving and protecting the site.

The site is a mere 0.35 square miles (244 acres). Even purchased at 10 million an acre it would cost less than $2.25 billion. The Palestinians and Israelis could each claim the Old City as their capital, but the actual government of their countries would have to be administered outside of the UNESCO site. The city surrounding the site would be divided between Israel and Palestine and renamed to something other than Jerusalem. I suggest East City and West City respectively, keeping proper nouns and their unfortunate connotations out of the argument completely.

Let it be an international site of worship and peace maintained in a respectful manner by historians archaeologists and researchers in cooperation with an small international guard presence.

Surely if God returns he would be pleased to see everyone cooperating.

In cooperation with the declaration of a Palestinian state, and with reparations and an apology in lieu of a right of return to Israel proper, this would resolve the most contentious issues allowing the Palestinians and Israelis to live in a just and fair peace together preserving the honour of both.