[Chewbaccus]

Those that have said American disentanglement from Israel won't work have it right. Jews form one of the core voter blocks of the Democratic party, as do the Christian Right (and their ties to the Holy Land) with Republicans. The chances of our cutting Israel off are actually slightly less than having a third-party President.

Okay, I've spent about a half hour staring at this map of Israel, I think I have (at least the rough outlines of) a plan. Poke holes where you can, global problem-solving is an evolutionary process.

First of all, we need to eliminate the friction area - the West Bank. To start with, I propose relocating everyone out of the area - Israeli and Palestinian alike - and place the land tract under the jurisdiction of a UN peacekeeper force. Essentially make it neutral territory. Should either side attempt to encroach, it will be held against them later on. Jerusalem would remain Israeli, but under the auspices of a similar UN force.

Next, we need to give the PLO land that they can call their own: after looking at the map, the best possible stretch I can determine is this: Start at a point on the eastern border, just south of midway between the Dead Sea and that lake to the south of it - say 10-50 miles. From that point, draw a line southeast that skirts the northwest coast of the lake. Continue the line until you reach the 31st parallel. When there, run along the parallel west until you hit the Sinai. Everything inside Israel's borders and south of that line becomes Palestine - essentially, it's the Negev desert, with access to a water source. Run a similar line maintaining the 10-50 mile distance I mentioned earlier, but north of the new border. This space becomes a buffer, controlled by the UN, for a period of however long is necessary.

Okay, now the problems. Here's what I see thus far:

1) I know Jerusalem is the declared capital of Israel, however, most of the world maintains their embassies in Tel Aviv. Is this an instance of de facto / de jure capitals, or are the Israelis seriously entrenched in Jerusalem?

2) The land grant is a huge concession, which means Israel would have to get something serious in return. I'm thinking the handover of the top x number of leaders from Hamas, IJ, and AAMB, with the PLO's assurance of no terror attacks for x number of years. The treaty clearly states that one infraction will result in a hard-line retaliation by Israel, however they see fit. Has to be that language. They want to send in every man, woman, child, tank, and fighter plane - fair enough. They want backup assistance from the UN - fair enough. They want to use nukes...negotiable.

It was stated that it's a cultural thing "Hey, we've bombed them and gotten this much, now let's kick it up a notch.", but I have to think that the public leaders of the PLO will recognize that they are being handed an honest-to-God victory here and will seize it with both hands.

3) The PLO may bitch about not having a direct land access to the Mediterranean coast and, through that, the Suez. This may be difficult, and can be revisited. It's 2 AM, and I'm not at my most miraculous this late in the day.

Okay guys, Tha Troubashoota needs him some sleeps. See you tomorrow...today...Kwanzaa...whatever it is now.