The Key to Peace is Rent

http://www.progress.org/2003/fold307.htm

by Fred E. Foldvary, Senior Editor

Rent! The final economic frontier.

The key to a lasting peace between the Jewish Israelis and
the Arab Palestinians is the payment of rent for land. Palestinians and
Israelis fight and kill for land, yet paying rent for land remains an unknown concept.
This illustrates the importance of understanding basic economics.

Everybody knows that rent exists, yet it does not dawn on
the peace seekers that the solution to the land problem is turning the conflict
over land into a market in land, where those who want land pay for it as rent.

Israeli troops and tanks have now withdrawn from northern Gaza. Hamas, Islamic
Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade have declared a cease fire with
conditions. They want the government of Israel to stop its targeted killing
of terrorist leaders.

One problem is that minor militant groups, such as the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, have refused to join the cease
fire. Also, individual Palestinians opposed to the truce could on their own
kill some Israelis. We cannot expect the killing to stop entirely. There are Palestinians
opposed to a state on the West Bank and Gaza;
they insist on an Arab and Islamic state over all the British-mandate
territory, with all Jews killed or expelled. For them, it's all or nothing. They
will continue the killing in order to break the truce.

Israel must not react to the continuing killing
by acting by itself to hunt and kill the murderers. They should give the
Palestinian authority under its new leadership a chance to work with the
Israelis to provide security. If Israel reacts by killing
Palestinians, they would be letting the extremist Palestinians set the agenda.

Israelis and Palestinians should create a new alliance:
those who seek peace versus those on both sides that wish to continue the
conflict. It should no longer be Palestinians versus Israelis, but peace
seekers versus war mongers.

But it is not enough to cry Peace! Peace! Besides the
immediate steps of releasing prisoners, easing the traffic chokes, and removing
troops from Palestinian areas, Israel
must confront the long term issue of the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. With this cease
fire, Israel
can now act without being seen to be giving in to terror.

First, Israel
should withdraw the Israelis who have settled in Gaza. It would be a much welcomed gesture by
Arabs, Israel would save the
cost of defending these settlements, and there is little religious significance
about the Gaza
for Jews.

Second, Israel
must confront the land conflict in Judea and Samaria,
the West Bank of the Jordan River. It is
called a "Bank," so the settlers who have been deposited there should
pay interest. Israel never
annexed Judea and Samaria.
This is an implicit recognition that the Palestinian Arabs have rights to that
land. Most of the world recognizes the West Bank
as properly belonging to the Palestinian Arabs. Yet many Jews consider the land
theirs because it was theirs historically and because God designated that land
for the Israelites. Some Christians also think so. To abandon that land would
be to act against the supreme Lord of the Land.

It is such a dilemma. But economics has an answer. Israel can formally recognize Judea and Samaria as territory of a Palestinian State.
The international boundary would be the pre-1967 boundary, with minor adjustments.
But since Israelis are living there, were now born there, and consider it their
home and their religious duty to stay, Israelis could remain as residents, so
long as they paid rent for the land to the Palestinian State.

The rent would increase over time up to the market rate
for renting the land. The all-or-nothing crowd would not be pleased, but
Palestinians would gain more from this than from kicking out the Jews. The
Palestinians would obtain badly needed funds from the rent. With peace, the
road blocks would be removed, and there would be huge mutual gains from trade
between the Israeli residents and the Arabs. The residents would be offered
Palestinian citizenship, so they would be dual citizens of Israel and Palestine
if they wished. Palestinians should not object to Jews living in Palestine, since there are also Muslim and Christian Arabs
living in Israel.
The Israeli settlements would be opened to Arab residents, so eventually the
Jews in Judea and Samaria
would be foreign residents just like foreigners live in many places all over
the world.

Rent is the key to peace. Paying rent would acknowledge
the Palestinian claim to the land, without giving up the attachment Jews have
to their ancient homeland. Jews have lived in Judea
under foreign rule for centuries, under Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, the
British, and Turks. If Jews were willing to settle in Palestine under Turkish rule, why not also
under Palestinian?

Rent is what has been missing from the peace talks. It
takes a geoist and Georgist to fully understand the implications of rent. This
can now be the geoist gift to the world. Geoists can give the world the key to
peace. We need to send this message to the peace seekers of the Middle East: Israelis pay rent! Palestinians get rent!

We need big signs in peace marches that show a key and
underneath, say "rent!" We need to keep shouting "rent"
until people finally get it. Send a letter to all your local newspapers with
the simple and short message: "The key to peace in the Middle East is for
Israelis to pay rent to the Palestinians for land in the West
Bank." A thousand letters like this would wake people up.
Editors like such short letters, so do it today. Give the world the key to
peace!

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2003