Cyprus and Israel/Palestine-

To solve the Israel/Palestine problem, Hank Levin urged "the U.S. Government to pressure both sides for peaceful solutions. If it could be done in Cyprus, it can be done in the mid-East". Christopher Jones replies: "Noihing was "done" in Cyprus. There was no solution to the long standing division of the island -- the vast majority of the Greek Cypriot population (75%) voted against the proposed reunification agreement in a referendum, while 65% of Turkish Cypriots voted for the measure. The agreement was scuttled by the majority Greeks. At the same time, the Palestinian problem appears to me fairly straightforward: Israel must evacuate its forces behind the 1967 frontier against a non aggression pledge from a newly independent Palestinian state. The Israeli colonial settlements in the occupied territories must be dismantled. (Obviously those Jews who lose their investment will have to be compensated.) However, that will include Arab Jerusalem, which the Jewish state refuses to hand over. But that is not all. The displaced Palestinians must be given full compensation plus interest for the loss of their properties when they were thrown out of Israel proper (then Palestine) in 1948. Again Israel has refused. I disagree that the US government can "lean" on both the parties involved because it backs one in a so-called "special" relationship: Israel. The US is not impartial. Another solution which could solve the Jerusalem issue would be unify both countries and give everyone one vote. This too was rejected by the Israelis because their policies are clear and focused: the Palestinians must disappear because alone their numbers in a democratic election are a threat to Eretz Israel. That is the Zionist final solution that Stephen Sniegoski writes about, and if the United States continues to condone this crime, the more likely a "firestorm" will occur.