Seeds of Peace

 
Home » Charter of Villars: Land Committee
Guidelines for determining the borders of the State of Israel and the future state of Palestine:
  1. We are discussing the territories occupied in 1967 and leaving out the entire issue of Jerusalem to the Jerusalem committee.
  2. This agreement will consider the validity of exchanging land for land.
  3. This agreement will look specifically into heavily populated settlements and those close to the Green Line border and not near Palestinian villages.
  4. There may be issues of security zones for both sides but they will not be addressed here and will be addressed by a separate committee. However, we will address the security of the settlers.
  5. This agreement will be implemented after the bilateral declaration of the State of Palestine as determined by the Sovereignty Committee.
  6. The majority of Israeli settlers in the West Bank will remain under Israeli sovereignty according to sufficient land exchange for the future State of Palestine.
Land for land Exchange will include:
  1. One hundred percent of the Gaza Strip will be turned over to a Palestinian state. There will be three highways between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Traffic may enter or exit these highways in the Gaza Strip or West Bank only. These highways will be at the shortest crossing between the North of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the central region of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and the South of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
    • These highways can be in the form of tunnels, bridges or any other no-access form.
    • There will be joint Palestinian and Israeli funding for these highways. International funding and assistance should be requested. (Unless Novartis will be willing to make another contribution for peace in the Middle East.)
  2. As an example of two possibilities for land exchange, we will look at the Etzion Bloc and Betar. The two possibilities of land exchange will be either for land of equal size and value near the Gaza Strip or for land of equal size and value on the Israeli side of the Green Line border near the area of exchange.
  3. In the Etzion Bloc, Israeli citizens will live under Israeli law as residents of Israel.
    • The area of the Etzion Bloc will be surrounded by a 500 meter security ring except in the East where the distance between the Etzion Bloc and Palestinian villages will be divided in half but shall not exceed 500 meters for the Etzion Bloc security ring.
    • The actual municipal boundaries of the Etzion Bloc will be mutually agreed upon by the Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
    • The same rules of the Palestinian government regarding arms of citizens will apply to the Israelis living in the Etzion Bloc. There will be no heavy artillery or armaments in the Etzion Bloc. The security forces inside this area will be of police only and not Israeli defense forces.
    • The area of Etzion Bloc will be exchanged near the Gaza Strip for land of equal size and value.
  4. The settlements of Betar and Hadar Betar will be annexed to Israel together with a piece of land that will connect the area of Betar and Newe Daniyyel. ( Please refer to the attached Map A to better understand the following description. ) A piece of uninhabited land connecting the State of Israel with the Etzion Bloc at Newe Daniyyel, that includes the two settlements of Betar and Hadar Betar but does not include the village of Nahhalin, will be exchanged with uninhabited land of equal area and value, adjacent to the present border, immediately west of the land being exchanged.
  5. The area near the Gaza Strip that will be given to the future State of Palestine will be developed before the transfer to the future State of Palestine with the financial help of Israel and the international community.

Agreement on the status of Israeli citizens in the future Palestinian state

Definition: All Israeli settlements that will be under the authority of the Palestinian state will be referred to as "Jewish communities".
  1. Settlers may choose to live in the future Palestinian state and under Palestinian authority or move to Israel.
  2. Settlers should be given the full choice of living in the future Palestinian state or moving to Israel without worry about financial considerations. Each government is responsible for its own citizens and should compensate the people who choose to leave their land and live under their own government in a fair way according to their properties and personal status.
  3. Settlers who choose to stay in a Palestinian state will automatically receive residency permissions and remain Israeli citizens.
  4. Settlers staying in the Palestinian state will enjoy the same rights as other Palestinians. They will enjoy religious freedom and form their own municipalities, taking into consideration their Muslim and Christian neighbors. The municipal boundaries of a Jewish community will be determined according to the population of the settlement taking into consideration natural growth.
  5. Sparsely populated settlements that come in the way of Palestinian expansion and viability will not enjoy the privileges of a regular Jewish community. They will have the choice of:
    • Moving into a more populated settlement;
    • Moving to the state of Israel; or
    • Staying where they are together with the Palestinians under regular Palestinian municipal law.
  6. During the first year after the declaration of a Palestinian state, there will be Israeli security inside the Jewish communities that are under Palestinian authority. Then, for a period of two years, there will be joint Palestinian and Israeli cooperative police. From that point on, all security will fall under Palestinian police and authority. The police force will be comprised of Palestinian and Jewish Palestinian residents.
  7. During the first year after the declaration of a Palestinian state, there will be joint Palestinian and Israeli cooperative police surrounding the municipal boundaries of the Jewish communities. From that point on, all security surrounding the municipal boundaries will fall under Palestinian police and authority.
The Land Committee Plenary Voting Results: DID NOT PASS Israeli Delegates: 63% Palestinian Delegates: 58% Jordanian Delegates: 67% Egyptian Delegates: 89% American Delegates: 67% Introductory Letter Declaration of Principles Values of Sovereignty Jerusalem Committee Security Committee Economic Committee Refugee Committee To return to the Main Conference page, click here.