| dr. gordon fellman | usa | | brandeis university | wow! a brilliant idea which staggers the imagination. the idea of buying peace as better than buying war ought to get out there! thank you.this would build a real future for all, based on peace, prosperity and security.
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| dr. simson garfinkel | usa | | mit | this is no modest proposal- peace has always been about business and finance. my fear is that the $30b figure for palestinians to literally sell their birthright would be a source of dispute. how is this money to be divided -- equally among families, according to how many people were alive in 1948, or equally among today's palestinians? even if it is just divided among the 750,000, i do not think that $40,000 per head is going to do it; perhaps the $30b number should really be $300b. still, it would be cheaper than bombing iraq. on the other hand, it's not the palestinians who have the smallpox, is it?
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| nick moll | usa | what peace-related goals might be within reach with a smaller sum of money...one that could be raised privately? the bush administration will try to buy war votes on the un security council with a few million dollars of aid. what if peace organizers could offer those countries the same sum to vote as their consciences already tell them to?
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| prof. andy trimble | usa | | son of god, jesus christ | in a utopian world, this would be fabulous. however, we live in a world full of people who frankly hate each other. we will attempt one more time to settle the palestinian problem. if they continue to kill innocent women and children in hospitals and schools, we should saddam-ize them. arafat needs to convince his minions to capitulate to the peace process and help end this. i will never pay ransom to murderers or religious zealots.
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| martin bennett | usa | well i surely doubt that money will buy peace. it sounds good but many a person has been killed after having given up all there money. it would be the same on a national scale, as in person to person. what really causes me to wonder is how the arab and muslim nations can occupy so much land, and yet covet that little peace of land of israel. particularly when there's is the land with the oil. make sense of that for me!
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| mr. michael dar | israel | nice and pleasant dream but not serious!
the arab- israeli conflict is not about money - and cannot therefore be resolved by money. it is first of all about the arabic and islamic incapability or inability to come to terms with the very existance of israel. period ! no territorial or geographic compromise no further retreat of israel will breng peace. the arabs will only be satisfied if israel and the jews will disappear alltogether from the region and preferably from the world. in the mean time when distributing money in your "fantastic solution" try not to forget the one million jews from arab lands who had to abandon assets, valuables and real-estate for well over 100 billion $.
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| mrs. ga. lapson | usa | i don't think you can "buy" peace. i also strongly believe that the land of israel belongs to jewish people and is not for sale.
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| ms. helene poirier | bahrain | | business development, the intec group ltd | interesting concept... it seems however that you are proposing to buy more than peace, but also the country... why decide that the wall street machine and system will run the show? maybe palestinians and israelis alike would have their own views on how to run their countries and their economies... or is my french socialist background resurfacing too heavily? thanks all the same for a provocative and creative thought in this ruthless war driven world...
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| gordon ruesch | usa | this is genius!
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| mr. brian markuson | | i think that this is a very creative idea. and stands on much merit. the palestinians do not deserve a state. not if they teach thier kids to hate jews and america. i don't understand how palestinians are any different than syrians orlibyans. the voices of the arab leadership only further reinforce my belief that falasteen will be used to terrrorize jews even more. no amount of money could buy off mujadeen who want to see thier paradise.
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| prof. jim haber | usa | i think this is a very well-reasoned alternative! another i don't know how many $billion could be spent to make the developed world less reliant on mideast oil.
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| prof. jordan pollack | usa | | professor, brandeis university | as an alternative to divestment for people with consciousness of the injustice of the israeli occupation, this plan has great merit. i wish i'd thought of it myself.
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| dr. james canton | usa | | institute for global futures | the central problem with the israeli-palestinian issue is there is no shared sustainable future vision, no end game to resolve the crisis. a middle-east marshall plan, such as buy peace plan would be similar to what transformed the rubble of europe at the end of world war ll. this would build a real future for all, based on peace, prosperity and security.
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| dr. abdul cader asmal | usa | it is quite amazing but i had exactly the same sentiments about the use of an unholy amount of money for war that could be used with such tremendous benefit for all. it does require sacrifice and courage on all sides to free the mideast from permanent turmoil. your pie chart may need some adjustments, but it is a truly creative alternative to the mindless blamegame that has mired our thinking to date. if we can break the cycle in which the combatants in israel/palestine are so hopelessly locked, we will be taking a huge step in bringing about peace and prosperity for the region, the us, and the world.
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| tom parsons | new zealand | well done! we all remember the rueful jokes about how much cheaper it would have been just to buy vietnam. it is high time that someone applied that lesson with foresight, and you have my thanks for giving the idea such a good start and working to spread the meme. i have planted this url in the fresh press, a small us-based discussion site www.neopoeia.com), and also sent it to the new zealand green party, of which i am a member. i skipped utne, figuring that others would beat me there, and that i'm not all that well known there. howard rheingold of brainstorms sent me here.
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| rabbi david thomas | usa | | congregation beth el of sudbury | it would be a miracle if mere words had the power to change history. but as a rabbi, i know that history is filled with such miracles.
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| vadim yasinovsky | | o welcome news !
we bought the peace!
for now just in the middle east!!
and rest assured, no need for gun
an easy buy --- afghanistan!
korean problem? don't you see?
let's get a loan from vc!!
chechnya, of course will have to wait
the ruble is a lousy bait. |
| prof. douglas rushkoff | usa | fascinating plan. i expect it could act like truth serum, exposing those who really don't want to find a strategy for peaceful co-existence.
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| rabbi lawrence kushner | usa | | the emanu-el scholar, congregation emanu-el of san francisco | in truly one of the darkest times in the history of the mideast, "buypeace" is a clear and bright light. god bless the vision of the idealists among us.
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| linda gomez | usa | i'm not sure whether this is naivete or cynicism. money is not the only motivation that drives people. does anyone really believe that the israeli settlers would give up their land, or the palestinians their "right of return" for any amount of money?
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| mr. moses of the galilee | israel | i really appreciate your help for peace in the middle east, especially between il and the palestinians. most israelis appreciate the people of usa for being trully support with us, and for supporting trully the first and only democracy in the middle east. thank you. however, will money buy the peace? if do, i think you should invest it in one human resource only - education of the palestinians kids. now - what can be done? the palestinian education - today those kids are educated for racism and hatery. women have no rights in the arab society. peace will rise only after the people of palestine will recognize the need for peace. peace will come only after palestinians will love thier kids more than they hate us.
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| dr. robert metcalfe | usa | | polaris venture partners | $100b isn't all that much money nationbuildingwise, but i do have to ask, where would it come from?
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