The Pulitzer Post

Arthur J. Earthmann

Editor-in-chief

Cartoonist

illustrator

In ISRAEL, the straight and narrow path, and road map to peace should include a long overdue visualization of what the actual ultimate real goal is. The decades long term "road map" suggests an actual map. Well, here is my map which I call "THE UNITED 3 STATES OF ISRAEL". In it, I simply redefine the West Bank as "EAST PALESTINE", and the Gaza Strip as "WEST PALESTINE".

I am convinced that if President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel would adopt such a map-- that the ultimate goal of a permanent peace treaty and establishment of the independent states of Palestine and Israel would more quickly be realized.

Similar to North and South Carolina in the United States, "East and West Palestine" will eventually secede hopefully peacefully from the State of Israel. Granted, the secession of South Carolina started the Civil War in the United States resulting in over 60,000 deaths. And the continual attempted secession of the "States of East and West Palestine" from the mother state of Israel has resulted in the deaths of thousands and is, in effect, a civil war of independence.

But, a first step must be one of definition. Given enough time and usage, eventually the leaders and inhabitants would become so used to the terms "East and West Palestine" that their future secession and formally adopted nomenclature would become adequately palatable, palpable and real.