more advocates of a Middle East Marshall Plan

here are two more advocates of a Middle East Marshall plan -

(1) An editorial of The Nation (US periodical, 10 Dec 2001) stated that:

"It's time for a new Marshall Plan--a multibillion-dollar World Bank-UN
Development Program initiative, funded in part by the West and in part
by the wealthy oil-exporting countries in the Islamic   world, aimed at
bringing economic development, education and subsidized healthcare to
the region". source: http://www.thenation.com

(2) King Abdallah of Jordan, at the recent World Economic Forum in New
York City, called for a kind of "Marshall Plan for the Moslem World",
supported by finance from the industrialized countries. source:
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Germany), 05 February 2002

Feasibility --
(a) Israel has peace agreements (and is recognized by) Jordan and Egypt.
The PLO has recognized the state of Israel and was recognized by the
state of Israel as the representative of the Palestinian people (1993)
(source: Statesman's Yearbook 1995-96, p. 794). A Marshall Plan for, and
closer economic union between, those mentioned (Israel, Jordan,
Palestine, Egypt) would make a lot of economic and political sense.
(b) A majority of Israelis support the Peres plan for speeding up
statehood for Palestine (opinion poll December 2001, about 60% in
favour).
(c) Can people who kill each other, form an economic union? Sure, they
can - see France-Germany. After attacking and killing each other for a
long time, they changed their minds and became, after World War II, the
closest of friends and the nucleus of what is now the European Union.
Someone said that politics is the art of the impossible. In that sense,
it's possible.

relevance for the world(-)system: increased human decency, greater
happiness of the masses, fewer martyrs, increased world employment

Gert





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