Prof. Dr. Peter Rödler
Special education
expert•Germany

Dear fellow human beings,
(for me, this is the only way to address people that excludes NO ONE!)
Out of deep despair over the Armageddon in the Middle East and in great sorrow for the victims on all sides
(“(Kluge 1977): Once a certain level of cruelty has been reached it no longer matters who started it: It simply must stop!”¹.)

the following idea for our plan came to me: to relocate the UN to a more neutral location and thereby restore its former, peace-promoting significance:
(Buber 1950: “It is not acceptable to call it utopian, something against which we have not yet measured our strength.” ².)

What if, in the current situation, we were to advocate (the strategic approach would have to be discussed separately) relocating the UN to Isfahan and Bethlehem?

· For Iran, this would mean that the UN guarantees the full sovereignty of the country and its citizens, but also Iran’s full international responsibil- ity for free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
· For Israel, this would likewise mean lasting full sovereignty within secure borders, albeit in a single(!) country of Israelis and Palestinians— Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank— where peace would be guaranteed internally by a government with equal representation of both ethnic groups and externally by the UN’s principled protection of the country’s external security and sovereignty.
· For Syria and Lebanon, this would eliminate the problem at their borders—no buffer zone required—and thus create the opportunity to build a peaceful, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious community within their countries, free from external influences.
· Any attacks by individuals in these countries (Iran and Palestine/Israel) would in all cases be prosecuted by the respective national authorities and condemned as criminal – not terrorist – acts.
· Systematic terrorist attacks by groups would be investigated by UN forces, potentially countered directly, prosecuted and condemned by the UN Human Rights Court.
· The composition of the respective UN forces, which must be acceptable to the respective countries, would be part of the relevant negotiations.
This solution meets the demands of all the countries mentioned for reliable external security and clear formal structures internally.

– For Israel, however, this would mean overcoming the atrocities of October 7, 2023, and recognizing the equality of all people in Palestine/Israel.
– For the Palestinians, it means overcoming the horrors of recent years in the Gaza Strip and tolerating Israelis as fellow citizens until this becomes – in a few generations – more natural under the new conditions. But on the other hand an under the actual situation not thinkable offer of realistic prospects for life again.

This is certainly a challenge for both groups, but there is simply no alternative, as there is no land left for the Palestinians in Palestine: The Gaza Strip has been uninhabitable for years—everything is destroyed, right down to the desalination plants; the West Bank: a patchwork quilt with no access to the Jordan River.