Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Non-suicidal bombers

Spend time sowing seeds of love, and not the coffin nails of hate
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The U.S. pours billions into the effort to keep the Israelis defended from the Palestinians et al. This struggle has the potential to be a centuries long one. Since a lot of the rationale hinges on some obscure religious stuff (e.g. "if they don't practice my religion, they don't deserve to live"), then only something that supercedes religion will work to cure the problem.

The U.S. and other industrialized nations have had the capability to reach the moon for decades (well, not all countries want to blow the money doing it). What I propose is a pact, wherein the industrialized nations promise the side that has the fewest accidental/homicidal deaths the transcendent prize -- a fully stocked, self-sustaining moonbase (see elsewhere in HalfBakery for the plans).

The political underpinnings would be this: the two sides of the border have 50 years to clean up their act, and assure the security of the other side. Now, some variation to this theme could be provided by permitting U.N. member nations to vote around 2050... but the basic principle is: "If the other side suffers more casualties, they get to live above you."

Now, if all the industrialized nations save their pennies for 50 years, the effect will be thus: 1) after 50 years, the warring factions will forget their differences; 2) the 'losing' faction (that doesn't get the moon), gets Mars if they play it cool for another 50 years.

Thus, those 'gutsy' enough to become suicide bombers, may instead grow up to be astronauts.

pathetic, Dec 09 2001

China's space program http://www.newscien...s.jsp?id=ns99991604
Another morally-dubious nation with a chance of lunar landing. [pottedstu, Dec 11 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Operation Gaza Israeli Disengagement https://www.youtube...watch?v=zlTt5xSWzjE
[pashute, May 14 2018]

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       So if they play nice, they get exiled? Not much of a deal, if you ask me.
phoenix, Dec 09 2001
  

       What I had in mind was just sending a group of 'Pilgrims' to the base... I don't know, call it New Palestine, or New Israel, or Mideast Moon... just a pilot program for Humanity 2.0 (new space edition).
pathetic, Dec 10 2001
  

       I believe that when a people discover that they risk losing more than just a few square kilometers to their antagonists, but may wind up forfeiting the 'high ground' of the moon to them -- then they will start to think differently. I think that this isn't a question of dividing up a pie, and drawing the lines to suit each party -- but rather finding a way to make more pies. Call me hopelessly romantic... or just call me
pathetic, Dec 10 2001
  

       I guess I just fail to see the allure of living on the moon. Might be nice to visit, though.
phoenix, Dec 10 2001
  

       Considering many of the Palestinians are "orthodox" Muslim, and don't even believe in watching TVs or having anything high-tech (unless it can kill a lot of people), I'd like to see you convince them to get on a Saturn V rocket or space shuttle.   

       And why give them the chance to f**k up the moon? They can't even take care of 50 square miles...
morkinator, Dec 10 2001
  

       Allowing for the fact that morkinator's a stupid troll, I'd like to point out that the Palestinian independence movement led by Yasser Arafat is largely secular; and Edward Said, perhaps the most prominent Palestinian intellectual, is a Christian; and that morkinator is a stupid troll.
pottedstu, Dec 10 2001
  

       He does have a point. I don't want the Moon wasted on people who can't take care of themselves as is. -I- want to go!
StarChaser, Dec 10 2001
  

       Suicide bombers wouldn't be so bad if they would just do the suicide part *before* the bombing part, instead of at the same time as the bombing part.
PotatoStew, Dec 11 2001
  

       Yeah. If you're going to die anyway, surely it's better to die with dreams in your heart, than to risk messing up and dying in a stupid and embarrassing way: in the middle east many suicide bombers seem to blow themselves up either while making the bomb or while travelling to their target. Perhaps a return to monks setting themselves on fire would inspire more sympathy and more TV airtime.
pottedstu, Dec 11 2001
  

       Without getting too complicated about it, how about the US just reverses the flow of funds from the Israelis to the Palestinians for a bit thus putting the two on a more equal economic footing and giving the suicide bombers a little more reason to live. Maybe the US could also encourage a little more mutual respect between the sides instead of sticking it's giant oar in whenever it suits it politically and financially and pretending it doesn't happen the rest of the time. Then maybe the Middle East could pour some of it's considerable resources into looking to the future, space colonisation et al instead of perpetuating pointless, wasteful and destructive ancient tribal rivalries. Then we could all live on the moon and eat lots of cheese.
notripe, Dec 11 2001
  

       oh. Looks like my filter is going to have to remove anything anno'd by [nt] as well as ideas by it.
lewisgirl, Dec 11 2001
  

       lewisgirl: If you do that, the terrorist will have won.
PotatoStew, Dec 11 2001
  

       yeah, but it'll only be one of my recent lists. I've got eight at the moment.
lewisgirl, Dec 11 2001
  

       lg: What's so bad about notripe's annotation? This whole thread's hardly Serious Ideas For World Peace.   

       I heard the Chinese are planning to put a man on the moon, so we'd already have had one bunch of human-rights-abusing power-crazed villains up there. Or <ducks> is that *two bunches*?
pottedstu, Dec 11 2001
  

       yeh, I know. I just don't come here for the politics. This way, I can stick noobs' and trolls' names on my 'chill-Winston' recent page and on the days when I know I'd over-react, I'll just browse from that one. As it happens, I tend to stick to my unfiltered page.
lewisgirl, Dec 11 2001
  

       sorry lewisgirl - i think it's a great idea really, I like the moon - when shall we go?
notripe, Dec 11 2001
  

       hey pottedstu... Sorry if my opinion that giving a bunch of fundamentalist idiots the moon is complete lunacy. The idea is not nearly as lame as you, however.
morkinator, Jun 22 2003
  

       <dry humor> It would only be complete lunacy if you gave them the whole moon. </dry humor>
Fester, Jun 22 2003
  

       They don't want the moon, they both want that small bit of real estate. A better idea would be to exile the side that has killed more people to the moon.
GenYus, Jan 06 2004
  

       Please. At least keep the fundamentalist idiocy confined to this planet.
omegatron, Aug 15 2005
  

       I think that the Israeli pull out from the gaza strip is a pre-cursor to Israel using bunker busting nukes on Iran. Pull the people in, less territory to defend as well as a "friendly" distraction. Think they are giving in and then BAM. It happend just before the The Israeli Invasion of Lebanon (1982-1984) In 1983 they pulled out settlers in the gaza strip. Just a thought. I say let them loose on the region.
Antegrity, Aug 15 2005
  

       I think that the Israeli pull out from the gaza strip is a pre-cursor to Israel using bunker busting nukes on Iran. Pull the people in, less territory to defend as well as a "friendly" distraction. Think they are giving in and then BAM. It happend just before the The Israeli Invasion of Lebanon in 1984. In 1983 they pulled out settlers in the gaza strip. Just a thought. I say let them loose on the region.
Antegrity, Aug 15 2005
  


 

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