The Jewish population and the Palestinian Dispersion cannot both fit into the former territory of Palestine. Desert land could however be reclaimed to create a new sovereign state within Egypt, linked to a small Palestinian 'Home State' in Samaria. A canal, about half the length of the Suez canal, but as wide and as deep to facilitate navigation, built from El Alamein to the Qattara Depression, would create a large inland sea from a land area at present uninhabitable. The expanse of water would modify the climate of its littoral and would offer immediate opportunities for fishing and salt manufacture.
Israel may be sufficiently convinced that peace is always cheaper than war to lend its expertise in reclaiming the desert. Egypt would need to be persuaded to yield territory at present uninhabited and waste to a new state within its borders.
Anthony Cooney, 17 Hadassah Grove, Liverpool L17 8XH.
Egypt has in fact already carried out large-scale reclamation schemes in the Western Desert. Richard St. Barbe Baker describes two such schemes in his book 'Sahara Conquest': one largely dependent on irrigation channels originating from the Nile, and the other tapping groundwater resources used by the Ancient Egyptians and Romans. Boreholes had been drilled as deep as 3,600 feet.
Irrigation schemes in many parts of the world have proved unsatisfactory owing to the evaporation of the water and salination of the soil. Consequently, in modern reclamation schemes, more emphasis is placed on the planting of drought-resistant trees and shrubs, of which at least 500 species are known. These provide 'nurse conditions' for more delicate plants, such as fruit trees and cereals. Large sections of the Negev, one of the most arid areas in the world, have been reclaimed by this method. There is abundant experience to indicate that most of the desert regions of North Africa and the Middle East could be reclaimed at far less than the cost of the armaments that have been accumulated in the area. Thus a vast new 'Green Zone' could be established, in which millions of Palestinians and other displaced people could find homes, decent living conditions and abundant food. Mineral-rich desert sands, once cultivated, can achieve high degrees of fertility and grow some of the most nutritious vegetation in the world. People with their basic needs thus fully satisfied and living creative lives would feel less urge to perform acts of violence against their neighbours.
Thus the politicians are faced with two fundamental choices: to continue their present policies of prevarication, rivalry, intrigue and merely tinkering with deep-rooted problems - policies which will do nothing to halt the cycle of violence - or to adapt a great imaginative, comprehensive, cooperative design that would benefit all.
Robert Hart, Highwood Hill, Rushbury, near Church Stretton, Shropshire SY6 7DE (tel 06943 342).