There is a simple solution to the ongoing violence: implement UN Resolution 242. This is an initiative that the US helped broker and which draws near unanimous international support. It offers the Palestinians what Egypt received and three Israeli governments were prepared to grant Syria--that Israel withdraw to its pre-1967 borders. The resolution dictates that Israel also withdraw from East Jerusalem, acknowledge the right of Palestinian refugees to return home and provide refugees compensation for property lost from the Israeli occupation. It is the clear mandate of international law and holds the only hope for a just and lasting peace.

Instead of furthering 242, the US is pushing the accords written in Oslo. But the Oslo process is in tatters for a reason. It proposes land for peace, but land in what form? The unified state being discussed would consist of the Gaza and the West Bank --separated from each other by 25 miles. Palestine would declare sovereignty, but Israel would keep control over its infrastructure (electricity, telecommunications, gas, water). Palestinian territory will be criss-crossed by Israeli roads and military checkpoints, making free internal travel impossible. Palestinian passports could be issued only with Israel's say-so. Over half the economy and the bulk of Palestinian jobs would be based in Israel.

By all modern definitions, land without unity, sovereignty, free movement, or economic sustainability equals a colony not a country. Until Palestinians can hope for a viable homeland, they will keep professing Give me liberty, or give me death.

There must be good faith negotiations. Throughout peace talks the Israeli government has illegally moved 50,000 more Jewish settlers into Palestinian territories, bulldozing 1,000 more Palestinian homes. In the last year, Barak has ordered more new settlements than Netanyahu did in three years. Such behavior undercuts the foundation of any future peace.

Currently, the kill ratio is 17:1 Palestinians to Israelis. Further arming the Goliath with not help matters. Within the last month the Israeli military bragged of the biggest shipment of US military helicopters in a decade--a transfer that Amnesty International sharply criticized as guaranteed to further abuse of Palestinians human rights. Fifteen fully armed Apache gunships to confront rock-throwing teens -- is this the best use of 500 million in US tax dollars? Even the Pentagon has remarked that these helicopters are not appropriate for crowd control.

US unwillingness to pressure Israel is worsening instability in the region. Arab capitals are seeing almost continual unrest. Demonstrations, in some places drawing over 10,000 into the streets, oppose Israeli violence and US complicity. Arab leaders are cracking down with unusual brutality for fear of losing US aid. Such methods will only drive popular frustration underground. That potentially means more USS Coles.

Our vital national interests must stem from democratic values-not just our pocketbooks. Ensuring cheap gas but ignoring repression in police states is not sound foreign policy. Ensuring cheap gas by supporting such repression is even worse.

From Bosnia and Kosovo to Northern Ireland and East Timor, the US has agreed that international conflicts are best solved with help from the international community. Why not in Israel-Palestine? Instead of monopolizing diplomacy and taking the impossible stance of being both friend of Israel and honest broker, the next US president should let the UN do its job.

With $3 billion a year or one-fifth of all US foreign aid going to Israel, US support for resolution 242 would go a long way toward saving lives and restoring calm.

Ian Urbina writes for the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), a Washington DC based think tank.

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