In 1912, a Turk Sultan built a Railway connecting Istanbul with the Holy Cities of Mecca & Medina; With service to Damascus, Bagdad, Jerusalem & Egypt. The railway was disrupted by Lawrence of Oilrabia, during WWI, part of Britain's bid to maintain Oil supply for the Navy. The railway has been kept operating in segments, but the Saudi Arabian sections are still in disrepair.

The current champion of rebuilding the Hedjaz railway, as it is called, thru its original length, is King Abdullah of Jordan. The many World Organizations affiliated with WPI might consider the following proposal, circulate and giving thought, in their respective purviews, to a modernized, renewables powered "Pilgrim" Railway that will anchor a workable peace initiative for the Middle East.

Since various permutations of blood spattered streets, cafes, buses, and residential neighborhoods doesn't seem to bring peaceful?? resolution to the Palestinian question, it seems time for a non-military approach that can be politically neutral in quality, and a provider of encouragement in and of itself.

Railway is a second-dimension aspect of surface transport, not part of the highway network, specifically and particularly with regard to the element of discipline and technical separation from the militarization of highway transport in the Middle East. This separation can be maintained by strict emphasis on the Sacred site linkage, and the inherent communal operation and custodial ownership of the Muslim travelors using the service.

The civil engineering of (a) new rail corridor(s) can easily provide for whole new cities, as well as new suburbs of existing stations along the line: this to facilitate new residential beginnings for the majority (especially younger families) of Palestinian displaced persons.

Renewables inclusion will be desireable even in oil patch regions, as populations are pressing ability to deliver product, + maintain export levels. Witness Syria, now in depletion, with others to follow in the lifetime of this generation. This is no small concern, and warrants inclusion of renewables/sustainability design parameters as we design peace on the parallel bars!

I first put out contacts along these lines during and after the first Gulf War, and feel the time, and the urgency, warrants a full and intellectually honest discussion of a civil-engineering systems approach to the situation surrounding Palestinian Issues. Direct application of electricity, renewables sourced, to the rolling efficiencies of railways, makes the Hedjaz Railway the best map for Middle East stability, solving problems of Lebensraum, while rendering men of violence irrelevent!

Hopefully the subject can be discussed in the various forums that readers of these lines are privy to. Thank you.