Checkpoint: Israel-Palestine, The One State Solution
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In the face of a looming illegal annexation, Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank have been bought a little breathing room. The State of Israel struck a deal with the United Arab Emirates, normalizing relations between the two states in return for the indefinite suspension of Israeli plans for declaring sovereignty over Palestinian territories. Supporters of Israel have been quick to celebrate what they perceive as condonation for their state’s action in the West Bank and Gaza before annexation was announced, and supporters of Donald Trump have been quick to point out his role in the negotiations.
However, the status quo for the Palestinian people remains the same regardless of what countries normalize their relations with Israel. Even as annexation is put on the backburner, the apartheid they are forced to experience on a day-to-day basis is mostly unchanged. The deal between Israel and the UAE makes no mention of the illegal Israel settlements that have been and are still being built on Palestinian land in the West Bank, nor does it demand an end to the seige of the Gaza Strip.
In fact, shortly after the deal was announced, Israel responded to incidents of incendiary balloons flown over the border with a sustained bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip. Although no deaths have thus far been reported, the bombs have caused massive damage to homes and infrastructure, including a school. In the West Bank, over 427,000 Israelis had moved into settlements deemed illegal under international law by 2018, and the number has presumably only grown since then.
The longer the status quo continues, the less likely the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict becomes. Gaza, sometimes described as the world’s largest open air prison, is on the verge of collapse. Israel’s blockade of the strip prevents essential supplies from reaching the poverty stricken Palestinians, and their bombing serves to further weaken a struggling economy. A point will come when Gaza will no longer be able to recover from the damage Israel has inflicted on it.
As for the West Bank, the Israeli annexation may be off the table for now, but Palestinians there are still living under a military occupation. Human rights campaigners are dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night by the Israeli Defence Forces, and small children accused of throwing rocks are tried in military courts with no legal representation. Homes, businesses, even medical centers are demolished on a whim, all with the end goal of “encouraging” the native Palestinians to leave and make room for more Israeli settlers.
Although the two-state solution is generally the favored outcome of the conflict, there are those who believe in the possibility of another road to peace. The one-state solution. The creation of a new bi-national state, Israel-Palestine, where both Israelis and Palestinians enjoy equal political and legal rights. Political commentator and journalist Peter Beinart has recently written about this possibility, emphasizing the need for liberal Zionists to let go of the idea of Israel as a Jewish state and starting thinking about how sharing the land with Palestinians can bring peace and safety for the Jewish people.
The UAE has become only the third Arab nation to normalize relations with Israel, alongside Egypt and Jordan. Israeli oppression of Palestinians is the main reason in the modern era for the continued cold shoulder by most of the Arab world. However, an Israel-Palestine where Jews and Arabs are equally represented could receive a much warmer diplomatic welcome from its neighbours than the current relationship of occupier and occupied. The move would build much stronger relations among the countries of the Middle East and help to foster peace in the region.
For Palestinians, accepting a single state with equal rights and representation means an end to the persecution they have suffered under the Israeli apartheid. It means an end to the bombing destroying Gaza’s infrastructure and leaving its people in poverty. It means an end to checkpoints, demolished homes and farmland destroyed by arson in the West Bank. It means having a say in the political forces that already exert their influence in the occupied territories. It may even mean the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees living in camps on foreign soil.
For Israelis, the move would greatly improve their image on the world stage. It also means an end to the rockets from Gaza, and with the end of the apartheid regime the BDS movement across the world will no longer have reason to campaign for cutting political, social and cultural ties with Israel.
The one-state solution will not come to fruition without hardships. The Israeli right see all of the land in historic Palestine as their birthright, and Palestinians are invaders sent by hostile Arab nations to bring about another Holocaust. On the other side, Palestinian groups like Hamas have much the same opinion of the Israelis. Getting the more extreme factions on both sides of the dispute to accept co-existence will not be easy.
One example that may provide a path is the case of Northern Ireland. For years Catholics, who made up a significant minority of the population, were discriminated against and oppressed by the Protestant community with the help of the British establishment. As a result of their mainly nationalist politics, Catholics were denied employment, housing and education, and were even murdered by Loyalist paramilitary groups working with the police and British military. This discrimination led to the outbreak of “The Troubles”, a period of violence in which thousands of people died.
When peace came to NI, it was because Catholics and Protestants, Nationalists and Unionists, came together in the belief that they could peacefully share the land. In the parliament in Stormont the largest Nationalist and Unionist parties, currently Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party, come together in a coalition to ensure that both communities have a say in Government. The approach is not always flawless, and the system does sometimes break down, but it has ensured peace in NI for decades.
Another lesson could be taken from the end of apartheid in South Africa. Nelson Mandela helped to set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a court-like restorative justice body. The goal of the TRC was not to exact vengeance or punishment on anyone, but to identify the crimes and atrocities committed on both sides so that they could be acknowledged and healed from. A similar Commission could help begin the healing between the two peoples in Israel-Palestine. Figures in the Israeli Government and the IDF, as well as members of Hamas, would have their war crimes called out and acknowledged. Both sides of the conflict are guilty to a greater or lesser extent, and once that is all laid out in the open both Israelis and Palestinians can start the healing process.
One state or two states, no solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict will be perfect. The time has come, however, to realize that the status quo cannot continue. The occupation, apartheid and violence must end, and if a one-state solution can bring peace to the lives of the men, women and children calling the land home then it is an idea that must be seriously considered.