One State: One Solution

First off I must encourage you to read this short article by Jimmy Carter, the only recent American president I admire, on the recent election of Hamas and Israel's plans for unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This term, unilateral withdrawal is the most ridiculous statement ever declared. How could Israel withdraw from Palestine? They are one and the same and since 1948 have become more and more intertwined. Israel is never leaving Palestine and vice versa.

Twenty percent of Israel's population is Arab (aka Palestinian). Hundreds of thousands of Israelis live inside fortified settlements in the West Bank and have their own roads and infrastructure. Israel "reluctantly" closed their settlements in the Gaza Strip (who would want to live in the world's largest refugee camp anyway). The real prize is the West Bank from a religious, economic and political point of view. Are you realizing yet just how intimate the relationship between the Israelis and Palestinians is?

And you can bet that when the Israelis finally withdraw, if they ever do, they will maintain control of the stillborn Palestine's borders, controlling what goes in and comes out. How could they not? Palestinians will be seething and will want asymmetrical weapons to challenge the IDF and possibly target the Israeli public. Israel cannot allow this. In claiming to keep out weapons, Israel will also block necessities such as food from entering Palestine. Which functional state doesn't have control of its borders?

Since the recent Palestinian election and the surprise victory of Hamas, Israel has put the screws to Gaza and displayed the total control that they have over that particular territory; they will never give up this control. Not only the Palestinians, but foreign governments, international NGOs, diplomats and others have complained about Israel's continued use of starvation as a weapon in Gaza. This is called collective punishment. You all voted for Hamas so you all will suffer for disobeying. When a suicide bomber blows him or herself up the border is closed and all Palestinians cannot go to work inside Israel and food cannot get into Palestine. Same old story over and over again--how biblical. The justification is security and, as we are learning in North America, security trumps all.

I'm going to say something shocking. Unilateral withdrawal is bullshit. The two state solution that everyone trumpets is bullshit. The destruction of Israel is bullshit. We need a one state solution. This new state would be called Israel-Palestine. Palestinians would get to participate in a mature democracy and have their rights protected (after a long, nonviolent battle against systemic discrimination). Israel would get all of Jerusalem as would the Palestinians. Palestinians would have the right of return to their ancestral homes currently inside Israel (though I doubt they would be still standing). Water resources would be shared. The border would be set as the pre-1948 border so there wouldn't be any issues and need to unilaterally declare borders.

Israel should formally annex the Occupied Territories and give Palestinians full citizenship. Compared with all the brutal dictatorial states of the Middle East, Israel is Eden. I remember reading a poll once that out of all the states of the Middle East, Palestinians most admired Israel for its governance.

The truth is I'm not sure that either side is ready to realize that the one state solution is the only solution. This conflict will fester long after Israel has unilaterally withdrawn (whatever that means) from the Palestinians, wall or no wall.

Tomorrow will be the Israeli election. God only knows where this whole tragedy is going. I just hope He or She is paying attention and can guide the sons of Isaac and Ishmael home.