http://jordantimes.com/solution-needed
Editorial
Solution needed
Mar 18,2012 | 22:54
Former Palestinian prime minister Ahmad Qureia is suggesting that the Palestinians and Israelis should now abandon the two-state solution in favour of one state.
Qureia believes this is right in view of the Israeli actions in the West Bank, particularly the unrelenting settlement activities that have rendered the two-state solution devoid of any meaning.
The decades-long Israeli colonisation of the Palestinian territories has all but preempted the two-state solution, which would give the Palestinians a tiny part of their ancestral land and East Jerusalem as their capital.
Qureia must have spoken out of frustration with the never-ending process of finding a way to bring the two sides together to talk about a mechanism to initiate, maybe, peace talks that could, perhaps, yield some result…
Yes, it is a convoluted, sterile, process that has led nowhere so far and that is often enough to frustrate even the most enthusiastic peace seeker.
But Qureia’s suggestion is not very realistic either. Neither Israelis nor most Palestinians are bound to accept it.
The one-state idea may invite the Israeli government to embark even more vigorously on policies that drive away the Palestinians — ethnic cleansing, in so many words — to preserve the “Jewishness” of Israel.
Besides, after a century or so of conflict between Jews and Arabs over Palestine, it will take quite a while to bury the hatchet, heal deep wounds and coexist in complete harmony, not to mention the cultural and religious differences that would have to be surmounted.
The two states, therefore, seems to be the only operational solution. It could, in the long run, evolve into some sort of confederation, which has all the positive features of one state and could be of benefit to all.
Whatever resolution, one has to be reached, for the conflict has been brewing for too long and the entire region suffers because of it.
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