A Critical Look at the One-State Solution

Palestine consists of the State of Israel plus the remaining Palestinian territory that Israel has occupied for 40 years (Israel itself is 59 years old). In addition, however, Palestine consists of two “peoples” both of whom are far more diverse culturally than the designation “Jewish” or “Palestinian” permits one to notice. Nonetheless, two groups but only one Palestine which fate and circumstance requires them to somehow share.

The State of Israel is dominated by the Jewish group but also has a Palestinian population accounting for 20% of its total (1,300,000 citizens that the Israelis refer to as Arab-Israelis - descendants of or actual indigenous Palestinian inhabitants). Israel covers 78% of Palestine. The remaining 22% of (occupied) Palestine is home to the majority of the 3,600,000 or so Palestinian’s. (For some basic statistics and charts).

The problem then given this reality, given this geographical dispersion of two “peoples” is how to arrive at an agreement whereby both groups can live with or near each other with a minimum of violence. There are three “solutions” to this problem:

1. All the groups within Palestine live together in one nation with the same legal/political/economic apparatuses, equally accessible to all.

2. The two groups live separately in different parts of Palestine with separate legal/political/economic apparatuses.

3. One of the groups somehow eliminates the other group from living in Palestine.

Read the rest of this entry »