Two States for Two People?
One bi-national State for all?
Can the Conflict Come to an End?
Two States for
Two People?
Herzl / The Jewish State
“Let Sovereignty be granted
us over a portion of the the
globe large enough to satisfy
the rightful requirements of
a nation…Palestine is our
historical home….The Jews
who wish for a state will
have it.”
Theodor Herzl
The Jewish State (1896)
Bi-National State?
“Palestine should be neither
Jewish nor Arab. It should
be a bi-national state in
which Jews and Arabs share
full equality….
the inhabitants of this
country, both Arabs and Jews
have not only the right but
the duty to participate…in
the government of their
common homeland.”
Judah Magnes
Testimony (1946)
Speech (1930)
David Ben-Gurion
In the area allocated to the Jewish
State there are 520,000 Jews and
about 350,000 Arabs. Together with
the Jews of Jerusalem, the total
population of the Jewish State at
the time of its establishment, will
be about one million, including 40%
non-Jews…. such a [population]
does not provide a stable basis for a
Jewish State. This [demographic]
fact must be viewed in all its clarity
and acuteness. With such a
[population] composition, there
cannot even be absolute certainty
that control will remain in the hands
of the Jewish majority .... There can
be no stable and strong Jewish state
so long as it has a Jewish majority of
only 60% “
David Ben-Gurion (1948)
1948
Dilemma of Victory
What to do with the
Abandoned Palestinian
Towns and Property?
The Meron Memorandum
Jerusalem, 13 Elul 5727
18 September 1967
TOP SECRET
To: Mr Adi Yafeh, Political Secretary to the Prime Minister
From: Legal Counsel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Subject: Settlement in the Administered Territories
At your and Mr Raviv’s request, I am enclosing a copy of my
memorandum on the above subject, which I submitted to the Minister of
Foreign Affairs.
My conclusion is that civilian settlement in the administered
territories contravenes explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva
Convention.
Regards,
Theodor Meron
Oslo Agreement (1993)
Declaration of Principles
• Withdrawal from Occupied
Territories (OT)
• Palestinian Self Government
in OT
• Interim Palestinian Self
Government / PA
• Permanent Status
Negotiations
The Israeli Position
Two States for Two People
• 1. Two states, two homelands: just as Israel is
homeland to the Jewish people, so Palestine will be
established as the homeland and the national
answer for the Palestinian people, including the
refugees.
• 2. Two states living side by side in peace and
security: just as a viable and prosperous Palestine in
the West Bank and Gaza is an Israeli interest, so a
secure Israel must be a Palestinian interest. The
world cannot afford another terror state.
The Palestinian (PA) Position
Two States for Two People
“Palestine is the 1967
borders with East
Jerusalem as its capital.
This is now and forever.”
Mahmoud Abbas
March, 2013
Edward Said
“The conflict appears
intractable because it is a
contest over the same land by
two peoples who always
believed they had valid title to
it …[the] Oslo [peace process]
set the stage for separation,
but real peace can come only
with a binational IsraeliPalestinian state.”
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/10/magazine/the-onestate-solution.html
Tony Judt – “The Alternative”
The two-state solution—the
core of the Oslo process—is
probably already doomed.…
To convert Israel from a
Jewish state to a binational
one would not be easy,
though not quite as
impossible as it sounds: the
process has already begun de
facto…. In a world where
nations and peoples
increasingly intermingle and
intermarry…Israel is truly an
anachronism. And not just an
anachronism but a
dysfunctional one.
Meron Benvenisti
“The geopolitical
condition created in
1967 is irreversible.
The situation can not
be changed… You can
not unscramble that
egg.”
Daniella Weiss
Former Mayor of Israeli Settlement of Qedemim
“Settlements prevent
the establishment of a
Palestinian state…I say
that the settlers are
immovable…We will
continue to build
settlements even if
they are demolished.”
The Pattern of Settlement
Ariel / Marda
Ma’ale Adumim: Private Palestinian Land?
ISRAELI SETTLEMENT POPULATION
1972
1977
1986
1991
2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WB
800
4323
55,690
95,165
328,423
EJ
GZA
6900
700
30,300
740
103,900
2150
137,400
3900
198,629*
0
Total
8400
38,323
161,740
236,465
527,052
* Figure for 2010
http://www.fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/stats-data/comprehensive-settlement-population-1972-2006
The Problem of Jerusalem
“Salami Sandwich”
Where is the Palestinian State?