(If anyone has already published a diary on this, my apologies, but my search came up with nothing)
It's not an every day likelihood that one would quote Qaddafi in support of a particular argument. This is a leader whose track record does not exactly inspire confidence, and whose credibility as an advocate of peace is wafer-thin at best, non-existent at worst.
Yet I was going through the Times' site this morning, and came upon his Op-Ed on promoting the One State solution in Israel-Palestine. It intrigued me because it acknowledges the utter failure of any two state solution to achieve any tangible success:
But everywhere one looks, among the speeches and the desperate diplomacy, there is no real way forward. A just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians is possible, but it lies in the history of the people of this conflicted land, and not in the tired rhetoric of partition and two-state solutions.
The article has a number of strengths in my view. As a disclaimer, I am not, nor do I pretend to be, any authority on middle eastern affairs, and particularly this issue. I have my opinions, but they are just that. The key strength of this article is that it seems to be grounded in an acceptance of realism, specifically two key matters:
- that this needs to be viewed in its historic context, rather than simply through the lens of the past 60-odd years; and
The history of Israel/Palestine is not remarkable by regional standards — a country inhabited by different peoples, with rule passing among many tribes, nations and ethnic groups; a country that has withstood many wars and waves of peoples from all directions. This is why it gets so complicated when members of either party claims the right to assert that it is their land.
- that Israeli security considerations are real, and have been acknowledged as such:
A two-state solution will create an unacceptable security threat to Israel. An armed Arab state, presumably in the West Bank, would give Israel less than 10 miles of strategic depth at its narrowest point.
Where I differ in my views with Col. Qaddafi is the repatriation of expelled Palestinians to their original homes and lands. While I think that right of return should be a cornerstone of the eventual solution, I think that an interesting precedent of how to approach this would be to study how Europeans dealt with these issues post-1989 for returning emigrés to central and eastern Europe whose homes and lands were confiscated by Communist authorities.
Which brings me to Europe (my old chestnut). We have demonstrated, however imperfectly, a successful track record of producing a lasting peace out of the crucible of war during the past 60 years. Although the EU has not, and never will result, in a one-state solution for all of Europe, I believe that this may be the only way forward in Israel-Palestine: a recognition that - as the author puts it:
Jews and Muslims are cousins descended from Abraham. Throughout the centuries both faced cruel persecution and often found refuge with one another.
Only through true assimilation, through real acceptance of each others' grievances can a durable peace be forged, rather than two sovereign states living uncomfortably side by side. That may be enough for some, but for me, real peace means breaking bread together with your enemy. A two-state solution, I fear, may never achieve that, even if it does result in the laying down of arms.