Adam Horowitz's insightful
comments about the issue of
one state or two states . . .
‘Mr. Horowitz, tell us what
you think of the two-state
solution’
by Adam Horowitz on March 15, 2009
Adam Horowitz, the co-editor of this
site [Mondoweiss - ML], has done a lot
of
speaking on Israel/Palestine and is
regularly asked, "But Mr.
Horowitz, tell
us what you think of the two-state
solution!?" Recently,
for instance, he
was asked this question by a pro-Israel
student at
Temple University. What's
his answer? Horowitz:
There is a short answer and a longer
answer to this question. The short
answer is that I don't take a position
on one state or two states. In
the end
I'm not invested in one end product,
but in ending the
conflict. For that to
happen, there are several principles
that any
just solution will have to meet.
Some of those principles are equality
(in the personal and collective sense)
and self-determination. These
are
principles that can be met in theory
in any configuration of
solutions,
whether they be one state, two states,
a confederation, etc.
I have heard
compelling arguments for the need
for one democratic state
in
Israel/Palestine and for separate
states called Israel and Palestine.
In the end it is up to people living on
the ground
to find a solution that
works for them.
From our perspective in the US
we
just need to know that regardless
of what the solution looks like,
the
conflict will not end until these
principles are met. Also, it has
to
be said that the current "two state
solution" that is being touted
by the
US, the Quartet, and some Israelis
(ie Olmert and Livni) does not meet
these conditions. Their two-state
solution is being used to formalize
the unequal relationship between
Jewish
Israelis and Palestinians, not
end it. It will only deepen the conflict.
The longer answer gets to the real
reason I think people tend to
ask
this question, especially if they're
confrontational: they are
asking if
I support a Jewish state. The simple
answer is no. This is
for the reasons
stated above: it is impossible for
there to be
equality in Israel/Palestine
while there is a state that offers
special
and exclusive rights to Jews
over other people. This is the case
inside
Israel, where Jewish citizens
enjoy special rights over Palestinian
citizens, inside the occupied territories
where Palestinians live under military
occupation, and in the diaspora
where Palestinians' collective rights
are ignored
while Jewish people are
offered incredible privileges. The
example I
give for this is that, as a
Jew, I can move to Israel tomorrow
and
become a citizen with incentives
and benefits from the state, while
my
Palestinians friends who still have
the key to their family homes in
Jaffa
or Haifa would be arrested at the
border if they tried to return.
That is currently the situation in
Israel/Palestine. The conflict, and
the
suffering that comes from it, will not
end until this system ends.
Does
this mean that the Jews will be
thrown to the wolves? No. I tell my
questioners if their real concern is for
Jewish safety, it is a
concern I understand.
I also understand why people would think
that a
Jewish state is necessary to ensure
Jewish safety. But in fact the
opposite is
true. Setting up a system of perpetual
domination of one
people over another
can only lead to endless conflict. The
missiles
hitting Sderot in southern Israel
from the besieged captives of Gaza
is
one example of this.
I tell them if they're interested in Jewish
safety, then they need to
be working
for a just solution to the conflict in
Israel/Palestine
because that is what
will end the violence. If they are
concerned about
Jewish safety then
they need to be concerned about
Palestinian safety.
Jews will feel
safe in Israel/Palestine once everyone
feels safe, but
not before.
If instead they are simply concerned
with there being a "Jewish
state,"
then they are consigning the people
of Israel/Palestine to
endless violence.
Right now the logic of a Jewish state is
leading
Israeli politicians to propose
kicking non-Jewish citizens out of the
state and
the ongoing ethnic cleansing
of the occupied territories. This is the
process that has to be stopped. The
future of Israel/Palestine depends on it.
For the original article in Mondoweiss
click here.
[Highlighting and images added by
ML; credit for "Hope" drawing: Jewish
Voice for Peace; credit for image of
Joel F. holding sign: Laborbeat.]