For many years now I have engaged in a variety of discussions and debates about the so-called Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It has been pointed out by several of my friends that while it is not particularly difficult to criticize the Middle East policies of the Obama administration and its various predecessors, it is much harder to offer coherent proposals towards the solution of this seemingly intractable problem. In this essay I will briefly lay out my views on this topic, primarily to organize my own thoughts on this matter and also to explain my positions to friends and others who read my posts on facebook and other venues.
Let me begin by pointing out that the term “Israeli-Palestinian conflict” is a misnomer. From the end of the 19th century, when the Zionist pioneers first started to arrive in their ancient homeland in large numbers, a conflict has raged between the people of Israel and various ethnic and political groupings for many reasons and involving many different contexts. To begin with, at the end of the 19th century, the Arabs living in what was called Palestine did not know that they were a “nation”. Some of them were Muslims (around %89), while others were Christian (around %11). Some were Bedouins roaming the desert, while others were fellahin (farmers) working the land. Some were there for long time, while others were brought in as indentured servants. No social or political cohesion among these groups ever existed or was even attempted for a very long time.
Even in the 1960s, in the genocidal “Palestinian Charter”, the Palestinian State was only contemplated as a part of the “Arab Nation”. Thus the whole notion of the Palestinian nationality is a cheap fabrication of the past few decades. If anything unites these people at all, it is the hatred of Israel and the Jews infused into them through crude and shameless propaganda and the misery of refugee camps created by their Arab brethren who used this senseless suffering to score political points.
And why were these refugee camps needed in the first place? Because the Arab propaganda machine urged the Arabs of Palestine to flee to clear the way for the invading Arab armies. They were assured that as soon as the Jews were slaughtered and thrown in the sea, people can return to their homes and resume their normal lives. Yes, the Irgun, and in some cases even Haganah and Palmach forced some Arabs to flee. Israelis were not and are not perfect, but this was not the main cause of the Arab refugee problem.
In 1967, when Israel captured Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Sinai in a defensive war against the large Arab armies equipped by the Soviet Union, another wave of refugees was created and this time it was entirely due to baseless fear and Arab propaganda. The Levi Eshkol government went out of its way to prevent any attempts to deport Arabs from Judea and Samaria to the East Bank of the Jordan River. And were these refugees embraced and resettled by their Arab brethren? No, they were stuffed into bloating refugee camps, infused with hatred and systematically recruited for terrorist activities against Israel.
Throughout the 20th century and even before, the Arabs of Palestine engaged in sporadic and at times systematic violence against their Jewish neighbors. Was this done as form of struggle against the “Zionist invader”? Not really. Even a cursory look at the history of the Middle East will tell you that this was a common modus operandi not only towards people regarded as foreigners, but among Arabs themselves. During the 20th century, the number of Arabs killed by other Arabs for reasons having little or nothing to do with the Arab-Israeli conflict dwarfs the casualties even remotely attributable to Israel. Violence is the way of life in the Arab Middle East, accepted as inevitable by a sizable majority and practiced by a large minority.
Much noise has been made about the treatment of the Arab minority in Israel. And yes, the problems definitely exist and should not be ignored, just as they do in any democratic country that has sizable minority populations. But is this problem out of proportion to what is going on in United States and Western European countries? This is not the case, to put it mildly. An inconvenient fact, systematically ignored by critics of Israel is the fact that Arab immigration from Israel, inside the so-called Green Line, is tiny, whereas the immigration from the territories under the direct control of the Palestinian Authority is much larger. One could attempt to explain this phenomenon by the alleged suppression of the Palestinian economy by Israel, but the corruption and political repression by the Palestinian Authority is a much more reasonable explanation.
Having laid down the general framework of the conflict, what are the solutions? The first step in my view is to put an end to lies and silly myths. The notion of Arab Palestinian nationality is a fallacious artificial political construct that has no basis in reality. This does not change the facts that Palestinian Arabs are human beings deserving of basic human rights. One of these rights is to live in a state where they have voting rights and where their civil liberties and interests are protected. The only way to accomplish this, in my view, is by partitioning Judea and Samaria into two zones.
The first zone, containing the areas with large Jewish populations should be annexed by Israel. The Arab inhabitants of these territories should receive full Israeli citizenship rights. The second zone should receive a political autonomy and administered by Jordan. The inhabitants of those territories, including Jewish “settlers”, should receive full Jordanian citizenship rights. Jerusalem should remain united under Israeli control and all of its inhabitants should receive full Israeli citizenship rights. Those Arabs who do not wish to remain in the areas annexed by Israel should be given an option to move to the Jordanian administrated zone and receive full citizenship rights. Those Jews who do not wish to remain in the Jordanian administrated areas certainly have the right to move to Israel proper.
The proposal above does not address the situation in Gaza. Little can be done, even in principle, while Gaza is under control of obscurantist lunatics, even more homicidal than those lodged in Ramallah. In the long run, Gaza should probably receive autonomy administered by Egypt, with full citizenship rights in the Egyptian state. Given the geographical proximity, autonomy under Jordanian administration may also be possible.
The solutions proposed above have already been floated around and thoroughly rejected by both Jordan and Egypt, but I do not find that particularly discouraging. Deep ongoing political changes in both countries are creating new realities, which may change the situation in the next few decades. In meantime, it is important to proceed slowly and carefully and avoid cataclysmic epiphanies like Oslo. As my friend Eli Liflyand stressed to me on a number of occasions, when one has an inferior position in a chess game, one plays carefully to improve it and does not lash out in desperation. The latter typically leads to a quick checkmate.
It is very important to remember that anti-Semitism, quite prevalent in a variety of forms throughout the world and Arab propaganda and garden variety ignorance are not solely responsible for the situation where much of the Western world accepts the “two-state solution” as a desirable inevitability. The misguided and disastrous Oslo accords constitute a deep and painful self-inflicted wound in the body of the People of Israel. I reject the assertion by the far Right in Israel who claim all sorts of malicious motivations behind those accords on the part of Israeli Left. I remember those times well and I can still feel the palpable euphoria at the prospect of genuine and lasting peace. I supported the Oslo accords and so did millions of well-meaning and intelligent Jewish people throughout the world.
But we were mistaken… deeply and criminally wrong! We ignored the realities of the Middle East and the world as a whole. We ignored our historical heritage. And we ignored the determination of our enemies, throughout the globe, to destroy us. Most of all, we forgot a very basic piece of common sense that any agreement based on lies and pretense cannot last. On a more practical local level, we chose to ignore the obvious point that agreements as important as Oslo should never be pushed through by a razor thin majority that existed at the time in Israel. A true consensus for any lasting agreement must be built, in Israel and the Diaspora and this takes time, good will and considerable effort.
Change of clothes in a backpack 