What about the Two-State Solution?

This is Part One of a two-part series. In this first part, I try to look at what a “Two-State solution” might look like and how it might fail or succeed. In the second part, I will look at how a One State Solution may be the only viable way for Jews, Christians and Muslims of the area, to live as equals and in peace with each other.

It looks as if everybody is calling for a “Two-State Solution”. “Back to the 1967 borders”, they say although the Western nations waffle at this; they would rather call for a Two-State Solution that does not remove the post-1967 settlements or the properties Israeli Jews (Israel’s population includes Muslims and Christians) appropriated, since 1967, in the Occupied Territories.

How would a Two-State Solution work out? The last “agreement” between Israel and Palestinians was under Oslo II, it was completed with a lot of arm-twisting of the Palestinians and quite possibly, incentives were promised to the leaders because it created a Bantustan in which there was absolutely no possibility for a state, independent or otherwise. Under Oslo II, “Palestine” was broken up into Areas A, B and C (see map).

Area A. Palestinians were allowed to control civil authority and Security.

Area B. Palestinians controlled the civil authority but the Security was under Israeli control.

Area C. Entirely Israel civil authority and Security

The Rest. This was entirely an Israeli Closed Military Zone; no Palestinians allowed.
If the proposed land of “Palestine were in the middle of an ocean, this is how it would look.

Gaza remained a “Palestinian Autonomous Area” under Israeli control, essentially it became the world’s largest open air Prison; nothing was allowed in or out, without Israeli permission and that was not to be had. All four sides of Gaza are controlled by Israeli forces.
Today, Gaza is a collection of piles of rubble where cities and towns used to be. All the water and electricity used to come from Israel, that has been stopped entirely. Aid agencies’ estimates are that at least 100 trucks of food are required to just keep the Gazans alive. So far, Israel is not even allowing two dozen trucks a day to pass through into Gaza and the ones that do get through, are often targeted by Israeli forces; NO medical supplies are getting through

The Golan. How would the Golan Heights which were captured from Syria in 1973, be resolved? Will that land remain a part of Israel and occupied by Israeli Jews, creating another festering sore?

Lebanon. Israel occupies about 10% of Lebanese territory. If a two-state solution is meant to create a permanent peace, will Israel give up the Southern Lebanon it occupies? One look at the Israeli occupied Lebanon and one can see why that land is occupied; There are potentially, large gas fields off the shores of the Israeli-Occupied Lebanon.

Obviously, this could not constitute a Two-State Solution where both states are independent. In the past, Israel has suggested a land trade where Israel gets to keep areas of Jewish population (Settlements etc.,) and would in exchange, offer lands of equivalent area. Regardless of how good or bad this land exchange would be, it would still break any future Palestinian state into Bantustan-like enclaves.

All Western calls for a Two-State Solution that I am familiar with, also call for “security for Israel”, I have yet to hear of any calls that also include security for Palestinians along with security for Israel. People who support this so-called “solution, never touch the details of what that might mean, they are generally heard to say, let the two sides come to agreement on their own details. I have tried to see how a two-state solution might take shape and some of the bigger issues it involves.

Sovereignty. Israel has maintained that any Two-State Solution has to mean a de-militarized Palestine. In the past, Israel has also reserved the right of the Israeli military to enter a Palestinian state “for security reasons”. In the first three month after the October 7 attack, Israeli soldiers shot and killed over 300 Palestinians including children…”for security reasons”. One can only imagine the mayhem Israeli forces can cause in areas of the “independent Palestine” that they would control.

Water. Over 90%% of the water Israel draws today, is sourced from or via the West Bank (Israel’s own aquifers have long since gone saline). Currently, Israel even draws water from the Occupied Territories that was traditionally drawn by the local Palestinians. Villages are not permitted to dig new wells or to deepen their existing wells but Israeli trucks are free to fill up with Palestinian water and turn around and sell it to the villages from which they have drawn the water in the first place. Even the Jordan River would lie on the other side of the sovereign state of Palestine. How will the water resource be divided peacefully and equitably between a sovereign Palestinian state and Israel?

Compensation. How will compensation be calculated for the Palestinians who have been expelled, whose lands have been expropriated or whose families have been butchered by Israelis since the Nakba (Catastrophe) began? There are many who have said, “Let us not count the past and move to the future”. Today, (mostly) Israeli Jews have been drawing compensation into the second generation of the Holocaust victims and survivors for lives and properties lost; if that is good enough for Jews, why should it not also be good for Palestinians?
The next inevitable question would be, “Where will the  money come from?” Well, Western countries have poured hundreds of billions of dollars into Israel for the purpose of slaughtering Palestinians, why can they not pour a part of that money to compensating Palestinians for crimes that Western nations have been funding for so long?

It is inevitable that a Two State Solution will only postpone hostilities for a very short time, until Israel feels the need to take over more land or water resources and Palestinians will again, become stateless “Terrorists”.