Whose
problem is it?
It
may be true that every problem has a solution. In international politics, every
problem has a solution provided those capable of solving it are willing to
solve it. Whose problem is the Israel-Palestine conflict?
It
is definitely the primary problem of the Palestinians. Since 1948, they are
either refugees in exile, citizens with no civil rights in occupied territories
or open-air prisoners in Gaza. With the growing anti-Islam sentiment in the
non-Muslim world, rift between Iran and other Arab nations, and burning Syria
next door; media space for the Palestine problem is shrinking.
It’s
also Israel’s problem. The state of Israel is only partially recognised and
partially legal. Jerusalem, its supposed capital, does not have a single
embassy. Israel is prone to attacks from suicide bombers and smuggled rockets.
When a democratic nation requires the continued presence of an army to maintain
peace, there is something terribly wrong with it.
Americans
may not realise it, but Israel is their self-inflicted problem created by its
global interference strategy. On 09/11, nearly 3000 Americans- most of them
civilians- lost their lives partly as a consequence of America’s support for
Israel. Before planning the attack, Usama Bin Laden, a fairly logical man for a
terrorist, had opened all his cards in a 1998 fatwa. Talking about the Crusader-Zionist
alliance, the fatwa said: “If the Americans’ aims behind these wars are
religious and economic, the aim is also to serve the Jews’ petty state and
divert attention from its occupation of Jerusalem and murder of Muslims there.”
UBL went on to accuse America of destroying and fragmenting Iraq and other Arab
states in the neighbourhood to guarantee Israel’s survival. The fatwa asked the
followers of Allah to kill Americans, civilian and military, to liberate the
mosque in Jerusalem and to kick out American armies from the land of Islam. (In
2003, America quietly complied with one of the Fatwa conditions by removing its
military bases from Saudi Arabia). Though UBL is dead, and Al-Qaeda weak, this
anger and sentiment is shared by millions of Muslims.
Israel-Palestine
is everybody’s problem, including yours and mine. We are now an indivisible part
of the international community. Our daily lives are affected by international
politics as never before. Some foreign power decides if I can carry my laptop
or a bottle of water on a flight. All of us live in places which can be
targeted by nuclear or ‘mother-of-all bombs’. Just because the Israel-Palestine
issue is not located next door; our willingness to ignore it or pass
superficial judgement based on whichever biased media we are exposed to, may result
in our silent support for injustice. Mute (or dumb) support allows a precedent
to be set. And then a similar injustice may be perpetrated on us. By then it
will be too late to wake up and begin protesting.
Opinions
are formed by a vocal minority, not by a silent majority.
Two-state
solution
Since
1947, a two-state solution has been discussed for the Israel-Palestine issue. As
mentioned in an earlier part, the UN had offered to split Palestine into three
parts. (a) A Jewish state (b) An Arab state and (c) Jerusalem governed by an
international body. This partition would have happened at the same time as the
birth of Israel. In 1948, the offer, to give the Palestinians 44% of the land
that was essentially theirs, was considered so outrageous that Palestinians had
refused it. With the passage of time, and Israel’s continuous capture of land
through war conquests, military encroachment, annexation and settlements,
Palestinians regretted not accepting the 1948 offer. When a thief tries to rob you, you must first
try to recover whatever you can. In hindsight, Palestinians would have been better
off accepting the 1948 partition, and then fighting for the remaining stolen
land. Yasser Arafat woke up to that fact, pointed to the 1948 partition
proposal, and declared Palestinian independence in 1988. This was only symbolic,
as Arafat, Palestine’s first president, had to form a government in exile. The
flip side of acknowledging the 40-year old partition proposal was that for the
first time the Palestinians unwittingly accepted the existence, if not
legitimacy, of the state of Israel. In 2012, the United Nations offered a “non-member
observer status” to Palestine, a state that governs no geography.
What
is the two-state solution?
The
two-state solution has three critical elements:
a.
Return to pre-1967 borders
b.
East Jerusalem in Palestine
c.
Palestinians’ right of return.
Return
to pre-1967 borders
Acceptance
of the original partition plan (1948) means drawing the borders as they were in
1948. However, that is considered more unrealistic than a return to the 1967
borders. Since the six-day war in June 1967, Israel occupied the Palestinian
territories including the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The occupation and the
settlements are termed illegal. Israel must withdraw from the occupied
territories and evacuate the settlements. This is the view of the United
Nations and the Palestinians. Israel doesn’t agree with it.
In
1948, the population of Israel was 800,000. By 1967, it
had grown to 2.7 million. Today, it is 8.7 million.
Israel
has the highest fertility rate (3.1 children per woman) in the developed world.
This, of course, can’t be an excuse for settling on Palestinian territories, where
fertility rates are much higher. However, for Israel, immigration is as big a
factor as biological growth. Since 1989, following the collapse of communism,
nearly 1 million Jews have migrated to Israel from the former USSR. Between
1967 and today, Israel’s population has grown by 6 million. The West Bank has
600,000 settlers, with an enjoyable life. The settlements are not in tents or
temporary housing. They contain posh apartments, shopping malls, schools,
theatres, and clubs. Most Jewish immigrants have moved there because of the
quality of life; a West Bank settlement looks like New Jersey, even better.
Israelis and Palestinians are not clearly separated like East Berlin and West
Berlin were. Israeli settlements are spread throughout the West Bank, many
criss-cross with Palestinian villages. The notion of evacuating the settlements
is scary for Israel. Where do you place the 600,000 residents of the West Bank?
Over
the decades, the settler population has grown dramatically (settler
colonialism), and Israel continues to build more settlements. It has now
reached a number where the potential re-settling of the settlers may produce an
unmanageable crisis for Israel. Ariel Sharon had once said: “Our finest
youth live there. They are already the third generation, contributing to the
state and serving in elite army units. They return home and get married, so
then they can’t build a house and have children? What do you want, for a
pregnant woman to have an abortion just because she is a settler?”
East
Jerusalem in Palestine
The
1949 Armistice agreement at the end of the Arab-Israeli war split Jerusalem,
keeping its west part with Israel and the East with Jordan (now Palestine).
Israel occupied and annexed East Jerusalem, and it must be returned to the
state of Palestine. East Jerusalem will become the capital of Palestine. The
Muslim and Christian quarters and the temple mount (Haram esh-Sharif) will be
under Palestinian sovereignty. This is the view of the United Nations and the
Palestinians. Israel doesn’t agree with it.
From
Israel’s viewpoint, Jerusalem is indivisible. It belongs to Israel. Jerusalem
is the basis of the birth of Israel. Undivided Jerusalem is the capital of
Israel. No question of giving part of it to the Palestinians.
Palestinians’
right of return
UN
considers the right of return to the home from which you were expelled a
natural human right. In the 1948 and 1967 wars an estimated 900,000
Palestinians were expelled from their homes. They and their descendents have
been living as refugees abroad- many without any citizenship. The total number
(surviving refugees plus descendents) is estimated to be 5 million. They have a
right to return to their homes seized by Israel. Those who opt not to return
should be monetarily compensated by Israel. This is the view of the United
Nations and the Palestinians. Israel doesn’t agree with it.
Israel
thinks the notion of accommodating or compensating 5 million Palestinians is a
fantasy, a blue sky negotiation tactic. It’s impractical to bring back to their
homes people expelled fifty or seventy years ago. (It’s perfectly practical and
legitimate to return to a land from which you were expelled 3000 years ago as
stated in a story, but the same can’t be done if it happened factually 50-70
years ago).
The
other argument is that 900,000 Jews were also expelled from the Arab lands
during the Arab-Israel war. Nobody is talking about compensating them. This is,
indeed, a valid argument – with one difference. Jewish refugees are now
citizens of Israel (or USA), the Palestine refugees remain stateless.
*****
In
relation to American politics, you may have recently heard the term
“filibuster”, the right to an endless debate. You keep talking about a bill for
so long, that it dies before it can be voted on. The two-state solution has
been filibustered.
One
state solution
If
you can’t separate them, why not unite them?
The
name of the unified state is not known or discussed. It could be called
“Israelopalestine” (like Czechoslovakia), who knows. Palestinians are so
desperate; I think they will accept Israel as a name for the combined state. In
a single state, two of the three problems narrated above - going back to the
1967 borders and splitting of Jerusalem disappear. The Jewish settlers in the
West Bank can continue to live in their settlements. Jerusalem becomes the
capital of the unified state. Fences and walls can be removed; people can start
moving freely across the entire territory of Israel and occupied territories.
Israel is sandwiched between Gaza and the West Bank. That matters in a two
state theory, where the Palestine state is split. A single state solves that
problem.
Many
supporters of this solution point out, de facto it’s a single state
today, entirely controlled by Israel. This de facto single state and the
one state solution are quite different, though.
Today,
Arabs in West Bank and Gaza are under occupation. They have no voting rights,
no citizenship, and no access to Israeli courts. The West Bank Palestinian
villages don’t get permits to build gyms, whereas their illegal Jewish
neighbours have posh sports facilities.
What
is the one state solution?
a.
Israel and the Palestine
territories (occupied by Israel) form a single bi-national democratic state.
b.
All citizens - Jews, Arabs or
others, would be equal citizens of the state with equal voting rights.
Bi-national
democratic state
Israel
calls itself a “Jewish democratic state.”
By
the end of 2017, the combined state will have 6.9 million Jews (Israel), and
believe it or not 6.9 million Arabs (Israel+ West Bank+ Gaza strip). The
fertility rate of Arabs is higher than that of Jews. In future years, Israel
fears, Jews will be in minority. Israel can’t continue to be a Jewish state.
Equal
rights
The
alternative is to deny the Arabs equal rights, treat them as second-class
citizens. Israel currently has 20% Arabs who are Israeli citizens. Though
Israel claims to be a western democracy, it has no “civil” marriages; all
marriages are “religious”. The groom and bride must belong to the same religion
if they wish to get married. (Irish women must go abroad to get abortions done
and mixed-faith Israelis must go abroad to get married). In this sense, the
Jewish laws are stronger than secularism or democracy.
One
state solution, therefore, dictates that Israel can be either Jewish (by
denying Arabs equal rights) or democratic (no longer a dominant majority) but
not both. Can Israel accept that?
*****
In
the final chapter next week, I will discuss why the Israel-Palestine problem is
not solved till date, and whether it can be solved at all.
Ravi
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