Two-state solution is no longer viable, Palestinian activist tells Limmud

The two state solution, widely advocated as the best way to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is dead, a Limmud audience was told.

Samer Sinijlawi, the Palestinian chief executive of the Jerusalem Development Fund, a non-profit organisation that works to improve life in the Occupied Territories, and veteran Israeli peace activist Gershon Baskin led a discussion looking at solutions “beyond the failed two-state paradigm”.

Mr Sinijlawi told a packed room: “Facts on the ground do not support two states living side by side.

“The settlement project has won the battle. Thousands of settlers now live in more than four hundred settlements, with infrastructure connecting them. No Israeli Prime Minister or government can now remove the hundreds of thousands of settlers.”

Peace could “only be obtained through cooperation and interaction, not the building of walls and exacerbating division”.

Mr Sinijlawi claimed this view was in line with that of mainstream Palestinians, 85 per cent of whom are under the age of 45 and want to see change “not just within their lifetime, but immediately.”

Palestinians under the current system, he said, were “losing more than anybody else and much faster.”

He compared the current situation to a structure of two floors, with the Palestinians residing in the servants quarters while the Jews and Israelis live in the upper floor for the masters.

“The way the Palestinians see it is that they cannot take two layers of oppression, in both Israel and Hamas,” he said. “To be incorporated into a larger, one-state utopia is for the Palestinians the more feasible option.

“Israel already controls the civil register of Palestinians; Israel controls the airspace, the border, the taxation systems. Israel can keep its Jewish identity, its alliances, its friendship with the USA, but can grant rights to all citizens under its jurisdiction.

“I need to practise full civil and legal rights in the place of my birth” said Mr Sinijlawi, who is from East Jerusalem.

Hamas, who could not be defeated militarily, were the only ones to benefit from the continuation of the current system, he argued.

Mr Sinijlawi said: “There is no military solution with Hamas. Israel is trying everything possible militarily and it’s not working. The only way to defeat Hamas is politically, and that can be done.

“One of the successes that Judaism has brought to the conversation - something that the Palestinians and Hamas still must learn - is the value of life and human dignity.

“Young Palestinians understand this: regular funerals for them are commonplace, whereas one hair is dropped from an Israeli and the entire country mourns. An identity that encourages human dignity must evolve.

“We, the Palestinians and Israelis, are not enemies of each other. Mistrust and ignorance are common enemies of our people. We should start seeing each other as a solution and not as an obstacle.”

Mr Sinijwali believed that diaspora Jews could help promote dialogue. “Palestinians want to talk and engage with Israelis and academics and leaders, and both the diaspora and Israelis can facilitate and advocate for that. There must be as much interaction as possible.”

Mr Baskin, who is director of the Holy Land Bond and has previously advocated for a two-state solution for 44 years, agreed with Mr Sinijlawi.

“We have too often reduced the Israel-Palestine conflict to who has more pain and who therefore is owed more,” Mr Baskin said. “But it’s much more about the future than the past, though we have to recognise the past to move forward.

“What we have is two people who have territorial identity to the region. The “us here and them there” paradigm was never a roadmap to peace. Peace will not be built by walls and division, but by cooperation.

“And we will know the peace process is going well if both sides are opposing the extremists on their own side and not excusing it.”