If at first an idea does not seem absurd, then there is no hope for it.
– Albert Einstein
As much as the Palestinians have failed to liberate their homeland and achieve their return, the Israelis have failed to arrive at their acceptance and naturalization in the region. Fifty-three years after the establishment of the state of Israel in Palestine, the Middle East continues to be in a state of instability and ongoing cycles of war and violence. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Arabs and tens of thousands of Israelis and continues to claim yet more.
There have been various attempts and initiatives presented and contemplated to end the Arab-Israeli conflict over the past 50 years. However, in the last 10 years, in the wake of the first intifada (Palestinian uprising), the international community was compelled to address the Palestinian question and Israel was pressured to engage in a dialog and a process toward a resolution of the conflict.
Unfortunately, the ‘peace process’ has focused on political definitions and cease-fire lines rather than the more substantive issues that address the concerns and aspirations of both Israeli and Palestinian society. Future initiatives need to provide a framework that enables both Israelis and Palestinians to accommodate the other so that the concerns and aspirations of both societies can be addressed.
Without this framework, it is not surprising that the current process failed. Now both societies are at a turning point in their respective histories. The future of the region depends greatly on what course each society takes from here. Without a fundamental shift in focus to real life issues that concern both societies, the conflict will spiral into misery and continue to deprive the children of Palestine-Israel the dream of life. Once we understand the reasons behind the failure of previous initiatives, we can set the parameters for constructive dialog that brings the conflict toward resolution. The effective collapse of the current process places us at a crossroads that demands that we develop an alternative process that comprehensively addresses all aspects of the conflict or be faced with even greater levels of confrontation and destruction.
This proposal presents a new initiative that comprehensively addresses the concerns and current realities of both Israeli and Palestinian society. It addresses the shortcomings of previous initiatives and how Israelis and Palestinians can accommodate each other. Specifically, this proposal offers a new political arrangement, guidelines for healthy ethno-national relations and an alternative territorial configuration based on current demographics and land use. This initiative would provide the framework for the resolution of all outstanding issues of the conflict that would serve as the foundation for the development of viable civic society in Palestine-Israel and allow for acceptance of Israelis by the peoples of the region.
Palestinian and Israeli Concerns and Aspirations
The general pursuit of happiness and prosperity is common across humanity. Since Palestinians and Israelis share the same land as their home, they can only strive toward this shared aspiration when both societies are able to understand and respect the concerns and aspirations of each other. In order to get beyond the misconception that concerns and aspirations of one society is independent of the other, we need to derive measures that bridge the concerns of both societies without negating each other’s aspirations.
Israeli Concerns and Aspirations
The following Israeli concerns and aspirations represent the primary demands of Israeli society:
Security. Security represents the primary concern of Israelis. The nationalist aspirations of the Palestinians for independence and statehood continue to pose a threat to the very existence of the state of Israel. At the regional level, Israelis depend on their military superiority to protect them from their geographical vulnerability of being surrounded by nations that question their very legitimacy.
Acceptance. The majority of Israelis would like to be accepted as a state among the nations of the Middle East and enjoy economic and cultural relations across the region. However, nations in the region continue to view Israel as a foreign entity and do not recognize its right to exist as a state.
Character of the Jewish State. The majority of Israelis continue to support the idea of a Jewish state as a means of defending and protecting Jewish rights. Moreover, Western Jews feel a sense of security and personal fulfillment in Israel as a place of refuge should they become subject to racial or religious persecution and as an expression of Jewish identity. Atrocities committed against Jews in Europe combined with the religious and ideological commitment to the idea of Israel contribute to the desire to maintain a Jewish state.
Identity. Israelis have a strong sense of identity expressed through their attachment to the Hebrew language and their strong commitment to the state. This commitment is strengthened by the desire of both the immigrant population and the Israeli born to cut across cultural, social, and historical differences in search of a shared identity. Israelis are resistant to initiatives that may threaten to dilute, destroy, or negate this identity.
Peace. There is a growing consensus in Israeli society in support of arriving at an end to the conflict in order to live in peace in the region. The majority of Israelis are frustrated by their inability move beyond the conflict and devote attention to life matters. They long for a peace that would free them of the political instability of the conflict that pervades their lives.
Jerusalem. Some Israelis worry that if they did not maintain exclusive control over the city of Jerusalem, they would lose access to a city for which they hold both historical and religious significance. Other Israelis represented by the Zionist leadership have a political commitment towards Jerusalem. Since the whole Zionist idea is founded on the Jewish state and the city of Jerusalem is the symbol of the connection of the Jewish state to Palestine, they find that control over Jerusalem is essential to that commitment.
