As mentioned before, the call for a single state solution continues to gather widespread strength. In two articles this week, various advocates for the single state solution address concerns posed by high-level democratic leaders and pose arguments for the formation of a single state. In this Electronic Intifada posting, Ali Abunimah re-posts an open letter signed by a myriad of Israeli Jews calling for the end of the struggle and the formation of a single state. In the letter, the coalition of Jews address the very formation of Israel and the various catastrophes that followed the formation of the Jewish state. Beginning with the Nakba, as they call it (meaning catastrophe), this coalition of peoples identify the ruling members of Israel as Zionist crusaders who forcibly remove and punish the Palestinian peoples. They continue their letter by stating that the only way to do right by both peoples, the Jewish and the Palestinian, is to allow for the Palestinian people to return to their ancestral homes and for the Jewish to recognize their history of strife and allow such to occur.

Agreeing with this letter, this Al Jazeera America article calls for the abandonment of the two-state rhetoric and supports a move for a single state. In this article, the author, Musa al-Gharbi, repeats much of the same arguments that the above Jewish coalition stated: that the Israeli nation continues to barrage the Palestinian people with inhumane treatment and un-called for military attacks. Interestingly though, al-Gharbi recognizes the diminishing power of the PA and calls for that government to relinquish power and authority of the land to Israel; thereby forcing Israel to equitably deal with the Palestinian people.

Regardless of your background, or side you endorse, it is hard to diminish the fact that the two-state solution is dying. After decades of failed peace talks, and leaders who seemingly entrench themselves even further, the continued slaughter of innocent people on both sides demands an answer that the two-state solution simply can no longer address. The simple facts of the case are that Palestinians and Israelis have a right to the ancestral lands that each currently occupies. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to diminish the fact that Israel is indeed focusing in on the banishment of Palestinian people from their lands and the creation of a single, Jewish state. The only recourse then, aside from an all-out war between the two nations, is to find some sort of democratic solution that is a single-state. The rhetoric put forth by al-Gharbi in his Al Jazeera article, while radical at a minimum, offers one way to force the political hands to deal with the situation. While it may bring forth more bloodshed, the same could be said of continuing down the current path of increasingly failing “peace” talks. In the end though, I believe the more realistic solution lies in history itself and the formation of a single state. As mentioned earlier, the connections to South Africa and its struggle with Apartheid are becoming increasingly more strong. So join me next week as I explore this connection and continue my search for a solution.