Clovis Maksoud: One Democratic Secular State
During the past few weeks, as the current round of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations continue, the demand by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) recognize Israel as a Jewish state has elicited a variety of controversial comments.
Perhaps, the most surprising reaction was the revival of a formula that the two negotiating partners have consistently ignored — the establishment of a secular democratic state in historic Palestine. Among the advocates of such a solution are Edward Said, Fayez Sayegh, Ibrahim Abu-Lughoud and many other Arab political and intellectual figures.
This approach has been considered unrealistic despite the prevailing conviction that it would be a credible and durable resolution to the endemic conflict. While many Arabs and Jews have welcomed the project, it obviously has not seen the light of day. Instead, it has become a footnote in the historical evolution of what is called the Palestinian question.
This neglected option is now being revived by none other than Tareq Abbas, the 48-year-old son of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In a March 18 interview with The New York Times, Abbas stated, “If you don’t want to give me independence, at least give me civil rights.” In other words, a democratic secular state of Israel and Palestine that provides equality to all citizens, eliminates the current institutional discrimination against Arab Israeli citizens and answers the unfulfilled Palestinian desire for full citizenship in an independent Palestinian state.
In this regard, Abbas observed during the interview, “That’s an easier way, peaceful way. I don’t want to throw anything, I don’t want to hate anybody, I don’t want to shoot anybody. I want to be under the law.”
The father responded to his son’s position in an earlier in a previous interview cited by the Times: “I said, ‘Look, my son, we are looking for [a] two-state solution and this is the only one.’ He said, ‘Oh, my father, where is your state? I wander everywhere and I see [settlement] blocks everywhere, I see houses everywhere.’” His father continued, “I say, ‘Please, my son, this is our position, we will not go for one state.’”
The Time’s writer commented, “Such intergenerational arguments have become commonplace in the salons of Palestinian civil society and at kitchen tables across the West Bank as the children and grandchildren of the founders of the Palestinian national movement increasingly question its goals and tactics.”
Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, was quoted as stating that in a December survey, some one-third of Palestinians indicated an interest in the one-state solution, but among Palestinians under 45, support was firmer. This generation “cannot be satisfied by a two-state solution,” according to Shikaki. “Just ask my son,” he wrote to the Times in an email. “He will tell you that my generation has failed and should exit the stage and take its mainstream paradigm, the two-state solution, along with it.”
Perhaps this appears infeasible at the moment. Maybe the provocations of Moshe Ya’alon, the Israeli defense minister, strongly criticizing Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama will not have any bearing on rethinking policy toward Israel. Maybe the framework agreements will be realized. Perhaps the building of settlements will continue. If all these provocations toward the Palestinian and Arab peoples continue to go unaddressed, however, it is possible that the one-state option will bring to the forefront the constituency of conscience among the Jews of Israel, and its young generation will converge on what has been, until now, an “idealistic” solution, a footnote in the search for a practical, democratic and long-awaited solution to this endemic conflict.
Let me acknowledge that reviving this proposal might be described as “wishful thinking” or as “unrealistic.” While I do not think it will be realized in my lifetime, I have the feeling that such a proposal is not only rational, but also realistic and thus will come to fruition sooner than anyone now thinks.
While the peace process and negotiations are ongoing, a convergence of youths among the two adversarial entities might bring about the resolution that has eluded both UN and US management of the peace process. Is this possible? The answer lies with the sons of Abbas and Shikaki and the young throughout the historical land of Palestine.
Clovis Maksoud
Al Monitor