Just Resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

NewPolicy.org supports a timely and equitable resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. NewPolicy.org has no position on whether a negotiated end to the conflict should result in a two-state or one-state solution. As American citizens concerned for America’s interests and long-term security, we do not pretend to know what’s the right solution for the Israelis and Palestinians. However, we do proclaim our right to protest our taxpayer money going into supporting the Israeli occupation, Jewish settlements or any illegal activity by the Israeli government.

Establishing a just peace is crucial to ending the Arab-Israeli conflict, an achievement that will go a long way to alleviating the tensions between the Arab world and Muslim world on the one hand and the United States and the West on the other.

One State v.s. Two States

NewPolicy.org would not oppose a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if agreed to by both Palestinians and Israelis. The two-state solution has been endorsed by the Arab League through the Arab Peace Initiative and the Organization of Islamic Countries under the auspices of Saudi leadership. The two-state solution has also been the basis of negotiations under the mediation of the quartet, which includes the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.

Unfortunately, the chances for a two-state solution have been strongly diminished by the continued building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The presence of 550,000 Jewish settlers in heavily fortified settlements in the occupied territories, along with the unlikely scenario of their evacuation and their unwillingness to become Jewish citizens of a Palestinian state, has emboldened the advocates of a one-state solution.

NewPolicy.org does not oppose a one-state solution in principle: a democratic secular state with a population half Jewish, half Arab can prosper and become a model of coexistence, human rights, secularism and democracy for the Middle East and the entire world. However, either solution if implemented by the two parties toward a just end to the hostilities would pave the road to peace in the region and enhanced American security at home.