America and the Two-State Solution

The American position of calling for a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue is not new. It is probably nothing more than a declaration with no real commitment to this principle. Even if there is any commitment to this concept, the promised Palestinian state will have to meet all of Israel’s conditions, and will therefore lack all sense of an actual state when it comes to sovereignty. It will be surrounded by occupation and infiltrated in all areas, not to mention that it will be torn and fragmented.

What is interesting is that the new Israeli government has deliberately overlooked the issue of two states, and this seems like a digression from the policy that the previous government adopted.

The previous Israeli government used this issue during futile negotiations in which it gave the impression of working towards peace; however, judging by its practices regarding the Palestinian territory, it was far from desiring peace. Some people may see the present Israeli government’s disregard for the idea of two states as a contradiction with its predecessor, but in the end there is no real contradiction.

The previous U.S. administration did propose a two-state solution and the former U.S. president promised to achieve it before the end of his term. It turned out that was a lie, and that there was no real commitment to apply this principle, even under terms that would be unjust to the Palestinians or that would ignore their fundamental rights. The issue has remained a mere slogan, devoid of meaning or any real commitment.

Perhaps many people, in Palestine in particular and in the Arab world in general, relied on this promise of a two-state solution, and they placed a lot of hope in the U.S. as the sponsor of the peace process. They hoped that the U.S. would honor its pledge and apply the principle for which it announced support. Perhaps the arrival of Obama and the new administration will get the U.S. to disagree with its strategic ally, and will exert pressure on Israel to declare its approval of a two-state solution.

Obviously, even if Israel declares its acceptance of a two-state solution, it will only accept a Palestinian state according to its own terms, and if this is the case, it will not be a state. No matter how different the positions of the U.S. and Israel seem to be, it is merely a superficial difference and will not cause any gap in the strategic relations between the two. The U.S. sides with Israel most of the time, even if that means going against one of its principles or a stand it has taken.

Unless the U.S. insists on the two-state solution and – more importantly – makes a real commitment to it by exerting pressure to compel Israel to abide by it in accordance with the U.S.’s fair, objective vision and not Israel’s, the outcome of the issue will not be to the advantage of Palestinians and it will be void.

Since the U.S. looks at the Palestinian issue from an Israeli perspective, this seems unlikely, and Palestine will continue to be far from the promised state as long as the Israelis reject it.