[A people cannot negotiate their fundamental human, national,
political and civil rights. The only way out of a colonial situation
is through a process of decolonization. ] [[link removed]]

IT IS TIME FOR THE ONE STATE SOLUTION TO GO MAINSTREAM  
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Awad Abdelfattah and Jeff Halper
December 17, 2020
The Electronic Intifada
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_ A people cannot negotiate their fundamental human, national,
political and civil rights. The only way out of a colonial situation
is through a process of decolonization. _

One country, two peoples, three religions. It’s time for a one
state solution based on equal rights to go mainstream., Mahfouz Abu
Turk/APA images

 

The “Palestinian-Israeli conflict” has often been presented as one
of the most intractable in modern world history.

But one reason for this is precisely that it has been wrongly analyzed
as a conflict and thus the “solutions” offered and the “peace
processes” for getting there fail.

This is not a conflict. There are not two sides fighting over some
issue that can be resolved through technical negotiations and
compromise. Rather, Zionism was – and is – a settler-colonial
project.

Jewish settlers arrived in Palestine from Europe with the intention of
taking over the country and making it their own. Like all settler
movements they came equipped with a narrative of why the country
actually belonged to them, and they pursued their claim to entitlement
unilaterally. The indigenous Palestinian population (which included
Sephardi, Mizrahi and ultra-Orthodox Jews) had no voice in the
process; they were not a “side,” but simply a population to be
disposed of.

That remains true to this day as the settler Zionist project has
virtually completed its task of Judaizing Palestine, of transforming
an Arab country into a Jewish one. Its inescapable conclusion is
apartheid: confining Palestinians into disconnected and impoverished
enclaves scattered over 15 percent of their country.

Settler-colonialism and apartheid, however, cannot be resolved through
negotiations and compromise. A people cannot negotiate their
fundamental human, national, political and civil rights. The only way
out of a colonial situation is through a process of decolonization.

What does that entail? It entails a fundamental readjustment to the
current reality. It entails the return of Palestinain refugees and
their reintegration into society. It entails the dismantling of all
structures of domination and control, be they political, economic or
ideological and cultural.

It requires acknowledging that the colonized population has the right
to an equal say in the construction of the post-colonial polity. It
necessitates the formation of a new political system and civil society
that guarantees equal rights to all its citizens as well as to the
national, ethnic and religious groups that comprise it.

It further demands an equitable redistribution of resources,
especially land, the prime target of settler-colonialism, along with
an acknowledgment by the colonizers of the suffering they have
brought, and consequent reparations.

It is such fundamental change that is needed to generate a new, shared
political community. And that, in turn, is the only possible way
settler-colonialism can be transcended.

A political program

Settler-colonial analysis is well-developed in academic circles and
offers genuinely new horizons for a just peace in Palestine/Israel.
But it has not yet penetrated popular or political discourses, which
are still mired in necessarily fruitless attempts to negotiate – or,
more precisely, manage – a conflict.

Attempting to replace conflict resolution with the more appropriate
and just process of decolonization, a Palestinian-led initiative has
emerged out of Haifa over the past three years.

The One Democratic State Campaign [[link removed]]
(ODSC), though still in its infancy, comprises Palestinians from every
major community (citizens of the areas that in 1948 became Israel, the
occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, the refugee camps and the
Diaspora/Exiles), together with their anti-colonial Israeli Jewish
allies. It has issued a call
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for the establishment of a single democratic state between the Jordan
River and the Mediterranean Sea, one that will also witness the return
of the Palestinian refugees to their homeland.

Building on the work of others, the ODSC has also formulated a
10-point political program that “thinks through” the entire
process of decolonizing the settler-colonial entity of Israel through
the establishment of a post-colonial polity and political community.
They are, in brief:

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_Decolonization_. The only way to resolve a settler-colonial situation
is through a thorough process of decolonization that will ultimately
give rise to a new, shared political community.

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_A Single Constitutional Democracy_. One democratic state shall be
established between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River
belonging to all its citizens, including Palestinian refugees who will
be able to return to their homeland. All citizens will enjoy equal
rights, freedom and security. The State shall be a constitutional
democracy, the authority to govern and make laws emanating from the
consent of the governed.

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_Right of Return, of Restoration and of Reintegration into Society_.
The single democratic state will fully implement the Right of Return
of all Palestinian refugees who were expelled in 1948 and thereafter,
whether living in exile abroad or currently living in Israel or the
Occupied Territory. The State will aid them in returning to their
country and to the places from which they were expelled. It will help
them rebuild their personal lives and to be fully reintegrated into
the country’s society, economy and polity. The State will do
everything in its power to restore to the refugees their private and
communal property and/or compensate them.

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_Individual Rights_. No State law, institution or practices may
discriminate among citizens on the basis of national or social origin,
color, gender, language, religion or political opinion or sexual
orientation. A single citizenship confers on all the State’s
residents the right to freedom of movement, the right to reside
anywhere in the country, and equal rights in every domain.

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_Collective Rights_. Within the framework of a single democratic
state, the Constitution will also protect collective rights and the
freedom of association, whether national, ethnic, religious, class or
gender. Constitutional guarantees will ensure that all languages, arts
and culture can flourish and develop freely. No group or collectivity
will have any privileges, nor will any group, party or collectivity
have the ability to leverage any control or domination over others.
Parliament will not have the authority to enact any laws that
discriminate against any community under the Constitution.

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_Constructing a Shared Civil Society_. The State shall nurture a vital
civil society comprised of common civil institutions, in particular
educational, cultural and economic. Alongside religious marriage the
State will provide civil marriage.

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_Economy and Economic Justice_. Our vision seeks to achieve justice,
and this includes social and economic justice. Economic policy must
address the decades of exploitation and discrimination which have sown
deep socioeconomic gaps among the people living in the land. A State
seeking justice must develop a creative and long-term redistributive
economic policy to ensure that all citizens have equal opportunity to
attain education, productive employment, economic security and a
dignified standard of living.

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_Commitment to Human Rights, Justice and Peace_. The State shall
uphold international law and seek the peaceful resolution of conflicts
through negotiation and collective security in accordance with the
United Nations Charter.

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_Our Role in the Region_. The ODSC will join with all progressive
forces in the Arab world struggling for democracy, social justice and
egalitarian societies free from tyranny and foreign domination.

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_International responsibility_. On a global level, the ODSC views
itself as part of the progressive forces striving for an alternative
global order that is just, egalitarian and free of any oppression,
racism, imperialism and colonialism.

Considerable work still needs to be done to flesh out our program,
which is very much a participatory work in progress. But our task in
this historic moment is clear: to enter the political arena armed with
a clear and compelling political program, organization and strategy,
all required if we are to effectively mobilize our main allies, the
global grassroots.

A democratic state in historic Palestine is no utopian vision. It is
doable, it is critical and it is urgent. The time has come for an
inclusive democratic state between the Jordan River and the
Mediterranean Sea.

_Awad Abdelfattah is the Coordinator of the One Democratic State
Campaign (ODSC). He is the former Secretary-General, Balad/Tajamo
party._

_Jeff Halper is the head of the Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions (ICAHD) and a founding member of the ODSC. His forthcoming
book is Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine: The Case for One
Democratic State (London: Pluto, 2021)._

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