Several U.S. allies proclaimed this past week their recognition of a Palestinian state, presumably on the West Bank (and perhaps in war-torn Gaza). These allies include the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Australia. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom proclaimed “The hope for a two-state solution is fading, but we cannot let that light go out.” The prime minister further stated “To revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution, the United Kingdom formally recognizes the State of Palestine.”
Prime Minister Starmer assumes an irresponsible premise that creation of a Palestinian state will bring to an end the Arab-Israeli conflict. This assumption overlooks the reality in the Middle East that it’s not so much want of a Palestinian state, but the existence of a Jewish state which is at the core of the conflict. Indeed, concerns expressed by the Arab states over the lack of a Palestinian state are recent and extend only so far as is convenient.
On the other hand, the United States and Israel can no longer ignore the reality that the Palestinian issue is also pertinent to the conflict. Israel seized the West Bank from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt in the Six Day War in 1967. Between the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948 and the transformation of the West Bank and Gaza into occupied territories in 1967, there was absolutely no effort (much less a consensus) by either Egypt or Jordan to create a Palestinian state.
Calls today for a Palestinian bring to mind the observation of Golda Meir, who served as prime minister of Israel in the early to mid seventies (including during the perilous Yom Kippur War in 1973), that the Palestinians already had a state in Jordan. And the majority of the population of Jordan is Palestinian.
But a Palestinian majority does not translate into a Palestinian state. And the concern that the Palestinians on the West Bank are stateless is irrefutable. Jordan is a kingdom identified by its Hashemite dynasty and where Palestinians remain second class citizens. Of course, that Palestinians struggle with a reduced status in Jordan makes more acute the irony that the nations of the Middle East protest treatment of the Palestinians under Israel.
Further irony is the fact that the most free Arabs in the Middle East are the Palestinians living in Israel proper (the pre-1967 borders absent the occupied territories). Within the recognized borders of Israel, Palestinians participate in both the economy and the democracy. Whatever grievance(s) these Palestinians harbor, they have no intent to migrate to a new Palestinian state envisioned for the West Bank. This too is not an adequate premise on which to base the Palestinians of the occupied territories. But this reality would come as a surprise to those exposed to constant hostility toward Israel.
No doubt, self-examination on Israel’s part is necessary. Benjamin “Bib” Netanyahu, the right wing prime minister of Israel who has declared there won’t be a Palestinian state west of the Jordan river, is no more interested in peace than any other player in the Middle East. It’s worse than irresponsible to declare there will never be a Palestinian state. Indeed, the argument is strong that a Palestinian state is inevitable.
If my commentary seems like neither an endorsement nor a rejection of a Palestinian state, you’re right. As already indicated, a Palestinian state could be established tomorrow and the world would still be saddled with an Arab-Israeli conflict.
This brings to mind the difficult issue of Gaza. Prime Minister Starmer insists a Palestinian state will not be a reward for Hamas terrorists “because Hamas will have no future.” But in the only elections ever conducted in the Palestinian territories, almost 20 years ago, Hamas took a majority of the vote. This prompted the Palestinian Authority to close the West Bank to Hamas and leave Gaza to fend for itself. Can we now declare there is no connection between Hamas and the Palestinians?
These are difficult facts to resolve. My hope is that Israel will in its next election choose a prime minister willing to sit down with Palestinians in a serious discussion about peace and legitimate aspirations. The inescapable maxim in diplomacy is that one does not make peace with friends, one makes peace with enemies.
John O’Neill is an Allen Park freelance writer and a graduate of Wayne State University.
