Synopses & Reviews
and#147;While unilateralism and impunity are destroying the two-state solution, and racism and power politics are precluding the one-state solution, the Parallel States Project provides precisely that type of creativity and daring capable of generating a refreshing alternative vision that might actually rescue the chances of peace.and#8221;
and#151;Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee and the Palestinian Legislative Council
and#147;Two assumptions: 1) time ran out for the two-state solution and 2) Israelis and Palestinians can and have to live together, in equality and justice. For anyone who believes in these two assumptions, One Land, Two States is more than an option. It is a needand#151;the need to look for the unthinkable in this endless conflict.and#8221;
and#151;Gideon Levy, columnist for Haaretz
and#147;There is always merit in challenging conventional thinking, and this volume by two seasoned and out-of-the-box thinkers does it.and#8221;
and#151;Aaron David Miller, Vice President for New Initiatives, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
and#147;The Parallel States concept to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the most daring and intriguing new idea for a permanent peace that has come along in two generations of failed negotiations. It deserves very serious consideration by all interested parties, because in its entirety or in some of its component elements it could spark a more productive new path to peace, justice, and coexistence.and#8221;
and#151;Rami G. Khouri, Director, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, American University of Beirut, and syndicated columnist for Agence Global and the Daily Star
and#147;You may call it fantasy, daydreaming, or utopia. But isnand#8217;t this what Herzl faced too? When those who are preoccupied with the conventional two-state solution are being called obsessive, this book offers a new, fascinating, innovative approach with different tools to solve the same old problem for the same people. Wanted! Two brave leaders to take up the challenge.and#8221;
and#151;Arad Nir, Foreign Affairs Editor, Channel 2 News, Israel
and#147;The Parallel States Project is a vision aimed at shattering the accepted conventions regarding the political solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What it is in fact is an attempt to square the circle. It will take the political world, which has come up against one failure after another in its efforts to advance peace among the peoples living in the Holy Land, some time to digest the concept. Ultimately, there is quite a good chance that the idea of a functional partition will trickle down to the peoples and their leaders and offer the formula that will finally lead to conciliation and peace.and#8221;
and#151;Israel Harel, chairman and founder of Yesha Council, head of the Institute for Zionist Strategies, columnist for Haaretz, and participant in the Parallel States Project
Review
"A coterie of bold, open-minded international academics offers a fresh paradigm for Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. . . . A visionary approach so daring that it could actually work."
Review
"The idea merits further exploration."
Review
"In an effort to circumvent a seemingly bleak future, a group of Israeli and Palestinian scholars is proposing and examining an interesting and provocative paradigm shift . . . these essayists provide some interesting and refreshing ideas."
Review
"It is evident that the editors put considerable thought into seeking a fine balance between Israeli and Palestinian scholarsand#8212;and this is done quite artfully."
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"A perceptual and cognitive turnaround aimed at formulating a solution to the situation. And it may well be that this is precisely what it takes to get out of the impasse the diplomatic process has reached."
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"A provocative and daring new approach to peacefully meeting the national rights of Israelis and Palestinians."
Review
andquot;Throughout the book, Levine, and Mossberg investigate every aspect of of the idea of andquot;Parallel States.andquot; They analyze a new coexistence of Israel and Palestine at all levels: economic, religious, judicial; and how it would prevent the emergence of tensions between the communities.andquot;
Synopsis
One Land, Two States is a bold restructuring of an idea that remains at the heart of international diplomacy after generations of conflict. A pioneering effort to preserve the two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, the book imagines new paradigms in policy designed to disrupt the turmoil and disharmony that have gripped the region.
This groundbreaking book is authored by a group of leading Palestinian and Israeli scholars and officials who deliver an innovative framework for viewing and providing solutions to the regions conflict. If the land cannot be shared by geographical division, and if a one-state solution remains unacceptable,” they ask, can the land be shared in some other way?”
The contributors seek to unravel these questions by examining a utopian world where seemingly irreconcilable constructs allow Israel to remain in the West Bank and maintain its military dominance and security position while Palestinians are given a right of return.
By radically transforming the nature and stakes of the Israel-Palestine conflict and envisioning a Jerusalem that is transformed into a capital of full equality and independence, this book explores themes related to security, resistance, sovereignty, diaspora, globalism, religion, and new forms of political and economic power that are not dependent on land ownership.
Written to inform policy makers, scholars, and researchers interested in the Middle East and related areas, this book and its solutions and presentation could be used as a practical model for resolution of conflicts worldwide.
Synopsis
One Land, Two States imagines a new vision for Israel and Palestine in a situation where the peace process has failed to deliver an end of conflict. and#147;If the land cannot be shared by geographical division, and if a one-state solution remains unacceptable,and#8221; the book asks, and#147;can the land be shared in some other way?and#8221;
Leading Palestinian and Israeli experts along with international diplomats and scholars answer this timely question by examining a scenario with two parallel state structures, both covering the whole territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, allowing for shared rather than competing claims of sovereignty. Such a political architecture would radically transform the nature and stakes of the Israel-Palestine conflict, open up for Israelis to remain in the West Bank and maintain their security position, enable Palestinians to settle in all of historic Palestine, and transform Jerusalem into a capital for both of full equality and independenceand#151;all without disturbing the demographic balance of each state. Exploring themes of security, resistance, diaspora, globalism, and religion, as well as forms of political and economic power that are not dependent on claims of exclusive territorial sovereignty, this pioneering book offers new ideas for the resolution of conflicts worldwide.
About the Author
Mark LeVine is Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine, a contributing editor for
Tikkun, and a senior columnist for Al Jazeera. He is the author of
Overthrowing Geography and the coeditor of
Struggle and Survival in Palestine/Israel (both from UC Press).
Mathias Mossberg is a retired Swedish ambassador with extensive personal experience from the peace process and related track-two diplomacy as well as from mediation efforts in other conflicts. He is Senior Fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, Sweden.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Foreword: Two States on One Landand#151;Parallel States as an Option for Israel and Palestine
and#193;lvaro de Soto
Preface
Mathias Mossberg and Mark LeVine
1. One Landand#151;Two States? An Introduction to the Parallel States Concept
Mathias Mossberg
2. Can Sovereignty Be Divided?
Jens Bartelson
3. Parallel Sovereignty: Dividing and Sharing Core State Functions
Peter Wallensteen
4. Security Strategy for the Parallel States Project: An Israeli Perspective
Nimrod Hurvitz and Dror Zeevi
5. Palestinian National Security
Hussein Agha and Ahmad Samih Khalidi
6. An Israel-Palestine Parallel States Economy by 235
Raja Khalidi
7. Economic Considerations in Implementing a Parallel States Structure
Raphael Bar-El
8. Parallel Sovereignty in Practice: Judicial Dimensions of a Parallel States Structure
Various authors, compiled by Mathias Mossberg
9. Religion in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: From Obstacle to Peace to Force for Reconciliation?
Mark LeVine and Liam Oand#8217;Mara IV
10. The Necessity for Thinking outside the Box
Hiba Husseini
11. Parallel Lives, Parallel States: Imagining a Different Future
Eyal Megged
Contributors
Index