- Introduction
- Israel violations against Palestinians
- Two state resolution
- Problems to be solved by two state solutions
- Doubts and criticisms of the two state solution
- Conclusion
- Works cited
Introduction
The Israel-Palestine conflict has been characterized by a series of various events ranging form the emergence of armed struggles to periods of negotiations and even with periods of preparation of further conflicts. The whole period of conflict between the two has caused a lot of suffering and is capable of even causing more harm if a solution is not found soon. Any effort of restoring peace is considered of great importance of solving the conflict.
By clearly scrutinizing the situation it is evident that peace can only be obtained by each country accepting to live as a nation on itself. The Israeli nation should consider the Palestine state as a legitimate state and Palestine state must also accept the legitimacy of an Israeli state. From the Israeli point of view this would mean that they hibernate from the Palestine territories and while in Palestine point of view this would mean that the Palestine refugees in Israel territory to leave and settle in a Palestine state that will be created (Stephen: 34).
Israel violations against Palestinians
There are various violations that have been carried out by the Israelis on the Palestinians; some of the violations are carried out on Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons and detention centers. It is believed that they are held in these prisons without charges of trial; the detainees are tortured and ill treated in these prisons. In the year 2008 the Israelis arrested an estimated 4,960 in raids carried out on the West bank and the Gaza strip.
Approximately one hundred of the Palestinians arrested are still languishing in prisons. Research carried out on the same year documented about thirty cases of torture and ill treatment during the arrests and detention and also in investigation centers which are aimed at forcing detainees to confess. Some of the in human techniques used by the Israelis include; beatings, slapping, and kicking which is usually carried out in front of family members.
In addition the detainees were cytological tortured and denied lawyers and even visits from family members and were confined to rooms with poor hygiene for long periods of time. Up to this time the detention centers are believed not to have improved and still fall below the required international standards. The poor standards have affected the detainees mentally and physically (Edward: 201).
The medical neglect which is institutionalized by the Israeli prison service is believed to have caused the death of two detainees in the year 2008. The Israeli prison service has also neglected the provision of specialized gender sensitive medical care to female detainees while they were also denied the rights to be visited by their families and children. Women were also harassed and strip searched. The Israeli prison service even deprived children detainees schooling; adult detainees were not allowed to further their studies. The Palestinians believe that Israeli is capturing its political leaders and using them for political bargains with them.
Following the collapse of the Egypt mediated prison exchange program with the Hamas, Israeli forces raided West bank and took ten Palestine political leaders. All the ten have been under administrative detention for six months (Michel: 78).
Some of the recommendations of the Palestinians on the international community are for them to pressure Israel to end the policy of continuous punishment and the use of detainees as bargaining chips. That all administrative detainees be released and be allowed the right to face trials. They are also demanding that the ill treatment and torture exhibited on the prisoners should be clearly investigated and brought to an end.
The Palestine’s are also calling no the international community to carry out all international recognized standards that state that prisoners should be allowed the rights to visits and given the right to education and quality medical care. Among their recommendations is that all children detainees should also be released. Their last demand is that all pregnant women detained should be provided with special diet and they should have specialized gender sensitive medical including counseling (Gidron: 18).
Solution to the conflict
The Israel and Palestine states have an interest to work together inn various many fields but the problem is that two States cannot exist as one. It is evident that both the two claim the same territory and they also both believe that their claims are linked to their historical background. There are two distinct entities which are; the state of Israel which comprise of 80% of Israeli citizens with a Jewish nationality and 20% of Israeli citizens with Palestine nationality with a president who is elected democratically. The second situation is Palestine autonomy with a Palestine population lead by the administration of Israeli representatives and Palestine authority (Uri: 58).
The only best solution to end this conflict is however the two states solution that is a Palestine state has to be created that will not be interfered with the Israelis. Clear borders between the two states will then have to be clearly defined and Jewish settlements in the Palestine land should be destroyed (Cattan: 34).
A single state solution denies the rights of any of the two; there are a number of Israelis that do not recognize the rights of the Palestine’s, they rely on Israeli strength and advocate for a single state that regard the Jewish rights. On the other hand there are Palestine’s that the Israeli state should be eradicated and all the territory to be considered as a Palestine state; during the 1950s and 1960s the Palestine’s depended on the Arabian nations strength and advocated for the single state solution that disregarded the rights of the Jews. The idea of a single state is unrealistic and for both the two to end the conflicts and suffering of the citizens of this two nations.
The two states however may face the problem of management of resources such as water resources, environment, and tourism. However the situation can easily be solved if both of them agree to common decisions (Bowen: 52).
Two state resolution
In the 1990s the idea of a two state resolution to solve the Middle East crisis was raised. Diplomatic work went on to negotiate the resolution between the two states which included the Oslo accords and the Camp David 2000 summit; further negotiations were held in Taba in the year 2001. However there is no agreement which has been reached at up to now. The variations in the two state resolutions include; a Palestine state which had complete control of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, or have a portion of it. Palestinians propose that territorial adjustments to be made on the current Israeli territorial.
Though some Israelis say that the two state resolutions were implemented in 1922 when Britain split the Eastern section of Israel to create Jordan state which is made up of majority of Arabs. Some Israeli politicians on the other hand support the formation of a two state; they argue that the formation of a two state entail that Palestine is given most of the attributes of an independent state but denied certain rights that may threaten Israeli security. One of the restrictions to be imposed on an independent state of Palestine is that they should not be given the right to import fire arms. Palestine on the other hand does not believe that such restrictions are fair.
The possibility of a two state resolution has been discussed deeply by the Saudi and United States leaders. For example in the year 2002 the crown prince of Saudi and President Bush announced their support for the formation of an Independent Palestine state. The United Nations and Israeli Christian communities also support the two state resolutions. Latest research carried out by the media and research and communication center 46.7 percent of people interviewed favor the two state resolution, 26.5 percent favor the bi-national state resolution.
The main problem with the negotiation is the status and borders of Jerusalem and its temple mountains; the other problem is the demarcation borders of the future Palestine state and the return of the Palestine refugees. “Another obstacle that hinder a quick resolution to the matter is that Israel are worried of their security without the Jordan valley and full Israel airspace and frontier control (John: 67)”, the Israelis have a Jewish historical affiliation to the Jordan hills while most of the Palestine population is located their. Some of this issues had been discussed in the in the Geneva accord peace proposal and were signed under the Swiss auspices.
But up until now both the Israel and Palestine governments have not shown any effort in implementing the accord. The reason for this is because most of the Israeli population is located in the West Bank which is the area at the center of this dispute. In the year 2009 the United States and the European Union stated clearly that it will not support Israel government which did not show any interest in implementing the two state resolution (Joseph: 97).
Problems to be solved by two state solutions
The two state solution is seen to solve the refugee problem. Regarding the economic point of view it is noted that the cost of settling all the refugees will be cheaper as compared the amount of money spent by the two in the conflict. The Palestine state that will be created will be given support so as to enable the resettlement of all the refugees who are willing to live a Palestinian life. The settlement of the Palestine’s in Israel territory will be minimized.
Repair of the wrongs and compensation of the suffering caused by the conflict will be solved by the creation of a new solution that will best suite the two. It is important to note that under the two state solutions, Palestine’s who will not be willing to leave the new formed Israel state will not be forced to do so. The same will apply to the Israelis who will be willing to settle in the new formed Palestine state (Henry: 58).
The two state solutions will also be able to solve the problem of the Israeli occupation on Palestine territory. The end of the occupation should be a well discussed issue between the two (Roane: 98).
Doubts and criticisms of the two state solution
The main hindrance to the two state resolutions is that Israel fears that Egypt and Jordan may use the opportunity to retake Gaza and West Bank. This would mean that Gaza would return to Egypt rule and the West Bank would be now ruled by Jordan. However of late many of the Israel, Jordan and Palestine believe the two state solutions would be favorable because of the rise of the Hamas. Israel believes that it can stop Hamas if it is able to occupy the West Bank. Many fear that if a Palestine state is formed there then it would be taken by Hamas this scenario would pose a lot of danger to Jordan security (Bassioun: 201).
Conclusion
The two State resolutions is thought to be the most Favorable to solve the conflict between Israel and Palestine because it would enable the resettlement many Palestine Refugees and also enable the release of many Palestine detainees who are suffering a lot in Israel detention camps. The main reason why such a resolution has not been implemented is because Israel fears for its own security because of terrorist groups like Hamas who are likely to take over Palestine government in case a new Palestine state is formed.
Works cited
Stephen, M, (2008), “The Israel Lobby and U.S foreign policy” Wiley publications, pp 34.
Edward, H, (1978), “The encyclopedia of human rights” Straus publications, pp 201.
Michel, G, (1988), “Jews and human rights” Giroux publications, pp 78.
Gidron, B, (1980), “Mobilizing for peace in Israel” Farrar publications, pp 18.
Uri, D, (1978), “Apartheid Israel possibility for a struggle within”, Wiley publications, pp 58.
Cattan, H, (2007) “Palestine and International law the legal aspect of Israel and Arab conflict” Farrar publications, pp 34.
Bowen, S, (2003) “Human Rights, self determination and political change in the occupied” Giroux publications, pp 52.
John, B, (1999) “The Middle East peace process” Giroux publications, pp 67.
Eitan, D, (1988) “Crossing the line: Violation of Palestinians in Israel” Giroux publications, pp 56.
Nenad, M, (2006) “Nationalism and ethnic conflict: Philosophical perspectives” Giroux publications, pp 67.
Joseph, G, (1997) “United nations resolutions on Israel and United Arab- Israel conflict” Giroux publications, pp 97.
Henry, J, (2001) “International human rights in context”, Giroux publications, pp 58.
Roane, C, (2003) “The new Infitada: resting Israel apartheid” Farrar publications, pp 98.
Cherrif, B, (1997), “The Middle East abstract and index” Giroux publications, pp107.
Bassioun, M, (1997) “The Palestine right of self determination and national independence” Giroux publications, pp 201.