Palestine/Israel -- One state solution, recognition as a Jewish state and the settlements

Ben White, author of Israeli apartheid: a beginner's guide spoke at Dundee University in September 2010 on a tour organised by the local branch of Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Answering questions from the audience following his talk, White was asked about his thoughts on Israel's demand, in current peace negotiations, that Palestinians recognise Israel as a 'Jewish State'. White responded:

"For the Palestinians, that is objectionable because what it is asking them to do is recognise and affirm their own dispossession.

"Despite all the horrors visited upon the Native Americans by the USA, nobody ever asked the Native Americans to affirm and applaud their own ethnic cleansing and expulsions. But, that is what the demand for the Palestinians to recognise Israel as a Jewish state is doing."

White said that Israeli policy has made a two-state solution to the problems unpractical:

"Israel by its own policies has created a defacto one state. There isn't another authority in the area between the river and the sea. If you want to visit Bethlehem, you have to go through Israeli border control. There is only one state in that sense... a two-state solution is impractical given the realities on the ground."

"The consistency and parallels in Israeli policy in these areas, whether you are talking about the Palestinians in the South, in East Jerusalem or in the North, Israel's policy is the same -- maximum amount of land, minimum number of Palestinians and the maximum amount of Palestinians on the minimum amount of land. These are the strategic principals that are guiding Israeli policy."

"That has created one state. The question is, what kind of state will that be? One based on domination and subjugation or one based on equality and justice."

Talking about the legal basis on which Israeli settlements in the Palestinian areas are considered illegal, White said:

"The illegality of the settlements is based on the fourth Geneva Convention. It is illegal to transfer your own civilian population to areas that are under military occupation."

Find out where to buy a copy of White's book from the website:
http://israeliapartheidguide.com/

For more coverage of this talk and others visit my blog:
http://www.rstewart.org

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