DOHA: Ramallah-based Palestinian-American writer, activist and businessman, Sam Bahour, has called for a shift in the strategy in favour of a single-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a presentation at the Center for Regional and International Studies (CIRS) at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) recently on the topic ‘New paradigms for a Palestine in Perpetual Limbo?’, he reviewed the long and failed history of the Israel-Palestine peace process.
The two-state offer, he said, has been sitting on the table for two decades and should be rejected by the newest generation of Palestinians struggling for equality.
“At first, we accepted two states as the paradigm for the end of the conflict. After 20 years of failed negotiations, my daughters are at a different crossroads.
“Either we continue on a failing statehood path, or we drop the call for statehood, and instead call for civil rights. Israel knows that if Palestinians make such a declaration, the model of the game is over,” he added.
He said the Palestinian issue is being discussed again and again because it represents a historical injustice.
“Why are we addressing this issue of Palestine and Israel yet again? My simple answer is that because it persists and that we have all invested so much time and energy to understand intricate details and dynamics of this conflict that if we didn’t meet and discuss it, we’d be at a loss for what to do.
“The more difficult answer, the one I believe is more accurate, is that the issue of Palestine reflects a historical injustice so large and so blatant that its flame refuses to extinguish,” said Bahour.
Reviewing ‘100 years of foreign interference in the region’, which Bahour said, “resulted in 66 years of colonisation and ethnic cleansing” to create the state of Israel, and citing two decades of failed bilateral negotiations, he said, “Today’s Israeli position rests on the assumption that procrastination will continue to tilt the strategic balance increasingly in its favour. In short, Israel is not a serious negotiating partner.”
However, the US-born Palestinian said Israel’s strategic calculation is wrong, because “they overestimate their strength, and underestimate Palestinians’ strength.”
He described the possible outcomes of the current peace process as “totally unacceptable to Palestinians because they do not take into consideration national aspirations and they all undermine Palestinian national identity and rights altogether.”
Bahour suggested new “paradigms under consideration” that will block these outcomes using non-violent means, such as through the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement to create a “shift from a two-state outcome to a bi-national, single state” as a preferred Palestinian strategic goal.
Dr Mehran Kamrava, Director, CIRS, said, “For our students studying the ongoing crisis, Sam’s insights into the complexities, challenges and ultimately hope for a resolution are invaluable to understanding a topic that is very emotionally charged and often difficult to deconstruct.”
Bahour is Director at Arab Islamic Bank and serves in various capacities in several community organisations. He writes frequently on Palestinian affairs and has been widely published
He is co-editor of HOMELAND: Oral History of Palestine and Palestinians and may be reached at sbahour@gmail.com. He blogs at www.epalestine.com.
The Peninsula
