Repeating the phrase "two-state solution" has become an empty slogan

Written by: Daoud Kuttab

For decades, the solution to the Middle East conflict has centered around one diplomatic phrase: the "two-state solution." Originally, it was clear that the slogan symbolized a concrete idea - the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. But for most politicians it has become an empty slogan, repeated unconvincingly and without any real desire to see it implemented.

Watch, for example, what was announced about the call of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. According to the US State Department statement, "Blinken stressed that the United States is committed to improving the quality of life for the Palestinian people in tangible ways, and that the (Biden) administration supports a two-state solution through negotiation.

There is nothing new in this talk. Although the United States officially recognized in Israel its acceptance of the 1947 partition resolution, it still does not recognize the Palestinian state mentioned in the same partition resolution. Since that time, Israel has occupied the rest of the areas designated for the Palestinian state, and although the United States and most of the rest of the world have called on Israel to end its occupation of millions of Palestinians, it has not done anything to change the status quo. And this is despite the fact that the United Nations has recognized Palestine as a non-member state, and 139 countries in the United Nations have officially recognized the State of Palestine, but the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Australia did not take the same important decision.

Yet American officials continue to routinely repeat the phrase "two-state solution," which has become a meaningless phrase. And since few expect the United States to boycott Israel or arm the Palestinians (as it works with the Ukrainians), there are practical steps that the United States and the international community can take so that the phrase two-state solution is translated and so that it is not an empty slogan.

For example, the United States can withdraw the name of the Palestine Liberation Organization - which signed the Oslo Accords with Israel - from the list of terrorist organizations. The United States could also ban the import of any items manufactured in illegal Jewish settlements that bear the label "Made in Israel," an incorrect source statement. It could also demand that Israel stop its daily use of violence against Palestinians and work for justice for Sherine Abu Aqleh, an American-Palestinian journalist who American officials have acknowledged was likely killed by an Israeli bullet.

America can do more to help the Palestinian people, building the institutions of state that are necessary to end Israel's control of the land, water and air in Palestine. Israel limits the use of water for Palestinians, puts in place measures to prevent Palestinian construction in the occupied territories, permanently demolishes homes, and refuses to even update the transmitters of Palestinian cellular phones, while allowing the construction of illegal Israeli towers in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Under these circumstances, it is impossible for an independent Palestinian economy to be established, but support for improvement and better economic interaction with neighboring Arab countries, especially Jordan and Egypt, will have an important role in ending compulsory dependence on Israel.

There should be a Palestinian police force at the Karama crossing, the only crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, and Palestinians should be allowed free movement between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel itself complied with these two demands when it signed the Oslo Accords.

Political developments indicate that all this is possible. When US President Biden visited the region, Israeli centrist President Yair Lapid was prime minister in a caretaker government. Unlike former right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Van Lapid supports the two-state solution and is a supporter of negotiations with the Palestinian leadership.

Lapid's term may be short, especially since the Israelis are heading to general elections to choose a government next November. Once again, the Palestinians have to wait for the results of Israel's elections, which has become a waste of time.

That the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River should be divided into two independent states or that the two peoples be shared in a state in which all citizens are entitled to equal rights.

Israeli and American leaders who believe in a two-state solution must prove that they mean what they say. At the very least, America should demand - under the threat of sanctions - that Israel cease any actions that might affect the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state.

When Biden was vice president, the Obama administration authorized Security Council Resolution 2334, which declared Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 illegal and demanded that Israel prevent any further settlement construction in the occupied territories. However, after Biden leaves, Israel is scheduled to announce approval of a settlement plan that will prevent the connection between the north and south of the West Bank.

The continuation of Israeli settlements turns the idea of two states and the leaders who support it into a laughing stock. The question remains: Is Biden serious when he talks about a democratic Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel? In the absence of a real change in policy, the "two-state solution" slogan will be an empty and meaningless slogan.