Imposing Middle East Peace

Imposing Middle East Peace

The continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank seems to have finally locked in the permanence of Israel’s colonial project. Israel has crossed the threshold from the Middle East’s only democracy to the only “apartheid regime” in the Western world. But outside intervention may offer the last hope for a reversal of the settlement enterprise and the achievement of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Since the US is no longer the likely agent of that intervention, it is up to the Europeans and to the Palestinians themselves to fashion the path to self-determination in the occupied territories. Essential to the success of these efforts is setting aright the chronic imbalance of power between Israel and the Palestinians. If left to their own devices – including, as some have proposed, to reconcile their conflicting historical “narratives” – the further usurpation of Palestinian lands, and the disappearance of the two-state option, is all but ensured.

To continue reading, please download the full report from the Norwegian Peace-Building Centre website.

Henry Siegman is Director of the US/Middle East Project in New York and is a research professor at the Sir Joseph Hotung Middle East Program of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. We are grateful to both Henry Siegman and the Norwegian Peace-Building Centre for permission to post this article.

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