Not a long while ago, my school held a 24-hour peace simulation for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The interesting point of it was that my Israeli friends were assigned to the Palestinian delegation and vice versa, so that they could put themselves in each other's shoes. I myself was part of the Israeli delegation and therefore, experienced one of the most intense debates ever. We were determined that the two-state solution was the most ideal right from the start, but as we proceeded the discussion, we encountered plenty of unexpected difficulties regarding the existence of checkpoints, division of Jerusalem, settlements and the question of a unified Palestinian authority. Despite all the aggressive shoutings (a Middle Eastern characteristic I believe...), in the end, we came up with a decent agreement, which you can take a look at here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/169Y4IHkAiKpIpTI2R5AgyLI5FOtJ7kGq6fPFaeNWMh4/edit?usp=sharing
Nevertheless, I have doubts about the two-state solution now and then. Most of the Israelis in my school consider themselves to be liberal, but truth is, the overall society is right-winged. Most of the locals I have met do not recognize Palestine as a state, or Palestinian as a nationality. My Arab friends are more oftenly checked at public places (train stations...) for "security" reasons. I personally believe it is a nice idea, but its feasibility is debatable: the Israeli government is still providing Palestinians with basic needs, especially water supply; and its army is so advanced that unless Palestine was backed up by powerful allies, there would be no way that it could catch up in a short period of time, or even feel secure in its process of building the country. Plus, there has been no solid solution to the question of bridging Gaza and West Bank.
These are my thoughts in a nutshell. Any comment are welcomed and will be replied!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your school's resolution with us, Khanh! I definitely agree with you - this is such a complex and multifaceted situation that simply stating a 'two-state solution' would not be enough to bring peace to the region. In your resolution, I particularly like the trust building measures.
Did you find any flaws with your agreement? What are your thoughts on the resolutions currently in existence (e.g. the most recent UN resolution)?
Khanh, your school’s approach to discussing this issue is creative - especially with the idea of trying to create a sense of empathy and understanding by putting Israeli students in the Palestinian delegation and Palestinian students in the Israeli delegation. Looking at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from multiple views really helps people look at this holistically and hopefully leads to a resolution. This article from NY Times offers interesting perspective from both sides: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/opinion/israel-palestine-from-both-sides-of-the-mirror.html
I completely agree: a two-state solution at first seems like the most logical solution, but there are so many strings that have formed over time. This conflict is extremely complicated and 24 hours is obviously not enough time to find a solid solution. However, (like Rachna mentioned above) I still really like the trust building measures, especially the concept peace education.
I’m curious - what was the biggest issue that came up during your school’s peace simulation?