New One-State Foundation launched in Netherlands
Launch of The One State Foundation: a new Palestinian-Israeli initiative to grow debate and support for a one state solution
After over 70 years of conflict, 50 years of occupation and close to 25 years of a detrimental and counterproductive peace process it is more urgent than ever to pursue a path to a genuine and all-encompassing solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The One State Foundation launches publicly today with an agenda to broaden debate and ultimately support for a one state solution.
The One State Foundation acknowledges the one state reality that has been in place for over 50 years and aims to have this reality transformed to one in which all people living under the control of the same state have the same civil, political and socio-economic rights and opportunities regardless of their ethnicity or religion. In order for a one state reality to materialize, acknowledging and repairing past and present injustices, among them the right of return, is crucial.
The One State Foundation is an initiative of individual Palestinians, Israelis and internationals who share the conviction that a one state solution is the only available all-encompassing and therefore genuine solution to the conflict.
Photo of Palestinian village in occupied Palestine provided by Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, as part of their 39th Annual Land Day Report
As Hamada Jaber, co-founder and board members states; “We should stop wasting our time and the time of future generations and immediately start investing all our efforts in the only solution; the one state solution. There is already significant support for such a solution in both communities, varying between 30 to 40 percent according to some recent surveys. This despite the fact that no official body or political party on either side has adopted the one state vision, nor does any explicit support for such solution exist within the international community. Should this change, popular support for the one state vision will surely further increase. In addition, I trust the international community can play a crucial role by changing their current policy and funding, which in fact enables and supports the continuation of the de-facto apartheid reality. Instead, it could invest in supporting equal rights for all, thereby standing in true solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people and ultimately supporting a brighter future for all.”
Jeff Halper, one of the advisory board members adds; “It is time to recognize that Israel has unilaterally and irreversibly created one country between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River. Our task is clear: to transform that apartheid state into a democratic if multicultural state of all its citizens.”
Angélique Eijpe, co-founder and board member addresses the challenge taken on by the foundation as follows; “Envisioning a true and all-encompassing solution is for many – understandably, given the reality – more difficult than embracing some form of ‘managing the conflict’. What we have to keep in mind is that it is not practical impediments that make the realization of one state impossible. It is first and foremost a question of psychology and mindset. Can we make people see, emotionally feel and rationally understand that a shared future in equality is in the end beneficial for all? That is the challenge we are taking on.”
The One State Foundation
Parkstraat 33
2514JG The Hague, the Netherlands
https://onestatefoundation.org/
https://www.facebook.com/onestatefoundation/
Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
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