Searching for solutions in Israel and Palestine

Searching for solutions in Israel and Palestine

One last item from this week's Al Jazeera Forum, where the Israeli-Arab conflict was surely the most-discussed issue - not just on panels, but in countless sideline discussions as well (like my colleague Andrew Wander's interviews with representatives from Hamas and Hizballah).

There was broad agreement - among Arabs, Americans, Europeans and other attendees - that the status quo is unsustainable. Most were dismissive of the current indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, mediated by George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy.

Basheer Nafi, a historian, called the idea of two states "geographically unviable," because of the physical separation of the West Bank and Gaza and the balkanization of the West Bank caused by illegal Israeli settlements and the separation wall.

Alistair Sparks, a South African writer and journalist, referred to the situation in Israel and Palestine as "apartheid"; he compared the West Bank to a bantustan, the territory set aside by the apartheid government for black inhabitants of South Africa.

Daniel Levy, a senior fellow at the Washington-based New America Foundation - and a former adviser to the Israeli government - said right-wing politicians in Israel are pushing the country towards international isolation.

To the Israeli maximalist camp, I would ask, is this militarily or politically sustainable? Israel cannot be North Korea, a hermit kingdom existing on subsistence, self-reliant.

Levy also faulted US president Barack Obama  for hewing to what he called the  "same failed framework" as previous presidents - for failing to recognize the "imbalance of power" between the Israelis and Palestinians.

And Steve Clemons, a colleague of Levy's at New America, criticized the Palestinian leadership for its lack of "bold proposals" - and for relying too heavily on support from the United States.

The peace process cannot be achieved only through US leadership... other parties must be involved. The US cannot be an anchor for both sides.

There was blame for everyone - but there were few constructive solutions. Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu heads a fractious coalition of mostly right-wing parties; panelists admitted he's unlikely to approve any grand gestures towards the Palestinians.

Nor would the Israeli government have a coherent Palestinian entity with which to negotiate: There's little expectation that Hamas and Fatah are close to a reconciliation deal, despite years of talks. (Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor of Al-Quds Al-Arabi, said that wasn't such a bad thing; he argued that the Hamas-Fatah split would prevent "a bad two-state solution.")

All five of these men spoke on a panel titled the "quest for alternatives" in Palestine. Their pessimistic talk illustrated just how difficult it is to find those alternatives.