Israel-Palestine: The One State Solution

For as long as I can remember I've supported the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. It has always seemed reasonable to agree with the United Nations General Assembly that the solution must involve the end of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, withdrawal of Israel to its 1967 borders, and the formation of Jewish and Arab states.Recently I have started to reconsider this view.First, it does not seem in line with my view of a democratic state that it should be based on ethnic or religious segregation (i.e. Jewish versus Arab). It doesn't seem healthy at all.Second, I am not sure that the 1967 borders are particularly valid. I really don't see how the 1948 invasion was justifiable so I suppose I don't really see how Israel has the right to exist (other than by making facts on the ground, that it DOES exist, so its citizens have the right to continue living in the land which I view to have been occupied illegitimately in 1948, but upon which they happen to have been born).Third, with the building of the "security wall" and the fact that a future Palestine appears to occupy non-contiguous space, I do not feel very hopeful that that a two state solution is even logistically possible.My current thinking is that a two-state solution might have been possible in 1967-1987, but Israel has essentially ruined its own hopes by its continued expansion into and destruction of Palestine in the intervening time. This expansionism has made a the prospect of a viable independent Palestinian state recede drastically. Palestine is so screwed up, now, that the two-state solution is no longer going to be a realistic outcome.This has led me to reconsider the one-state solution. Sadly, the one state solution is basically what existed before the second world war, where jews and arabs lived (relatively) happily together. It doesn't seem very politically practical, since Israel is bent on a curiously ethnocentric definition of the Nation and fear demographic "swamping" by the Palestinians. However the one state solution might better live up to the dreams of the Zionists that they find a safe and happy homeland. It is an interesting fact that, as a Jew, the most dangerous place to live in the world right now is Israel. What a failure of the Zionist project.I was just wondering if anybody else has any ideas about the viability of the one state solution. I know that it is an idealistic dream but doesn't it seem in principle the "best" outcome?CheersMickPossibly for the coffee house, or social issues forum. Not strictly evo-creo related but presumably involves debate between the religious and the rational () communityEdited by mick, : No reason given.Edited by mick, : No reason given.

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