Israel and Palestine: Alternative Perspectives on Statehood

For decades, Israeli Jews, Palestinians, and Israeli Arabs have been engaged in a debate about past history, present options, and future possibilities. Basic questions of citizenship, religion, political tactics, democracy, the rule of law, and a host of other matters are abandoned, revived and modified in an intellectual exchange between representatives of all three communities that is as old as the political conflicts that have marked the region. The high stakes, intense emotions—and meager results—of the “peace process” lend particular importance and salience to these discussions. The sophistication of these debates will come as a surprise to many observers who might have concluded that there is no escape from the present impasse and little possibility for a just settlement of the grievous divisions in the region. Given the pivotal role of the United States in the Middle East, it would be particularly helpful if Americans’ understanding of the issues went beyond the superficiality that often passes for political discussion and media coverage. Whatever the outcome of the discussions currently under way, the central commitment of the Oslo Accords to the two-state solution has long been the foundation of American diplomacy and is the starting-point of Washington’s most recent attempt to revive the moribund peace process. Important segments of public opinion in the three communities, however, have started to question the possibility—and, more importantly perhaps, the desirability—of a two-state solution. Their doubts have set in motion a lively and important debate, and this book is designed to introduce American readers to the terms of that discussion. It features essays by well-known Israeli academics, both Jewish and Palestinian, as well as contributions from non-Israeli citizen Palestinian, and American scholars. It is the first to bring together a wide range of views and perspectives by influential scholars from various disciplines as well as from activists to bear on a very topical subject with international ramifications.

About the Author

John Ehrenberg is Chair of the Political Science Department and senior professor of Political Science at Long Island University, Brooklyn. He has received the Alfred McCoy Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Political Science Association’s Caucus for a New Political Science. Yoav Peled is professor of Political Science at Tel Aviv University. He received his PhD in political science from UCLA in 1982. His work has dealt with citizenship and ethnic politics in Israel and with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He co-authored the book Being Israeli: the Dynamics of Multiple Citizenship (Cambridge University Press, 2002), which won the Albert Hourani Prize of the Middle East Studies Association of North America for best book in Middle East studies in 2002. He is co-editor in chief of The Public Sphere: Tel Aviv Journal of Political Science (in Hebrew). Contributors: Oren Barak, lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Moshe Behar is Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Manchester Stephen Eric Bronner, director of global relations and professor of political science,, Rutgers University Leila Farsakh, Palestinian political economist and associate professor of political science at University of Massachusetts, Boston Jeffry Frieden, Stanfield professor of international peace, Department of Government, Harvard University Honaida Ghanim, general director of “MADAR” the Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies (Ramallah) and a fellow, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Lev Luis Grinberg, political economist and sociologist in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben Gurion University, Israel Micheline Ishay, University of Denver Distinguished Scholar, and professor of International Studies and Human Rights, Josef Korbel of School of International Studies, University of Denver, Colorado Amal Jamal, chair of the Department of Political Science at Tel Aviv University and head of the Walter Leibach Institute Yoav Kapshuk, Department of Political Science, Tel Aviv University Rassem Khamaisi, professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, Israel David Kretzmer, professor emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and professor of law at Sapir College School of Law Ian S. Lustick, Bess W. Heyman chair in political science and professor of political science, The University of Pennsylvania Assaf Sharon, academic director and research fellow at Molad, the Center for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy, Jerusalem and assistant professor in the Philosophy Department at Tel Aviv University Richard Silverstein is a journalist, blogger and regular contributor to Mint Press News. Raif Zreik, a Palestinian Israeli, currently teaching in the Law School, Carmel College and Minerva Humanities Institute, Tel Aviv University