Until a solution is found

It is high time that all parties and stakeholders realise that there is really no viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the time being and under current geopolitical conditions.

The Palestinian crisis is now in its 67th year if one starts counting as of the creation of Israel in 1948, or in its 48th year, if the starting point is the 1967 Arab-Israeli war when the West Bank fell to Israel.

It has become evident after all these years that the demands of both sides to the conflict are simply irreconcilable and not leading to a practical solution, much less a just one.

Military pundits argue that Israel would never accept to return to the 1967 borders, no matter how tempting the rewards of peace are, unless forced to by a counter-military conquest.

Such scenario is not on the cards.

At a time when Palestinian statesmen and thinkers hope for the two-state solution and the return of the Israeli army to the 1967 borders through peace talks, the realities point to a different direction.

Whether one speaks of one state or the two-state solution, or even no-state solution, the Israelis and the Palestinians are too far apart on fundamentals and not prepared to come to terms with each other’s minimum demands no matter what.

The best each side can hope for meanwhile is to consider a temporary solution, mark time and opt for crisis management till they find a way in the future to bridge the deep differences between them.

In fact that is exactly what the two peoples have been doing since 1967, to the advantage of Israel.

The Palestinians waited all these years for a just solution and managed to “coexist” with no solution.

As long as there are Palestinian people in the Palestinian territories, their just demand will never go away.

Long-term planning may require the Palestinians to look inward, stay put, build their economy and improve their infrastructure, through Arab and international support at the beginning, and on a self-reliance basis to the extent possible thereafter, even if that entails “freezing” the conflict till a much later date.

All attempts, whether political or otherwise, are doomed to fail, and pursuing them is not cost effective.

Palestinians have proved to be a resilient people; they have waited all these long years for an equitable solution to their plight and to the denial of their inalienable right to freedom and self-rule.

Surely they can wait a lot longer if need be.

There is a saying in Arabic, according to which no right will ever dissipate or wither away as long as there are right holders steadfastly upholding it.