As Israelis and Palestinians, We Shall Go Together to Brussels

As Israelis and Palestinians, we shall go together to Brussels. Today, we are meeting with activists and politicians in the European Parliament. Out of love for our peoples and our shared homeland, we are seeking to promote a vision for a better future. This is a vision of two states, not enemies but allies, working together within a federal framework. This is a vision to bring hope that a different reality is possible for our region.

We know that our nations will not suddenly love one another, nor do we expect the old grievances and grudges of the past to simply fade away. But if the rival vision for the home we love is one of more hatred that is paid in the price of blood, with one group claiming its land for themselves, then we must make sure that our vision of two equal partners in political union is heard.

The Need to Reshape the Two State Solution

We do not oppose the classic form of the two-state solution that has been the framework for peace since the Oslo Accords in 1993 and we are doing whatever we can to help bring it into fruition should it bring a lasting peace. However, the failure to implement it over thirty years has led us to realise that the paradigm must change in two key areas.

Firstly, a separation between Israelis on the one hand and Palestinians on the other hand is not and cannot be part of any solution - it is part of the issue; economic unity, freedom of movement, and joint security and management of natural resources needs to be part of any agreement. Secondly, any peace between Israelis and Palestinians must not just serve them, but the entire region, opening horizons for new partnerships.

There are already mechanisms within the existing proposals for the two-state solution that can serve as a foundation for a federal framework, and we seek to empower and strengthen these as a starting point for our broader objectives for a positive peace. At the same time, should the implementation of the two-state solution continue to not deliver results, then we must prepare an alternative that is based on a federalist or at least a confederalist model.

Against a Unitary State

For those who have lived through the hatred and bloodshed, we cannot wait indefinitely for an end to Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Hamas’s terror in the Gaza Strip. But a unitary state across the entire land can never be the end-point for Israelis and Palestinians. Whether it is implemented as an ethnocracy on one side or the other, or as a supposed post-colonial state with equal rights, we can be certain that this would lead to a reality worse than the present.

The first would look more like French Algeria, apartheid-era South Africa, or present-day Afghanistan, and the second would look more like pre-1972 Cyprus, Somalia, or Lebanon. Either a dystopia or a state without functional government, this is not a viable long-term solution. To bring lasting peace, every solution must fulfil the self-determination of both Israelis and Palestinians and therefore it must be bi-national in nature by providing both with the right of self-governance.

Using Europe as our Example

The formation of the EU provides the most powerful example for our vision. Groups of countries where their national identities remain powerful forces, but the conflicts of the past have been moved past. This proves federalism is the only option for a just and sustainable future. One day, we hope Israel and Palestine will be seen like Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium - where we meet today - as marking the first step towards a better future in our region.

As is hoped by the European project and has already been done in some of the EU member states, this structure of joint institutions could be evolved to a fully integrated federation of Levantine member states. But as one of the leading members of Federalist Future Israel, alongside our allies and friends in the Democracy & Federalism Hub Palestine, we do not want to be seen as dreamers detached from reality. We are realists who merely understand that history will not wait for us.

The choice before us is not one of perfection and compromise, but between a shared political future and continuous, endless struggle. Federalism is not a utopia - it is a framework for coexistence. And if we are courageous enough to begin, we may yet transform this conflict into a partnership that secures dignity, freedom, and peace for all.