Although the title of thispiece appears to be an oxymoron, or a lame attempt at post-apocalyptic irony,please read on. It is just a compelling idea whose time has come.

What is the primary source ofthe instability and violence, including terrorism, in that region, and nowaround the world? It is the existence of the state of Israel as currentlyconstituted. Optimists and well-wishers have thought that some sort of deal,encompassing the co-existence of Israel and a Palestinian state, would lead toa cooling of passions and a viable peace. Some still feel that a moreenlightened Israeli policy could still make the difference. But sober observersno longer see a way out of interminable conflict, as long as the state ofIsrael contains within its borders the Palestinian bantustans, with or without nominal“statehood.” A mere glance at a good map confirms this.

So what to do? Isn’t itobvious? The establishment of a new state comprising the entire area, perhapsnamed “Palestine,” could replace the current configuration. The idea shouldappeal to both sides – Palestinians could once again inhabit their land andlive like normal people, and the settlers could plunk themselves down whereverthey liked.

Only those Jews whose visionis total control and banishment of the “other,” and their mirror image on theother side, would fiercely oppose such a solution, but together these peoplecomprise only a small minority of Israelis and Arabs. For the majority, Jewsand Arabs alike, the prospect of being free and equal citizens of amulti-ethnic, multi-religious modern, democratic state, free of the constantfear of violence, would have an irresistible appeal.

What of the dream of a Jewishstate, eternally open to all Jews everywhere, a bastion of security fromanti-semitism? The great majority of Israelis, mostly secular, could probablycare less. In any case, it is a 19^th century vision that no longerhas any traction in the 21^st century. Most importantly, the Jewishstate has proved counter-productive in terms of this goal. Instead of becominga bulwark against violence and hatred towards Jews, it has become their primarycause.

Many will immediately object,as a knee-jerk reflex, that a democracy that includes the Palestinians willcease to be majority Jewish within a generation. The obvious answer is, sowhat? Is it necessary, in terms of the Zionism of Hertzl and his successors,whose essential principle was the establishment of a state that would guaranteethe safety of the Jewish people, that such a state be majority Jewish? The USA,for one example, has a small minority of Jews, but their ability to live inpeace and security in America has become well established through institutions,vigilance and cultural norms engraved in law and tradition.

Even if we look far down theroad to a future pluralistic, democratic Israel/Palestine, perhaps onlyone-third Jewish, but whose constitution and institutions would have beenestablished and enshrined during an initial period in which Jews were in themajority, there are no rational grounds for fear.

What effect would theimplementation of this idea have on what are considered to be the major issuesconfronting the peacemakers: Jerusalem, the settlements, the right of return,territory, security, let alone the less talked about issues of water rights,mobility, labor and so on? These problems largely disappear, to be replaced bythe normal give and take of modern democracies.

The right of return becomesan immigration issue to be resolved on a fundamental level during the writingof the new constitution, and then an ongoing political issue as it is in othercountries. There is no reason to suppose that it would become any lessdifficult for Jews to immigrate than now, nor any reason to suppose that thefuture status of Palestinian refugees would be an insurmountable problem.

In closing, I contend thatthis proposal is not merely one of many options. I believe it to be more in thenature of a prediction of what must come about. The alternative, as we speak,is too frightful to contemplate, a conflict that has already spread far beyondthe borders of Palestine, fuels terrorism, and seriously threatens the stabilityof the world at large, even leading, inexorably, to nuclear war.