Violence recently exploded in Gaza with fighting between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
In Gaza the death toll from Israeli strikes topped 200 while 12 Israelis were killed. President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken travelled to the Middle East to make sure the ceasefire continues for an extended period of time. Both Blinken and Biden say they favor a two-state solution, like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George HW Bush, Brent Scowcroft, and Colin Powell. There is a diplomatic path we can follow for a two-state solution, which will hopefully bring peace to the region.
To accomplish the goal of the two-state solution, the Biden administration should delegate the Palestinian Authority a "nascent state." In international law a "nascent state" is a state that will become a state once it meets certain conditions. Israel was a 'nascent state' between the United Nations Partition Decision of Nov. 29 1947, and the departure of the British Mandatory Government on May 15 1948.
The administration should make it clear that Palestine will become a state alongside Israel. Second, it should invite the Palestinian Authority, not the Palestinian Liberation Organization, to lead a diplomatic mission to Washington and open a diplomatic post in our capital. In turn, we should open a diplomatic post in Ramallah with the goal of protecting United States' interests, as stated by Gidi Grinstein in her story "To Get Closer to a Two State Solution, Biden Should Make These Four Diplomatic Moves." We should also reopen the State Department's consulate in East Jerusalem as another diplomatic mission to the Palestinians.
For Biden, this would be an important diplomatic step toward a reality of two states for two peoples, which benefits all sides. Israel should appreciate the consolidation of power in the hands of the Palestinian Authority over the PLO and Hamas, an Islamist organization hostile to Western values. As we embark on this journey, Americans must remember how their country emerged - in an anti-colonial revolt against the British Empire. The American revolutionaries didn't want to be controlled by the British, which they considered a foreign power.
Many in the Middle East, opposed to European colonialism, held the U.S. in high esteem for years due to its colonial past. Remember, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Libya were created by European powers at the end of World War I. However, things changed in the years following World War II with the creation of Israel. The issue of Amin al-Husseini's, the leader of the Mandatory Palestine, backing of the Axis powers in World War II is sometimes mentioned, but we must not relieve the past if we are to move forward.
A vision of a vibrant Jewish state and a vibrant Palestinian state should be the goal we work toward. It must be added that a Palestinian state does much more for the cause of peace than two successful states. The lack of a state for Palestinians is used by terrorist organizations in the Islamic world as a recruitment tool. A successful Palestinian state would be a good use of American soft power, as it would blunt the appeal of terrorists organizations and place fewer men under arms.
Jason Sibert is the executive director of the Peace Economy Project
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