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Are two states still viable?
By Seth Anziska
Tags: Oxford Union debate 

OXFORD, England - Oxford dons were reeling at their high table dinners late last month, in the wake of a startling controversy over the Middle East. A debate at the Oxford Union on the motion "This house believes that one state is the only solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict" was compromised by external political pressure, generating serious concerns about academic freedom and the principles of free speech. Given the nature of this contentious debate and its implications for the trajectory of the conflict, those dwelling outside Oxford's hallowed college halls have every reason to take notice as well.

The venerable Oxford Union, training ground for countless British prime ministers and world leaders, has a long history of provocative debates. Yet criticism over the lineup of speakers for the October 23 event was especially fierce, resulting in the withdrawal of an invitation to Prof. Norman Finkelstein. Finkelstein, whose book "The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering" (2000) and strident views on a host of other issues have drawn ire from all corners, had nevertheless been asked to speak in support of a two-state solution. The ensuing drop-out by several other invitees over what they perceived as violation of free speech in the decision to disinvite Finkelstein, and the fallout among Union members spread to both the local and national press, making it abundantly clear that Oxford is not insulated from disturbing trends afflicting the academy in America.

For all its left-wing orthodoxy, Oxford still manages to provide a space where people can talk freely about any aspect of the conflict. Such openness, after all, is central to the spirit of academic freedom, which suffers greatly as a result of heated campaigns by the pro-Israel Campus Watch and tenure disputes arbitrated by university alumni in the United States. Yet even as the Oxford community awakens to this new and unpleasant reality, astute observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be asking far more important questions about the substance of the Union debate itself.
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How is it that the one-state argument has managed to carve out such a comfortable intellectual niche in recent years, and why are more experts on the conflict giving up on the viability of a two-state solution? One surprising voice of despair that has always adhered to the two-state solution belongs to Prof. Avi Shlaim, a historian of the Arab-Israeli conflict at Oxford. Shlaim's scholarship, together with the indispensable work of fellow Israeli "New Historians," has engendered difficult questions about Israeli and Palestinian nationalist narratives and forced a painful, but necessary, reexamination of the underlying causes of the conflict.

In lectures and tutorials at Oxford, Prof. Shlaim has consistently defended Israel's right to exist within its pre-1967 borders, while at the same time criticizing expansionist settlement policy in the West Bank and arguing for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. His position on the legitimacy of both Jewish and Palestinian national aspirations stands out amidst the intellectually attractive but naively impractical calls for a binational state often voiced at Oxford. Hence my great surprise at seeing his name printed on the Union term card debating for the proposition of a single state.

During a forthright discussion of this apparent about-face, Shlaim stressed his abiding belief that a two-state solution is still the only legitimate way out of this conflict. Nevertheless, he agreed to speak for the proposition in order to critique Israeli policy, which he sees as destroying the basis for such a solution. In Shlaim's view, the construction of the security barrier over the Green Line, and other Israeli actions in the West Bank, undermine the very possibility of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state.

Although Shlaim withdrew from the debate in protest, the implications of his decision to discuss the proposition extend much farther than the Oxford Union. As Shlaim is one of the few remaining "New Historians" to occupy an ethically compelling middle ground regarding the conflict, his despair should serve as a wake-up call to liberal advocates of a two-state solution.

Heightened uncertainty about the possibility of two viable states existing side by side has been building for some time. Even the current American government, which has been on paid vacation from Middle East policy for the last seven years, seems to have finally recognized this reality ahead of the upcoming Annapolis peace summit. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Mideast Policy three weeks ago, admitted as much when she warned that the U.S. is concerned "we will lose the window for a two-state solution." Several prominent policymakers have recently issued similar warnings about what is at stake with this last-ditch effort, including former U.S. National Security Advisors Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft.

It would certainly be easy to dismiss the idea of the one-state solution as mere ivory tower chatter, or worse, to shut down the conversation about what the post-Oslo status quo has wrought upon the region altogether. But the current reality forces us to grapple with them both, especially as the possibility of justice in the form of two sovereign states continues to unravel. The latest iteration of the one-state/two-state debate at Oxford, coupled with the genuine fears being expressed by Middle East experts, simply cannot be rejected as a fit of anti-Israel hysteria. While the future of Israel and Palestine won't be decided in the chamber of our august debating society, the consequences of the two-state solution's collapse will be felt far beyond this city's dreaming spires.

Seth Anziska is an M. Phil. candidate in modern Middle Eastern studies at St. Antony's College, Oxford.
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  1.   two states 10:23  |  Ralph 14/11/07
  2.   All-for-one state is wishful thinking 10:35  |  Sam 14/11/07
  3.   let both (BOTH) people`s silence become a pray in The GOD 10:40  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 14/11/07
  4.   brent scowcroft and brzezinski hate israel 10:47  |  yirmiyahu 14/11/07
  5.   ralph and disappearing areas 10:50  |  arabs yok 14/11/07
  6.   seth anziska you flatter yourselves 10:52  |  harzion 14/11/07
  7.   seth anziska you are a joke 10:54  |  yaheskel 14/11/07
  8.   Prof. Shlaim in Oxford seems to be a (very) smart man..... 10:56  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/11/07
  9.   seth anziska it does not matter if the usa were involved 10:58  |  moshe moshe 14/11/07
  10.   seth anziska " the venerable oxford union" 11:00  |  amnon reshef 14/11/07
  11.   historians 11:03  |  joe 14/11/07
  12.   prof shlaim has consistently defended israel`s right 11:06  |  tuvia raviv 14/11/07
  13.   choose 11:06  |  stonebird 14/11/07
  14.   Polack Brezinsky risked atom war with Sovjets in defense of his 11:07  |  Absolute Sweden 14/11/07
  15.   seth whatshisname 11:08  |  natke nir 14/11/07
  16.   yes its called jordan arab palestine 11:08  |  victor hardman 14/11/07
  17.   seth the pedant 11:11  |  eli cohen 14/11/07
  18.   There are two states already 11:12  |  Jonathan S 14/11/07
  19.   swiss dino "nothing more to say" 11:14  |  natke nir 14/11/07
  20.   Disingenous 11:14  |  Albert Seligman 14/11/07
  21.   No reasons for Gnoms in Alps to have their State,they`re indistin 11:16  |  Absolute Sweden 14/11/07
  22.   when seth whathisface mentions the name of shlaim 11:18  |  and if not 14/11/07
  23.   Avi Shlaim 11:21  |  Albert Seligman 14/11/07
  24.   so avi shlaim has decided that a one state solution 11:23  |  lord byron 14/11/07
  25.   swiss dino is here to taunt the jews 11:29  |  helvetia 14/11/07
  26.   tendentious drivel and lies by a wanabee hack 11:35  |  Avi 14/11/07
  27.   seth "heightened uncertainity about the two state solution" 11:38  |  shelly 14/11/07
  28.   Setrh is advocating for yet another destruction of the Jews 11:39  |  Judith, Haifa 14/11/07
  29.   #4, yirmiyahu 11:56  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 14/11/07
  30.   ONE STATE = ISRAEL 11:56  |  Shuli 14/11/07
  31.   It is not as if Israel has a choice 11:59  |  Natallie Durson 14/11/07
  32.   # 21 Absolute Sweden, if we Swiss would be right-wing Israelis... 12:03  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/11/07
  33.   #17, eli cohen 12:04  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 14/11/07
  34.   # 25 helvetia "soft or hard = big difference" 12:16  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/11/07
  35.   natallie durson you must be an arab in spite of your name 12:25  |  darcy 14/11/07
  36.   swiss dino you are perceived as being the enemy 12:37  |  helvetia 14/11/07
  37.   Cipora #33 12:38  |  Gabe1 14/11/07
  38.   Gnom from Zürich forgets Svitzerland is as impotent as a castrate 12:39  |  Absolute Sweden 14/11/07
  39.   why would an arab call herself natallie durson? 12:43  |  haim nadel 14/11/07
  40.   What wanky prose 12:55  |  Rowan Berkeley 14/11/07
  41.   A one state solution would lead to suffering on both sides 13:12  |  R.T. 14/11/07
  42.   Pathetic talkbacks 13:17  |  Eldar 14/11/07
  43.   # 38 Absolute Sweden, not only curiosity kills the Swedish cat... 13:21  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/11/07
  44.   the emperors clothes 13:22  |  adam 14/11/07
  45.   bravo Helvetia (about Dino) 13:22  |  goldenberg 14/11/07
  46.   Haim Nadel, Durson`s father is not an arab, her mother fatima is. 13:23  |  kapish? 14/11/07
  47.   to Gabe1 13:29  |  goldenberg 14/11/07
  48.   WHAT ABOUT THE PAL STATE OF JORDAN? 13:42  |  Howard 14/11/07
  49.   # 3 Atilla, you are a piece of work!!! I like that too. 13:55  |  Virginia 14/11/07
  50.   One State = Precursor to Civil War 13:56  |  Mark 14/11/07
  51.   # 36 helvetia, I would still insist that I`m a rather.... 13:57  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/11/07
  52.   Spirit does not abide by man made borders. 14:10  |  Selah 14/11/07
  53.   Thought for the day... 14:24  |  LoveChild 14/11/07
  54.   Nonsense 14:26  |  Danite 14/11/07
  55.   Three state solution 14:35  |  Herbert Kaine 14/11/07
  56.   Three State option closing, Two States for sure 14:35  |  Howard 14/11/07
  57.   Two-state crap 14:38  |  Brod 14/11/07
  58.   # 23 Albert Seligman (2nd try) 14:41  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/11/07
  59.   ISRAEL`S STUPID GREEDY ACTIONS CREATED A DEFACTO ONE STATE 14:50  |  Anthony 14/11/07
  60.   Shlaim and Dino 14:54  |  Franklin Bluth 14/11/07
  61.   #59 anthony in oxford and he knows f all 15:03  |  victor hardman 14/11/07
  62.   40...Wanky prose? FROM Wanky Amateurs 15:06  |  The Equalizer 14/11/07
  63.   What Seth means is, let me explain. 15:39  |  Linguist 14/11/07
  64.   # 60 Franklin Bluth 15:44  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/11/07
  65.   One state 16:04  |  Johan 14/11/07
  66.   One state 16:04  |  Johan 14/11/07
  67.   One state 16:08  |  Johan 14/11/07
  68.   One State Solution Nonsense 16:45  |  jed nightingale 14/11/07
  69.   Oxford Union 17:03  |  Peter 14/11/07
  70.   the prose is rather wanky 17:24  |  harzion 14/11/07
  71.   Where there is a will, there is a way 17:29  |  David Hoffman 14/11/07
  72.   "the two state solution" and Antisemitism ... 17:32  |  felix 14/11/07
  73.   One state, one man, one vote 17:46  |  Lou Medel 14/11/07
  74.   If Pals should are forced to leave, all jews in the diaspora 17:48  |  American 14/11/07
  75.   Shuli - Alaska is "Israel" 17:49  |  Moderate Man 14/11/07
  76.   traitorous jew writes in a traitorous paper 18:03  |  paul almond 14/11/07
  77.   One-state already exists - Israel 18:07  |  Boycott 14/11/07
  78.   ONE STATE: THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PALESTINE 18:10  |  indrajaya 14/11/07
  79.   Who are these people? 18:19  |  Israeli guy