One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse

One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse by Ali Abunimah examines the history of Palestine in the context of the creation and reasoning behind the two-state solution often presented by those in power. Abunimah demonstrates clearly how interwoven the the Palestinian and Israeli societies are and the difficulties that would arise from trying to unweave the reality of the economics and geography of the two. He breaks down the issues with the two-state solution in a methodical way before putting forth a proposal for a one-state solution based on equality, fairness, and justice. One Country is filled with interesting ideas and puts forth the beginnings of a plan for a path forward that seems at once reasonable and show more unlikely. show less

This book came to my attention when I read a review as I had myself as an armchair analyst came to the same conclusion proposed in the book, namely that the only possible peaceful solution is a united nation where Jews and Arabs live together.

One of the reasons I thought this was having spent part of my childhood living in Brussels and learning how a bilingual bicultural country learns to make peace with each other. I was surprised to read the author had done exactly the same thing.

It is still a brave perspective to put forward that Palestinians and Israelis need to learn to live together and yet it is the only sane solution. This book sets out the reasoning for this, referring to the long and complex history whilst leaving much of the show more complications out of discussion.

It's a straightforward and very accessible read that deserves wider publicity. show less

If a two-state solution is the U.S. government's official position, isn't that enough to make one realize that's probably not a solution that could ever be fair to Palestinians? That's my simple argument. I'd recommend reading Abunimah's much more complex one.