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

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Macmillan, Oct 31, 2006 - History - 227 pages
A provocative approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--one state for two peoples--that is sure to touch nerves on all sides
The Israeli-Palestinian war has been called the world's most intractable conflict. It is by now a commonplace that the only way to end the violence is to divide the territory in two, and all efforts at a resolution have come down to haggling over who gets what: Will Israel hand over 90 percent of the West Bank or only 60 percent? Will a Palestinian state include any part of Jerusalem?
Clear-eyed, sharply reasoned, and compassionate, One Country proposes a radical alternative: to revive an old and neglected idea of one state shared by two peoples. Ali Abunimah shows how the two are by now so intertwined--geographically and economically--that separation cannot lead to the security Israelis need or the rights Palestinians must have. He reveals the bankruptcy of the two-state approach, takes on the objections and taboos that stand in the way of a binational solution, and demonstrates that sharing the territory will bring benefits for all. The absence of other workable options has only lead to ever greater extremism; it is time, Abunimah suggests, for Palestinians and Israelis to imagine a different future and a different relationship.

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About the author (2006)

The Jordanian-American son of Palestinian refugees, Ali Abunimah is the creator and editor of The Electronic Intifada, since 2001, and more recently of Electronic Iraq. A graduate of Princeton University, he is a frequent speaker and commentator on the Middle East, writing for the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

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