Zoabi: Two-State Solution OK, But Not a Jewish State

YERUSHALAYIM
Palestinians participate in a rally by Hamas terrorists in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Palestinians participate in a rally by Hamas terrorists in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

United Arab List MK Hanin Zoabi is a staunch believer in the two-state solution, she told an audience of Israeli leftists over the weekend – with one state for Palestinians, and the other a “a secular democratic state of all its citizens,” with the concept of a Jewish state banned altogether.

If the two states decided to unite into one at some point, that would be fine, she added. “My vision is justice and liberation,” she said. “The exact formula – one state or two – is a technical question, as far as I am concerned. But neither of them can be a Jewish state. My party advocates a two-state solution – one a democratic state of all its citizens, with a Palestinian state next to it.” The “right of return” for the descendants of Arabs from within the Green Line would apply as well, she added.

“If these two states build relations and eventually decide to unite, that would be possible,” she said. “But we cannot have one state under the current circumstances with the settlers remaining in the West Bank. We must do away with Zionism and the Jewish state, and then we can decide how to set up the states – one or two of them, I personally don’t care.”

Zoabi was asked by an audience member about the fact that she was “legitimizing” the Knesset as an institution of the Jewish state by her presence in it. “That is a logical argument, but I disagree,” she said. “If that were the case, Israel would not be persecuting me and looking for ways to harm me and my fellow Arab MKs. We do not represent the Jewish state in the Knesset, we represent our [Palestinian] people.”

With that, she said, if “90 Jewish MKs” vote her or other Arab MKs out of the Knesset, as a recently-passed law allows, the Arab MKs should resign the Knesset altogether. However, it is not clear that this would happen. “We do not have consensus on this matter, and that is one of our problems,” she added.

To Read The Full Story

Are you already a subscriber?
Click to log in!