The One Democratic State Campaign (OCSC) is an initiative launched in 2018 by Palestinian and Israeli Jewish activists and academics. The campaign works toward the establishment of a single democratic state in historic Palestine in which all Palestinian refugees and their descendants may return home. OCSC seeks to transform its campaign into a broad popular movement through its clear political program, its grassroots organizing, and its inclusivity for both Palestinians and Israeli Jews.
Failures of the Two-State Solution
Many Western political administrations, including that of U.S. President Biden, have long supported the two-state solution. The two-state solution was introduced by the United Nations in 1947 in a call to partition historic Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states.
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs has described the two-state solution as difficult to achieve because it would require each state to trust that the other would not pose a threat to its own security. U.S. and European politicians continue to push for the two-state solution even after Israel passed the Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People in 2018. The Basic Law explicitly states that the right to self-determination is exclusive to Israel and “unique to the Jewish people.”
In an Al Jazeera op-ed by Dr. Haidar Eid, Associate Professor at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza, Eid described the two-state solution as “the opium of the Palestinian people,” an “illusion” made possible “through decades of continued colonization and disastrous agreements.” Eid argues that pursuing a two-state solution prevents the possibility of following the example set by South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, which fought for “one person, one vote, and the establishment of a secular democratic, non-racial, non-sectarian state.”
One State for All Peoples
Dr. Joshua Shanes, Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Arnold Center for Israel Studies at the College of Charleston, has explained that Israel already operates as if the land of historic Palestine were one state through its military occupation and continued annexation of Palestinian lands. It is thus imperative that equal rights be extended to non-Jews living under Israel’s purview.
In another op-ed, Eid shared his vision for a solution to the Palestinian question: “[It] cannot be reached by entertaining racist ideas about the separation of peoples. Only the restoration of Palestine’s multicultural identity, one that is inclusive, secular and democratic can lead to lasting peace between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and beyond.”
The ODSC 10-Point Political Program
The ODSC has issued a call “for the establishment of a single democratic state including everyone living between the River and the Sea, including Palestinian refugees who choose to return to their homeland.” To do so, they have formulated a 10-point political program.
The program describes in detail the following ten points.
- A single constitutional democracy
- Right of return, of restoration and of reintegration into society
- Individual rights
- Collective rights
- Immigration
- Constructing a shared civil society
- Economy and economic justice
- Commitment to human rights, justice, and peace
- Our role in the region
- International responsibility
From establishing and maintaining a democratic state that upholds equality and justice to implementing the Right of Return for all refugees and their descendants, the ODSC political program offers a possibility for peace and justice for all people in the region.
Read more about ODSC’s mission here.
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