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A Jewish/Zionist Case for a Just, Bi-National/Federated ("Two-State Plus") Outcome for Israel and Palestine by Rabbi Gerald Serotta Rabbi Gerry Serotta, participating with West Bank Palestinians in the fall olive harvest near Nablus.  {You can view the article online: Click here} “I believe the plethora of settlements and annexation of East Jerusalem destroyed the possibility of a reasonable and fair division of the Land of Israel between the two peoples…As someone who supported it for 50 years, I know well all the arguments in favor of the two-state solution, and it’s because of that that I feel a right and even a moral obligation to question this stance when I see its growing helplessness in the face of the West Bank’s gloomy reality.”   A.B. Yehoshua Haaretz, Dec 20, 2021 “I strongly  believed in a Two-State Solution. It wasn’t equitable or just, but Palestinians were willing to live with it because it gave us hope for the future. Now after years of Israeli government sabotage and ineffective Palestinian leadership, the Two-State Solution is no longer possible with 700,000 settlers on the West Bank, with Gaza an open air prison, and with Israel declaring itself to be a Jewish state, formally turning Palestinian Israelis into second-class citizens…The Two-State solution has now become an excuse to keep Palestinians in a permanent bantustan-type status.”  Mubarak Awad in a communication through Non-Violence International, January 21, 2022 I am an American Jewish activist who has also publicly supported mutual recognition of the right of self-determination between the Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian-Arab peoples for some 50 years. I similarly feel a weighty obligation to respond to the ongoing daily agony of both peoples. Most days that agony is felt more acutely by Palestinians living under brutal occupation. But the mutual suffering degrades the Israeli Jewish people on a moral level every day that it continues.    While there may be more death and victims of violence in Palestine on a daily basis than among Israeli Jews, every single death and stunting of human potential that can be prevented requires all of us who care to look as fiercely as we can for alternatives. This suffering was exacerbated by the settlement project in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, but it has origins on a much deeper emotional level. The logic of partition never addressed this issue, whether in 1947 or within the Oslo process that led to the acceptance of the “Two State Solution” (2SS) on the part of portions of the leadership of both peoples.  Those who care about seeking a just solution need to respond to the emotional needs of both sides. They need to answer the following question urgently: does advocacy on behalf of the Oslo version 2SS in our current reality advance the path toward a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians?  Or has it become a quixotic dream that frustrates and demoralizes those who struggle for a durable solution?  Tikkun needs your support to bring the kind of analyses and information Tikkun provides.  Click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. The 2SS follows the logic of partition, but separation has never been the only model. From the time I first began my involvement I have always preferred the language of mutual recognition to the emphasis on partition. I began my involvement in the Israel/Palestine issue when many Jews (including Prime Minister Golda Meir) were arguing that there was no such identifiable entity as the “Palestinian” Arab people.  At the time there were many Palestinians mirroring this argument with their view that Jews were a religious minority, not a people worthy of recognition.   The last 55 years of occupation have demonstrated the fallacy of this thinking. At least now the consensus is clear (except to religious extremists on both sides) that these are two peoples, each of which defines their homeland as including the territory west of the Jordan to the Mediterranean. The Talmud says that when two persons lay hold to a garment and each swears that the whole garment is theirs then the solution is to divide it. But this doesn’t work with a baby, and seems to have failed to work with a land that is so deeply connected to family, history, and the lived experience of two peoples.    As a Jew I fear that we live in an era when the opportunity to create a humanistic and just Jewish national polity will be destroyed either by violence or moral decay. As a Zionist, I also believe that the relationship of my people to the land connected with our history can both be a source of inspiration and spiritual creativity for us and can also enhance the unique contribution we make among the nations. This possibility, too, is receding before our eyes. As a Rabbi I am deeply distressed by the daily contradictions of the demands of a just God with the behavior of people who claim to be my co-religionists.  [To Continue Reading, Click Here.] Rabbi Serotta was the Founding Chair of both Rabbis for Human Rights, North America (now T’ruah, the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights) and New Jewish Agenda, a national progressive organization. Click below to share this article on the platform of your choice!    Tikkun needs your support to bring the kind of analyses and information Tikkun provides. Click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Contact Us  Tikkun & the Network of Spiritual Progressives 2342 Shattuck Ave #1200  Berkeley, California 94704 (510) 644-1200 magazine@tikkun.org