So where should Israel go from here? Keep in mind that we are viewing this through the eyes of 4,000 years of history. So what should be done regarding the war with Hamas, while important, is not that significant in the whole scope of history. As it is now, the nation of Israel controls all of what we have defined as Palestine: the land along the east Coast of the Mediterranean that is west of the Jordon River, south of Syria and north of Egypt. So it includes the West Bank and Gaza. Of the 10 million people living within the borders of the State of Israel, 74% are Jewish. Within the West Bank and Gaza, there are 4.8 million people. Over 97% are Muslims. Were the population of these to areas to be combine, there would be about 15 million people and of those, 45% would be Muslims and 55% would be Jews, Christians with a few “other”.
There appears to me to be only two options – a one state solution where Israel includes all of the land within Palestine or a two state solution where there is a division of this land such that a portion of it is substantially Muslim and the other (main) portion is substantially Jewish.
I have provided links to two articles on this topic. The first one relates to a one state approach and the other to the “two state solution”.
If you will be participating in the final classroom discussion on July 2, 2024, please read these two articles before. If there are other sources that you think relevant to this topic, please email me and if I agree that they are, then I will include them as a link below.
Links to other Session Essays: https://quotesbydavid.com/history-of-palestine/