One Land, Two States - by Mark Levine & Mathias Mossberg

Book Synopsis

One Land, Two States imagines a new vision for Israel and Palestine in a situation where the peace process has failed to deliver an end of conflict. "If the land cannot be shared by geographical division, and if a one-state solution remains unacceptable," the book asks, "can the land be shared in some other way?"

Leading Palestinian and Israeli experts along with international diplomats and scholars answer this timely question by examining a scenario with two parallel state structures, both covering the whole territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, allowing for shared rather than competing claims of sovereignty. Such a political architecture would radically transform the nature and stakes of the Israel-Palestine conflict, open up for Israelis to remain in the West Bank and maintain their security position, enable Palestinians to settle in all of historic Palestine, and transform Jerusalem into a capital for both of full equality and independence--all without disturbing the demographic balance of each state. Exploring themes of security, resistance, diaspora, globalism, and religion, as well as forms of political and economic power that are not dependent on claims of exclusive territorial sovereignty, this pioneering book offers new ideas for the resolution of conflicts worldwide.

From the Back Cover

"While unilateralism and impunity are destroying the two-state solution, and racism and power politics are precluding the one-state solution, the Parallel States Project provides precisely that type of creativity and daring capable of generating a refreshing alternative vision that might actually rescue the chances of peace."
--Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee and the Palestinian Legislative Council

"Two assumptions: 1) time ran out for the two-state solution and 2) Israelis and Palestinians can and have to live together, in equality and justice. For anyone who believes in these two assumptions, One Land, Two States is more than an option. It is a need--the need to look for the unthinkable in this endless conflict."
--Gideon Levy, columnist for Haaretz

"There is always merit in challenging conventional thinking, and this volume by two seasoned and out-of-the-box thinkers does it."
--Aaron David Miller, Vice President for New Initiatives, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

"The Parallel States concept to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the most daring and intriguing new idea for a permanent peace that has come along in two generations of failed negotiations. It deserves very serious consideration by all interested parties, because in its entirety or in some of its component elements it could spark a more productive new path to peace, justice, and coexistence."
--Rami G. Khouri, Director, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, American University of Beirut, and syndicated columnist for Agence Global and the Daily Star

"You may call it fantasy, daydreaming, or utopia. But isn't this what Herzl faced too? When those who are preoccupied with the conventional two-state solution are being called obsessive, this book offers a new, fascinating, innovative approach with different tools to solve the same old problem for the same people. Wanted! Two brave leaders to take up the challenge."
--Arad Nir, Foreign Affairs Editor, Channel 2 News, Israel

"The Parallel States Project is a vision aimed at shattering the accepted conventions regarding the political solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What it is in fact is an attempt to square the circle. It will take the political world, which has come up against one failure after another in its efforts to advance peace among the peoples living in the Holy Land, some time to digest the concept. Ultimately, there is quite a good chance that the idea of a functional partition will trickle down to the peoples and their leaders and offer the formula that will finally lead to conciliation and peace."
--Israel Harel, chairman and founder of Yesha Council, head of the Institute for Zionist Strategies, columnist for Haaretz, and participant in the Parallel States Project

Review Quotes

"A coterie of bold, open-minded international academics offers a fresh paradigm for Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. . . . A visionary approach so daring that it could actually work."-- "Kirkus" (6/1/2014 12:00:00 AM)

"A perceptual and cognitive turnaround aimed at formulating a solution to the situation. And it may well be that this is precisely what it takes to get out of the impasse the diplomatic process has reached."--Arad Nir "Al-Monitor" (10/14/2014 12:00:00 AM)

"A provocative and daring new approach to peacefully meeting the national rights of Israelis and Palestinians."--Rami G. Khouri "Agence Global" (4/25/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"In an effort to circumvent a seemingly bleak future, a group of Israeli and Palestinian scholars is proposing and examining an interesting and provocative paradigm shift . . . these essayists provide some interesting and refreshing ideas."--Jay Freeman "Booklist" (6/1/2014 12:00:00 AM)

"It is evident that the editors put considerable thought into seeking a fine balance between Israeli and Palestinian scholars--and this is done quite artfully."-- "Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs" (10/14/2014 12:00:00 AM)

"The idea merits further exploration."-- "Publishers Weekly" (5/26/2014 12:00:00 AM)

"One Land, Two States performs a valuable service in presenting a different framework for discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. . . . the questions it raises are provocative and worthy of further thought and discussion."-- "Contemporary Jewry" (11/1/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"[One land, two states] stimulates new thinking towards resolving the Israel- Palestine conflict."--Muhammad Yaseen Gada "Intellectual Discourse" (7/1/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"Throughout the book, Levine, and Mossberg investigate every aspect of of the idea of "Parallel States." They analyze a new coexistence of Israel and Palestine at all levels: economic, religious, judicial; and how it would prevent the emergence of tensions between the communities."--Joan Català Margarit "afkar/ideas" (5/1/2015 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Mark LeVine is Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine, a contributing editor for Tikkun, and a senior columnist for Al Jazeera. He is the author of Overthrowing Geography and the coeditor of Struggle and Survival in Palestine/Israel (both from UC Press).

Mathias Mossberg is a retired Swedish ambassador with extensive personal experience from the peace process and related track-two diplomacy as well as from mediation efforts in other conflicts. He is Senior Fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, Sweden.