This month marks half a century of Israel’s military occupation, the longest in modern history. A less abstract way of describing its duration is to point out that more than 90 per cent of Palestinians in the occupied territories are younger than the occupation itself. This means the overwhelming majority of the population has never known freedom or respect for their human and national rights, which much of the rest of the world takes for granted.
In the run-up to this tragic anniversary, much is being said and done to call for the end of Israel’s occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state. The two are often conflated, but they are not necessarily the same thing. Self-determination fundamentally means the right to determine your own future. That does not have to mean a separate state.
As such, this anniversary should be an opportunity not to repeat the tired two-state mantra, but to push for a paradigm shift towards a one-state solution with equality for all citizens, be they Israeli or Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim or Christian. The argument over one or two states is nothing new, but it has been oversimplified into which is more desirable. There are in fact two concurrent debates: which is preferable, and which is actually feasible.
There should not be anything undesirable about equal rights, whether in Israel/Palestine or anywhere else. To argue against equality on racial grounds – primarily by claiming that this threatens Jewish supremacy – is racist.
And denying a one-state solution ignores the fact that each side’s claims and attachments – whether legal, religious or historical – do not stop at the 1967 border. Israel claims the occupied territories as biblical Judea and Samaria, while wanting the world to forget that it was established on the Palestinians’ homeland, to which its dispossessed inhabitants will forever be deeply connected.
Indeed, maps, images and artwork in both Israel and the occupied territories include the entirety of historical Palestine rather than the pre-1967 borders. A one-state solution recognises these competing claims and attachments without giving one primacy over the other. This would be a historic compromise not by Israel, but by an indigenous people willing to share their homeland with those who so callously and violently dispossessed them.
Many people say a one-state solution is utterly naive and impractical, but this is wrong on two fundamental counts. Firstly, it immediately removes all but one of the major stumbling blocks that have consistently thwarted a two-state solution. In one state, there is no need to demarcate borders or divide Jerusalem, and instead of evacuating or dismantling Jewish-only settlements, they can accommodate both peoples.
The only remaining major obstacle would be the refugee issue, but without being bogged down by the others, there would be more room to focus on this particular one, increasing the likelihood of its resolution. Meanwhile, mechanisms to establish and enforce equality can be borrowed from other countries with relevant experience, such as post-apartheid South Africa, and modified if need be for the particulars of Israel/Palestine.
Secondly, many if not most one-state naysayers argue that it is impractical simply because Israel would never allow it. But for a solution to be lasting, it must be just, and for it to be just, it must be rooted in the rights of the oppressed, not the diktats and prejudices of the oppressor.
Besides, Israel has amply shown – in its continuing entrenchment of the occupation, its relentless colonisation, its ministers’ statements and the platforms of its governing parties – that it will not accept a Palestinian state at all, let alone a viable one.
If we are to confine the parameters to those acceptable to Israel, we might as well say goodbye to the very notion of Palestinian rights, which Human Rights Watch pointed out last week have suffered “systematic abuses” over the last 50 years as a means of maintaining Israeli control.
This brings us to the debate about the feasibility of the two-state solution, which renders the one over desirability moot. Year after year, we hear statements about how we are approaching the point of no return vis-à-vis a Palestinian state, given Israel’s settlement enterprise. The truth is, we passed that point long ago.
The reluctance to admit this is convenient for those invested in the “peace process” because they can avoid having to admit they have failed, and having to acknowledge the one-state reality. The delusion of a two-state solution is as entrenched as the occupation it seeks to end.
There was national upheaval in Israel about evacuating several thousand settlers from the Gaza Strip (which was done for demographic reasons, as then-president Shimon Peres admitted, not to advance the prospect of peace).
This renders impossible the prospect of evacuating several hundred thousand settlers from the West Bank and East Jerusalem – their illegal colonies strategically spread like tentacles throughout the occupied territories – even if there were the political will to do so, which there has never been. In fact, settlement expansion continues to pick up pace, with approval this week of the construction of an entirely new colony and 1,800 more housing units in existing settlements.
It is thus little surprise that amid understandable disillusionment and realities on the ground, support for a two-state solution among Palestinians is waning. According to a joint Israeli-Palestinian poll funded by the EU and published in February, 44 per cent of Palestinians support two states, while 36 per cent support one state.
The most interesting thing about the poll’s findings, however, is the level of support among Israelis for a solution “by which Palestinians and Jews will be citizens of the same state and enjoy equal rights”. Media reports of the results split them according to whether the Israelis surveyed were Jews or Arabs, with 19 per cent and 56 per cent supporting one state, respectively.
When one considers that Israeli Arabs make up some 20 per cent of the population, this equates to around a third of Israelis overall, almost the same proportion as Palestinians. In fact, more than a quarter of settlers, whose colonies are a hallmark of Israeli apartheid, support equality in one state – more than the percentage of Israeli Jews who are not settlers.
This shows that a one-state solution is not a pipe dream, not in Palestine and not even in Israel. One of the biggest obstacles it faces is the obstinance of the two-state mirage in the framework of international diplomacy over the conflict, and in the minds and expectations of people worldwide who have been conditioned to not even consider one state as an option, let alone as the only viable one.
This 50th anniversary should be an opportunity to intensify efforts to chip away at this outdated mindset, and to make people realise that amid this debate there is already a one-state reality. The challenge is to strive for a state that is built on equality, not on the endless subjugation of half its population.
Not that long ago, that very idea was deemed fanciful in apartheid South Africa.
Sharif Nashashibi is a journalist and political analyst
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
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Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The specs: 2018 GMC Terrain
Price, base / as tested: Dh94,600 / Dh159,700
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 353Nm @ 2,500rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.4L / 100km
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
THREE
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Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
