Being Pro- Palestinian Or Pro- Israel Will Not Solve The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

It is irrelevant if a person is 100 per cent pro Israel, or 100 per cent pro Palestinian, if the person is a rational, decent human being. This is a conflict that cannot be won militarily. This is a conflict that neither side can win. There are not many options. Option one, a two state solution. This can succeed if it means a permanent end to the violence and war. Otherwise, there will be endless war between the two states that will result in far more deaths and maiming than has yet been experienced. Two states is a rational solution. These two sides have been at each others throats, and forcing a one state solution if both sides do not equally want it, is only a recipe for permanent conflict. There are reasons places like the former Yugoslavia have been divided into smaller countries- to keep hostile populations separate from one another. A two state solution means separating the two warring sides. The rights of Jewish refugees and their descendants from Arab Muslim majority lands in the middle east and north Africa, and that now form the majority population of Israel, must finally be taken into consideration as much as the rights of the Arab refugees and their descendants from what is now Israel. Two states means a separation, not making the entanglement worse, and not expecting either side to destruct itself by having to absorb the descendants of the refugees of the other side. For the 20 per cent population of Israel that are Arab Muslim citizens, as will as with all Israelis, a two state solution will work to the benefit of all by ending a conflict that has dragged everyone down. Option two, a one state solution. This is only possible if there is a willingness from both sides to live in peace with one another, and if it is equally the will of both sides. Unfortunately, a one state solution represents for some the ethnic cleansing of one side or the other, and ethnic cleansing must always be completely opposed. Both sides would have to mutually agree to live in a democracy, despite the years of war and animosity, with one person, one vote, and with the complete cessation of hatred, incitement and violence. It would take a Nelson Mandela type leader to create the atmosphere for this possibility, and unfortunately such a person is absent. Most importantly, both sides would have to agree, and not see a one state solution as an opportunity to continue to be at each other's throat. The hatred and years of conflict make this possibility less doable than a two state solution. Option three, the status qua. This option is already eroding values, and has only proven to be the recipe for endless violence. Decent people, not those filled with pathological hate, do not want the cycle of violence to continue endlessly, even if they completely favor one side or the other. We can go on endlessly about who has more right to the land, who was there first, which side must leave, which side is more right or wrong, and it will accomplish nothing but prolong the bloodshed. Both sides have their biases about the causes of the conflict. Getting mired into who is to blame accomplishes nothing and also only prolongs the bloodshed. This conflict requires painful compromises on both sides, and for both sides to start seeing each other as human beings first. Violence has resulted in nothing but the loss of lives and the crippling and maiming of many. Even if someone is 100 per cent pro Israel, or 100 per cent pro Palestinian, if the person is a half way decent human being, it is impossible not to see the futility and misery in hate and war. The best way to end this conflict is to separate the two sides as much as is possible, and go with option one, the two state solution.