This Saturday February 20th at 2pm, at a public meeting organised by the Irish Anti-War Movement, internationally prominent Israeli, Palestinian and Jewish writers, Dr. Ilan Pappe (Author of the The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine), Dr. Ghada Kharmi (Author of Married to Another Man) and John Rose, (Author of The Myths of Zionism) will speak in Dublin’s Gresham Hotel about the “one-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
(See below for more detailed biographies of the speakers).
All three speakers are leading advocates of a growing current of Palestinian, Israeli, Jewish and other activists, who believe that the so-called “two-state solution” to the conflict, championed by the international political establishment, has failed and will prove incapable of succeeding in the future.
This Saturday February 20th at 2pm, at a public meeting organised by the Irish Anti-War Movement, internationally prominent Israeli, Palestinian and Jewish writers, Dr. Ilan Pappe (Author of the The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine), Dr. Ghada Kharmi (Author of Married to Another Man) and John Rose, (Author of The Myths of Zionism) will speak in Dublin’s Gresham Hotel about the “one-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
(See below for more detailed biographies of the speakers).
All three speakers are leading advocates of a growing current of Palestinian, Israeli, Jewish and other activists, who believe that the so-called “two-state solution” to the conflict, championed by the international political establishment, has failed and will prove incapable of succeeding in the future.
They argue that attempts to establish two states based on ethnic/religious partition have simply institutionalised an apartheid system, intensified violence and made the conflict intractable, and that, in any event, such a plan is now practically impossible given the extent of Jewish settlements now present in the Palestinian occupied territories.
All three believe the only just and viable long-term solution to the conflict is for Israeli’s and Palestinians to have equal rights in a single national territory.
The meeting entitled: "Can Israeli’s and Palestinians live in One State?" will also be briefly addressed by Zoe Lawlor recently returned from Gaza and Egypt and Richard Boyd Barrett, chairperson of the Irish Anti-War Movement.
Richard Boyd Barrett chairperson of the Irish Anti-War Movement said:
"We are delighted to have brought together on the same platform, for the first time in Dublin, three such prominent experts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and articulate exponents of the one state solution. This will be the first major public meeting on this subject to have taken place in Ireland and represents a unique opportunity for the Irish public to be presented a very different analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how it can be resolved.
The horrific events in Gaza last year rightly shocked people in this county and around the world. It provided a terrible reminder of the plight of the Palestinian people and the apparently endless conflict between Palestinians and the state of Israel. Yet, a year on, despite a global public outcry, the conflict has not moved one step closer to a peaceful resolution.
The Israeli siege of Gaza – preventing vital humanitarian and reconstruction aid reaching its suffering population – continues. The West Bank – where the majority of Palestinians live – remains under Israeli military occupation, surrounded by hundreds of kilometres of an 8-metre concrete wall, in what is effectively a giant open-air prison. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers now occupy Palestinian land within the occupied territories and Palestinians are still regularly expelled from their homes to make way for more settlers. This ever-worsening situation is not simply a terrible humanitarian disaster. Crucially, it also shows the utter failure of the supposed "peace" strategy pursued by the big western powers over the last 20 years.
Since the first Palestinian uprising (Intifada) in 1987, the US and western powers have championed the idea that peace can only be achieved by dividing Jews and Arabs into "two states". This “two-state” solution -formalised in the Oslo Peace accords (1996) – promised a “historic breakthrough” in the conflict. Since then, despite numerous declarations, conferences and “road-maps,” the situation has not improved. It has worsened in every way: almost 5000 Palestinians have been killed, including almost 1000 children and 31, 000 have been maimed and injured.
Increasingly, Palestinians, Jewish peace activists in Israel, and others around the world are questioning whether, the “two-state” solution might be the problem, rather than the solution. These voices say that the partition of Jews and Palestinian Arabs in a "two-state" peace strategy, has inflamed religious and ethnic conflict, encouraged ethnic cleansing and guarantees a permanent state of war. They say, that even in practical terms, with hundreds of thousands of Israeli’s living on Palestinian land, dividing these people into two separate states will be impossible. This new coalition is calling for a “One-state” solution, where Israeli’s and Palestinians would live in one state, not based on religious or ethnic identity but on equal rights for all and one person one vote.
The Irish Anti-War Movement is absolutely honoured to host three of the most vocal and articulate advocates of this alternative strategy for peace in the Middle East at a public meeting here in Dublin. We hope that anyone who is interested in seeing an end to this terrible conflict which lies at the heart of so many of the political problems in the Middle East and beyond will come along."
Admission to the meeting is free. Donations are welcome.
More information on the speakers:
Dr. Ilan Pappe is professor of history at the University of Exeter in the UK, co-director of the Exeter Center for Ethno-Political Studies, and political activist. One of the New Historians in Israel he was formerly a senior lecturer in political science at Haifa University(1984-2007), and chair of the Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian and Israeli Studies in Haifa (2000-2008). He is the author of
- The_Ethnic_Cleansing_of_Palestine (2006),
- The Modern Middle East (2005),
- A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples (2003), and
- Britain and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1988).
Dr Ghada Karmi is a Palestinian-British author, academic and political commentator and is an honorary research fellow and assistant lecturer at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. A well known international commentator on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Dr Karmi appears widely in the British and Arab media and frequently has articles on the Middle East published in (UK), The Nation (US) and Journal of Palestine Studies.
She is author of:
- In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story,
- Married to Another Man: Israel’s Dilemma in Palestine
John Rose is of Jewish decent, is a leading British writer and activist known as a speaker on Israel and Palestine and as a critic of Zionism . He teaches sociology at Southwark College and London Metropolitan University. He is the author of numerous books and articles including;
- The Myths of Zionism, Pluto Press Ltd, January 2005
- Israel: The Hijack State – America’s Watchdog In The Middle East, Bookmarks Publications, October 1986.
- Zionism’s Iron Wall
- Jesus: History’s Most Famous Missing Person
For info contact:
Richard Boyd Barrett 086-7814520
Jim Roche 087-6472737
