Why Borrell, Others are Now Calling for a Palestinian State – ANALYSIS

November 23, 2023

EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. (Photo: European Parliament, via Wikimedia Commons)

By Palestine Chronicle Editors

Suddenly, the two-state solution is returning to the political discourse on Palestine and Israel, this time with a degree of urgency. 

For years, the issue, that of a Palestinian state, or any ‘solution’ to the so-called Palestinian-Israeli conflict, seemed irrelevant, at least to US and other Western leaders.

Israel, simply, was not interested in a discussion on any kind of a peaceful settlement to its military occupation and apartheid in Palestine, and Western leaders did not want to ‘pressure’ Tel Aviv. 

The October 7 events, and the subsequent war, however, have brought the conversation on a two-state solution back to the fore. 

Moscow, Beijing, Ankara, and other Arab and Global South nations are increasingly speaking about a two-state solution as part of a framework of a just settlement to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. 

But for Western leaders, who are now also talking about a Palestinian state, the urgency of this supposed ‘solution’ is not driven by their quest for justice, but rather out of fear that the newfound power of the Palestinian Resistance could alter the political landscape altogether – thus compelling Palestinians to demand complete liberation. 

A case in point were the comments made by EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell on November 20.

In written remarks to the press, following a five-day trip to the Middle East, Borrell said “I think that the best guarantee for Israel’s security is the creation of a Palestinian state”.

“Despite the huge challenges, we have to advance our reflections on the stabilization of Gaza and the future Palestinian state,” he added.

The rest of his remarks were concerned by the destabilization of the whole region resulting from the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the risk such destabilization has on the future of Israel and the Middle East as a whole. 

The return to the two-state solution paradigm is likely to continue in coming days and weeks, with the hope of saving Israel from itself. 

It has become clear that Israel’s settler-colonial practices in the West Bank are failing to guarantee ‘peaceful colonialism’, which is greatly disturbing the region, at the expense of US-Western dominance. 

Whether Israel is capable of even entertaining such suggestions by Borrell and others or not, it matters little. 

The fact is, Palestinians have finally managed to reinstate themselves as relevant, in fact, powerful political actors, not only in terms of their own future but also the future of Israel itself. Borrell, and many like him, understand this very well. And indeed, they are now extremely worried for the future of Tel Aviv, in fact, its very existence. 

(The Palestine Chronicle)