Makdisi’s Palestine Inside Out gives an excellent picture of the everyday hell of Palestinian life, but his advocacy of a one-state solution undermines the book’s impact
June 10, 2008 Israeli-Palestinian conflict No CommentsSaree Makdisi’s Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation is excellent insofar as it conveys a sense of the everyday agony of Palestinian life under occupation. But by advocating a “one-state solution” in the book’s “Coda,” Makdisi will alienate many readers outraged by Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians but nonetheless absolutely committed to the idea of a Jewish state where Jews will never again be at the mercy of gentiles. Makdisi criticizes Israeli peace activists like Amos Oz and Yossi Beilin for insisting on a state with a Jewish majority. While it is easy to understand why Palestinians would reject such a position, it should also be easy to understand why most Jews cannot. A two-state solution along the lines of the Geneva Accord is not perfect, but it is the best Palestinians can hope for. Unrealistic talk about a one-state solution simply encourages Israelis sympathetic to the views of Oz and Beilin to embrace the hawkish views of Netanyahu and the Likud.