12 | OCTOBER 14 • 2021
in the news
Two-State Solution
Is Best Path to Peace
I
n 1990, as a 29-year-old grad-
uate student at the University
of Michigan, I helped orga-
nize an interfaith delegation to
Israel and Palestine. When I
returned from the trip — my
first to the region — I wrote an
op-ed for the Detroit Jewish News
urging my fellow
American Jews to
speak out in sup-
port of a two-state
solution and an end
to the occupation.
I asked, “Why
don’t we join thou-
sands of courageous
Israelis in opposing their govern-
ment’s policy when it runs counter
to Israel’s own interests and deni-
grates the Jewish people’s centuries
of struggle against injustice?”
It was, at the time, a radical
position in our community, and
one that didn’t earn me a lot of
friends among some powerful
American Jewish organizations.
Today, though, supporting a two-
state solution isn’t just noncon-
troversial — it sometimes seems
banal and even meaningless.
In recent years, saying one
supports a two-state solution has
become like offering “thoughts
and prayers” in the wake of a
mass shooting. People say they
support two states, but the words
are not connected to any deeds;
and actions that endanger the
possibility of a viable Palestinian
state are often met with silence.
We don’t have time to not act
anymore, nor can we avert our
gaze. America must reassert its
long-dormant role in bringing
these two parties together and
helping create the conditions for
real peace and security.
Earlier this year, we witnessed
a conflict in Israel and Gaza that
cost hundreds of lives and caused
devastating damage to homes
and livelihoods, worsening Gaza’s
humanitarian crisis. We saw
riots erupt in Israeli towns once
applauded as models of peaceful
coexistence between Jews and
Palestinians. All of this occurred
against the backdrop of a deepen-
ing occupation in the Palestinian
territories that, if continued
unabated, will foreclose the possi-
bility of a viable Palestinian state
altogether.
As we enter a new year in the
Jewish calendar, I believe we must
also enter a new chapter. It is ser-
endipitous that we find ourselves
at the outset of a shmita year.
According to [Hazon’s] Shmita
Project, “During this seventh
year, God commands us to let the
land rest, release debts, resolve
disputes, and to open our hands
and hearts to those in need.
”
As a Jew and a member of
Congress, I feel compelled to do
what I can to resolve a dispute
that has cost thousands of lives
and torn at the Jewish commu-
nity for decades and work more
urgently to ensure Israel’s future as
a democratic state and homeland
for the Jewish people is secure and
Palestinians’ aspirations for a state
of their own can be fulfilled.
PROGRESS TOWARD PEACE
That is why I have introduced
the Two-State Solution Act, a bill
to accelerate progress toward a
two-state solution and discour-
age steps that push one out of
reach. It clarifies the distinction
between Israel and the occu-
pied Palestinian territories and
reverses policies put in place by
the Trump administration that
removed such distinctions.
It also funds programming to
promote human rights, democ-
racy and rule of law, and to
strengthen Palestinian civil society
organizations. On top of that, the
bill underscores the importance
of diplomacy, encouraging the
reopening of the PLO foreign mis-
sion in Washington and enhanc-
ing people-to-people program-
ming for Israelis and Palestinians.
The bill also reaffirms the
importance of U.S. security assis-
tance to Israel, while making clear
that there should be robust over-
sight over that assistance, as there
should be over aid to any country,
and that the laws authorizing that
assistance do not permit its use
for activities that perpetuate the
occupation or enable the annex-
ation — be it de jure or de facto
— of the West Bank.
This provision may elicit con-
demnations like the ones I heard
30 years ago when I spoke out on
behalf of two states.
Critics will say the bill singles
out Israel by imposing restric-
tions, even though Congress
specifies what taxpayer dollars
may or may not be used for all
the time. I’ve authored such pro-
visions myself, like one stating
that no U.S. funding may be
used for assistance to the Armed
Forces of Haiti.
They’ll accuse us of taking a
radical position, even though
most American Jewish voters
support restricting assistance to
Israel to prevent the growth or
persistence of the occupation, as
do other Americans.
They’ll say the bill would make
Israel less safe, even though it
does not lessen the support the
United States gives to Israel for its
security by even one dollar, and
even though there is no reason
to believe prolonging the status
quo — and continuing to curtail
the rights of the Palestinian peo-
ple — will bring about peace and
security for Israelis.
Peace with Egypt and returning
the Sinai improved Israel’s secu-
rity. Peace with Jordan improved
Israel’s security. The situation
has gone on for 54 years, and it
has led to recurring bloodshed,
increased isolation, and has not
delivered Israelis’ safety or peace.
The status quo is failing Israelis
and Palestinians alike. If we are
to embrace the concept of shmita
and use this moment to resolve
disputes, then we cannot eschew
our responsibility to act to bring
about peaceful coexistence
between the Jordan River and the
Mediterranean Sea.
Rep. Andy Levin represents the 9th District
of Michigan and a member of the Foreign
Affairs Committee.
PURELY COMMENTARY
Rep. Andy
Levin
RON KAMPEAS/JTA
Rep. Andy Levin introduces his “Two-State Solution Act” on Capitol Hill
on Sept. 23, 2021. He is flanked by, from left: Hadar Susskind, the pres-
ident and CEO of Americans for Peace Now; Rep. Alan Lowenthal; Rep.
Sara Jacobs; Rep. Peter Welch; and J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami.