Mark Levine and Mathias Mossberg, eds. One Land, Two States: Israel and Palestine as Parallel States (Oakland, Calif.: University of California Press, 2014). Pp. 296. $29.95 paper. ISBN: 9780520279131 (original) (raw)

2015, International Journal of Middle East Studies

Depending on who is speaking, the tipping point beyond which a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict becomes impossible is approaching, imminent, or passed. Raja Khalidi, in the opening to his chapter in One Land Two States, writes "[it] does not take an expert to recognize that a partition of territory and sovereignty on the basis of geo-demographic realities today is most likely not a viable solution." A binational or civic one-state democracy seems remote and undesirable, or else a formula for entrenched apartheid. As a result, those who believe the conflict must be resolved and not just managed are increasingly exploring ideas that acknowledge both the need for separation, but accept that the land is small and the populations increasingly inextricable. One Land Two States is one of the only book-length works to explore a specific separate-buttogether model in theoretical and practical depth. It adds to a slow but steady growth of academic literature considering confederal proposals for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One Land Two States grew out of the "Parallel States Project," a group of prescient academics who began their discussions in 2008; the chapters in this edited collection were written by participants in that project. The academic interest complements a similar flurry of activity on the ground. Local civil society efforts have yielded confederal projects with similar names, such as Two States, One Homeland and Two States, One Space. Benjamin Netanyahu's recent re-election in March gives the issue new urgency. The fallacy of a status quo has been shattered by a trio of wars in Gaza and Netanyahu's election-eve rejection of the two-state concept, as well as more aggressive Palestinian activity in the international arena. Israel is deepening its grip on "Area C"-60 percent of the West Bank-and coalition partner Naftali Bennett, among others, has called openly for annexation. Strict two-staters have argued that confederal approaches are unrealistic slogans. But radical political changes can indeed start as broad ideas, fleshed out over time by new proponents. This book advances that process, through theoretical discussions of sovereignty, elaborate proposals for security and economy, law, and even the role of religion. It is comprehensive, detailed, and confronts problems at every step; accusations of sloganism or naiveté do not apply. Several chapters are devoted to disaggregating the elements of sovereignty and putting them together again differently. Jens Bartelson summarizes the main criticisms of traditional sovereignty, then ups the ante: if we accept that classic territorial inviolability has been breached over history, if political ownership is increasingly delinked from land, then what? That's when the authors take the leap, in proposing sovereignty based on identity, rights, individuals, and law. The result is a tantalizing proposal for "parallel states" (which could more accurately be called layered states, since "parallel" implies side-by-side but never touching). The two states would be defined by citizenship rather than geography or borders. "Heartland" areas dominated by one of the national groups would be small and limited-all the rest is open season: "Two parallel state structures, both covering the whole territory, with one answering to Palestinians and one to Israelis regardless of where they live" (p. 2). What can this putatively simple formulation mean? Can two different governments on the same land be a fair and functional way of managing life for two integrated but hostile populations? The authors do not underestimate the theoretical challenge, calling it "conceptually demanding." Mossberg, a former diplomat, proposes that sovereign powers can be divided between shared and