For some, the year 1947 meant nothing. For Palestine, though, 1947 meant the beginning of decades of war and hostility. It meant the UN interfering, it meant the separation of their homeland, and it meant the Two-State Solution. I am against the Two-State Solution. Israeli settlements in Palestinian land and the Jerusalem conflict has shown the world that it is a terrible solution for decades of conflict. Not to mention, the recent series of events these past couple of years have escalated the situation to unmeasurable scales.

The conflict between Palestine and Israel spans over decades, with wars and terrorism spanning all twenty years. They decided in 1974 to a Two-State Solution where Israel would govern most of the coast and central areas while Palestine would be controlling the lower coast and have a separate state in the east, thus the name of the solution. In 2001, Israel assassinated a political leader in Palestine during a Palestinian uprising known as the second intifada. A second uprising. No doubt, the Palestinians responded by gunning down an Israeli minister. It is crystal clear that the Israelis and Palestinians do not like each other. If a Two-State Solution were to happen, it would reignite old tensions and would most likely cause massive protests from Palestinian and Israeli citizens. These people have been in conflict for decades – they would escalate the situation further than before.

Furthermore, Israel has already rejected the solution since 1991 from the Madrid Conference and, most recently, the 2013-2014 peace talks. All of them failed to solidify the Two-State Solution. It makes it worse that they’ve been occupying Palestinian territory since the Six-Day War. Sending in settlers to occupy and annex the land, Israel is not budging on their stance. This outright shows that Israel will not agree on such a solution and Palestine is not willing to let go of the little land they have left. This shows how this solution is basically irrelevant to defusing the situation. Rather, they must follow a different solution that will please both sides.

In 2018, the United States moved their embassy from Tel Aviv to Israeli Jerusalem, but that means that the new capital of Israel is Jerusalem, which means Palestinian Jerusalem is now no longer Palestine’s, it is now Israel’s. This act caused a string of days of protest from Palestinians and, on the opening day, more than 60 Palestinians died. This was the bloodiest day in the Gaza Border Protest. Palestine and Israel are in constant state of hatred against each other, so a Two-State Solution will not work. The conflict that happened during the Gaza Border Protests shows that it can’t be done. The two nations are in constant conflict with each other. The U.S has already secured the fate of both, due to their decision to move the embassy.

Finally, the recent conflicts and series of previous wars have made the Two-State Solution inept. What we should be doing is to separate Palestine and Israel. Before there was Israel, there was only Palestine and then they forcibly made Palestine let Israel become its own nation. That is the problem. They both exist. This can be fixed peacefully, but I do not have the answer to that. This will end in blood and war if one side doesn’t end this ridiculous feud that has been continuing for decades. As I stated before, the Two-State Solution will not work. It has been plagued by setbacks and international disruption. May the two sides finally agree on a peaceful solution.