Writers and analysts have expressed bold views

A dramatic year in Palestine... and the region needs a different proposal

• The Palestinian voice has become heard in the world.

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• Netanyahu lost office after four elections.

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• The Gaza Strip was subjected to a violent attack this year.

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The war in Gaza, the violence between the various forces, and the new Israeli government have not led to any breakthroughs when it comes to peace. 2021 was a dramatic year for Israelis and Palestinians. Israelis voted in general elections for the fourth time in two years, while Palestinians in the West Bank were denied the right to vote when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas postponed the legislative elections, which he feared he would lose. After years of inconclusive elections, an unfamiliar coalition of politicians, including far-right forces and an Arab-Israeli party, has come together to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.As they reached a coalition agreement, tensions escalated in Jerusalem over the attempt to force Palestinian families out of their homes, and the violent tactics used by Israeli officials at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Hamas then launched a barrage of rockets into Israel; The Israeli army attacked the Gaza Strip, again, while deploying the Iron Dome system to defend the Israelis from incoming missiles. The two-week war killed about 260 Palestinians and 13 people in Israel; And it sparked unprecedented violence in Israeli cities between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel.

In addition to chronicling these events, Foreign Policy writers and analysts have taken a step back, as many have argued that the old paradigm of peacemaking no longer applies to a conflict that has evolved, with many known methods of peacemaking becoming ineffective.

They also suggested new and sometimes controversial approaches.

Here are some suggestions and views included in articles and analyzes published in the magazine during 2021:

The vision with green lines blurs the reality in Israel and Palestine

“For decades, there has been a one-state problem in Israel and Palestine.

Since 1967, one country has militarily ruled the area from the river to the sea.

And that country, of course, is Israel,” wrote Youssef Mounir in a stinging criticism of those who insist on considering the so-called Green Line, or the pre-1967 Israeli border, as a meaningful sign.

This is because, as Munir put it, “the ultimate power in the West Bank that shapes Palestinian lives is the State of Israel, not the Palestinian Authority,” while the Palestinians in Gaza are besieged and bombed.

He believes that the Green Line is theoretically useful, “because it defines the occupied territories in an aggressive manner,” but it no longer makes sense at a time that “is being completely ignored by an Israeli state that at the same time ignores international law, and increasingly rejects the concept that it is an occupying state, and has worked to deepen its grip on the land, indicating its intention to annex it permanently.

Biden's Old Evidence Won't End Israeli-Palestinian Violence

With the outbreak of war in Gaza last May, former members of the negotiating teams from both sides of the table moved to the pages of Foreign Policy magazine to jointly criticize the outdated approach of the administration of US President Joe Biden, in their view;

Which is counterproductive towards conflict.

Zaha Hassan and Danielle Levy wrote that the policies “created a sense among Israelis that depriving Palestinians of freedoms could be controlled at low cost, encouraging indifference and arrogance,” while the authors rebuke the White House for not insisting strongly on holding democratic elections for the Palestinian Authority.

They recommended a radical policy change, in Washington, focused on ending the blockade of Gaza, preventing land confiscations and evictions, halting mass arrests of Palestinians, and punishing state and settler violence.

The two analysts warned that "the US policy, which operates automatically, will fail," which will make the United States "bear a heavy burden from the Middle East, while seeking to focus its energy elsewhere."

How did Israel lose the culture war?

The Israeli government's narrative that democracies must resist "terrorists" has captured the world's attention.

But 20 years later, in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in the United States, and with the issue of racial justice spreading, Palestinians protesting against Israeli occupation are capturing the zeitgeist, writes Alia Brahimi.

This is bad news for the Israeli government, which faces a "rapidly changing global culture."

While the era of the so-called war on terror was well suited to Israeli public relations efforts, "the Palestinians can now access the language of the present."

"Economic Peace" with Israel Won't Help the Palestinians

The idea that economic ties would pave the way for a political settlement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become popular among certain policy makers.

But Ibrahim Shikaki, assistant professor of economics at Trinity College, believes that "the basic economic dynamism in Palestine depends on Israel in an extreme and unidirectional way."

Shikaki wrote that instead of seeking closer and more inclusive economic relations between the two sides, international powers should help build a truly independent Palestinian economy;

Hiding behind the overt notions of market fundamentalism to promote uncontrolled economic cooperation between the two economies will only entrench this dependency while stifling development.

The unification of Jordan and Palestine - once again

The Jordanian businessman, Hassan Abdullah Ismaik, wrote a long and controversial article in which he says that the simplest solution to the seemingly intractable conflict is for the Kingdom of Jordan to reconnect the West Bank, as it did in 1950;

But this time to grant Jordanian citizenship to the remaining Jewish settlers.

So are all Palestinians, including Gazans.

The article sparked a wave of reactions in the Arabic-speaking press and two responses published by Foreign Policy.

• The old paradigm of peacemaking no longer applies to a conflict that has developed, with which many well-known methods of peacemaking have become ineffective.

• The Israeli government's narrative that democracies must resist "terrorists" has captured the world's attention.

But 20 years later, in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in the United States, and with the issue of racial justice spreading, Palestinians protesting against Israeli occupation are capturing the spirit of the age.

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