Norway FM says one-state solution in Palestine may resolve Israel occupation, apartheid

Norway’s Foreign Minister has suggested that the establishment of a one-state solution in Palestine, which would incorporate “equal rights for all”, may resolve Israel’s ongoing occupation in Palestine and its apartheid system, amid a continuing decline in the hope for the two-state solution.

During a meeting in New York last week of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), a UN body tasked with delivering aid to Palestinians, Norwegian Foreign Minister, Anniken Huitfeldt, expressed that while Norway continues to believe that the long-lauded two-state solution remains “the best way to secure peace and security for both people [Palestinians and Israelis]” time is about “to run out” in regards to the reality of such a concept.

The current status quo, she said, in which Israel continues to occupy Palestinian Territories, builds Jewish settlements in the West Bank which are illegal under international law, maintains the siege on the Gaza Strip, enforces an apartheid system and violently suppresses the Palestinian population and forms of their dissent is all “moving towards a one-state reality without equal rights for all.”

Calling the lack of equal rights for Palestinians “unacceptable”, Huitfeldt expressed her inclination toward a single state in Palestine with equal rights and representation for both Palestinians and Israelis, which would treat them as equal citizens.

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It is a proposal that has long been advocated for by some Palestinian activists and even some Israeli figures, although the equal rights model of it remains in stark contrast to the one that far-right figures in the current government seek to implement, which is a singular apartheid state in which Jewish Israelis have domination.

Aside from giving support for the idea of a one-state solution, the Norwegian Foreign Minister also urged Israel to refrain from actions “undermining” the Palestinian Authority (PA), and to lift restrictions on the use of land in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-controlled West Bank Area C.

She also reiterated that all parties must “seek a political solution”, acknowledging that “If there is no end to the occupation and no progress on the political front, any achievements will only have limited effect”.

Huitfeldt’s remarks and the AHLC meeting coincided with the 30th anniversary of the infamous Oslo Accords, the landmark agreement which was meant to pave the way for a two-state solution, but which many view as being hijacked by the Israelis and enabling settlements to continue being built while killing the potential for an independent Palestinian State.

Over the years, support for the two-state solution has rapidly declined amongst the Palestinian population as well as Israelis, while interest in the one-state solution has significantly grown.

The Oslo Accords are the war Israel won without fighting