The One-State Solution: A Breakthrough for Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Deadlock (Hardcover)

by Prof. Virginia Tilley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

“A clear, trenchant book on a topic of enormous
importance... Overall this is a courageous plunge
into boiling waters. If it helps propel forward a
debate that has hardly begun in this country it will
have performed a signal scholarly and political
function.”
—Tony Judt, New York University

“. . . a pioneering text. . . . [A]s such it will take pride
of place in a brewing debate.”
—Gary Sussman, Tel Aviv University

The One-State Solution demonstrates that Israeli
settlements have already encroached on the occupied
territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the extent
that any Palestinian state in those areas is unviable.
It reveals the irreversible impact of Israel’s settlement
grid by summarizing its physical, demographic, . nancial,
and political dimensions. Virginia Tilley explains
why we should assume that this grid will not be withdrawn
—or its expansion reversed—by reviewing the
role of the key political actors: the Israeli government,
the United States, the Arab states, and the European
Union. Finally, the book addresses the daunting obstacles
to a one-state solution—including major revision
of the Zionist dream but also Palestinian and other
regional resistance—and offers some ideas about how
those obstacles might be addressed.

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Product Details Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: University of Michigan Press (May 24, 2005) Language: English ISBN-10: 0472115138 ISBN-13: 978-0472115136 Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #829,487 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews 5 star:  (6) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:  (3)           Average Customer Review 3.6 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 40 of 49 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Opening a "Forbidden Debate", June 13, 2005 By  J. L. Spates - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    The great advantage of Virginia Tilley's new book, in this commentator's eyes, is that it should reintroduce an issue that, for reasons much too complex to go into here, has long been "off the table": the hypothesis that the only viable solution to the Palestinian-Israeli problem is to find a way for the disputing and warring sides to live together. In the early parts of her book, Tilley argues that the policy of "in-fill" of Jewish settlements into areas that might have, once, been part of a possible (if resource-poor, surrounded-by hostile others) Palestinian homeland, have made such a homeland utterly unfeasible. Given this, the only solution is to create a single state wherein, in the creation of that state, the two sides have worked long and hard to find ways to accommodate their differences. Tilley is of course powerfully aware that the practical obstacles--and arguments against--such a solution are enormous, but no more so, she contends, than the practical obstacles and arguments facing any serious two state solution. In the latter part of the book, Tilley attempts to wend her way through the rock and a hard place she has "created," as she tries to meet objections and "pave the way" for serious discussion of the issue. The only reason I give this book a "four" instead of a "five" is that, by book's end, it isn't clear, to me at least, that the "one-state solution" is going to work either--even if (and it's a big "if") those involved in the conflict get down to brass tacks concerning her thesis. However, that's a minor quibble: for generations, the problem has proved intractable and she should hardly be held responsible for not "solving absolutely" a conundrum that has perplexed luminaries and people of good will--on both sides--for a half century and more. But this much she has done--and it is much: a serious student of the region and its issues, a scholar empathetic with the problems faced by each side--particularly with the problems faced by Palestinians--she has given us a clear, sophisticated, well-argued "new idea" to consider about a major world problem. Her book's great contribution is its ability to put before us, seriously, an alternative way to continue intelligent debate about the central issues and enormous suffering going on in that small, incredibly important, seemingly God-forsaken, part of the world she takes as her subject. Very much worth reading and debating, in other words. 56 of 72 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars The One-Book Solution, September 5, 2005 By  John Haines - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    For anyone who is curious about the conflict in Israel-Palestine, for anyone who would like to know the the whys and wherefores of this dispute that has lasted for over a century, for anyone who doesn't have a lot of time on their hands to read all the available literature on the subject (and no one has that much time), just spend a couple of evenings with this book and you will have a good handle on what is really happening over there and what needs to be done to find peace between these Semitic peoples. For anyone who is curious enough to look up the maps of the proposed division of what was once called Palestine into two states, Israel and Palestine, it is quite obvious: the 2-state solution cannot possibly happen. In fact, as Tilley makes abundantly clear, the 2-state solution really never existed as a factual possibility - it was a propagandistic diversion from the real issue - how the Arabs and Jews in this tiny land could live together without killing each other. It isn't as complicated as many would like you to believe. Both Israelis and Palestinians want and need the same thing - a place where they can raise their children in safety and enjoy God's blessings - by the way, its the same God for both of them - but both want the same land. Why one group, the Israelis, should claim that their God gave them title to the land that was once called Palestine and has been inhabited by people, now called Palestinians, for centuries is beyond me. They claim it is decreed in the Bible but one can read many interpretations into biblical texts - such as, white immigrants to North America are manifestly destined by God to remove, subjugate or destroy all indigenous people, because they had suntans, and of course because they happened to be in the way. What Virginia Tilley does is cut through all this crap and bring us to where we are now. Israel-Palestine, in particular the West Bank (since they have recently removed the settlements from Gaza), is so divided by immense settlements (some are actually small cities) and roads to service these settlements - much as Ariel Sharon predicted long ago with his cut-them-up-like-a-pastrami-sandwich, facts-on-the-ground strategy - that the possible establishment of two states is finished, dead, fuggedaboutit. There is no way in hell that any Israeli politician can advocate the dismantlement of these settlements which would entail moving hundreds of thousands of Israelis to some other place in Israel. Therefore there is simply no room or resources remaining for any second state to be established. Another solution that is frequently mentioned, particularly by Zionist fanatics, is that all the Arabs now living either in the occupied territories or Israel proper be forcibly "transferred" to Jordan or other Arab countries and be done with. After all, they say, there is so much Arab land and so little for Israel. Tilley dismisses this possibility, a brutal ethnic cleansing the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Holocaust, as unlikely due to international outrage. I am not so confident. But what about the idea that these two peoples can live together in the same place? For that I suggest reading this book. If there is one book that I could recommend on the Israel-Palestine issue, this book is it. I call it The One-Book Solution. 45 of 58 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Changed my whole view, January 12, 2006 By  Writer in the Berkshires (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews I first heard about this book from friends who are angry about it, so I figured I wouldn't bother with it. After all, only some seriously ignorant ideologue would think a one-state solution for this conflict could ever work, right? But then one of my uncles, who happens to be a Holocaust survivor, told me to read it and not have preconceptions, and that it had given him hope for the first time in years. So partly out of curiosity and partly to be nice to him I picked up a copy. I couldn't put it down, read it in five days, stayed up after midnight... it wrecked several nights' sleep. First, Tilley writes plain brilliantly. Each chapter flows like a page-turner, which isn't easy to do with this kind of material. Mainly, though, she has so many facts at hand, and works through the arguments so carefully, that her argument hit me as air-tight. After each chapter I felt my whole understanding of this conflict spinning around on its axis. But just when I was ready to despair, Tilley offered a way forward that is truly inspirational to me, and that's not easy for a middle-aged Jewish cynic to say about any book these days, let alone one on the Middle East. By the last page, I had tears in my eyes... and nothing to do with them except write this review. Anyone who trashes this book hasn't read it. Tilley covers so much ground, from history to sociology and geography... it makes a complete picture. She is also very careful, and balanced in her way, but not in that false meaning of "balance" that really means not dealing with Israel's policies and what is really going on, even if those facts are terribly painful to face. I felt her compassion in every line even while she was trashing some of my most closely held beliefs. I wanted to attack her argument several times but never could... rest assured, the book has full references for those who care about such things. Yet it escapes the academic trap (I see from the cover that she's a political science professor) and flows so well that most of us non-academics can float right through it. But this book isn't just gripping. It's important. I've talked to my friends about putting together a reading group just on this book. Some great classroom debates could come out of it, I imagine. My only advice to anyone picking up this book is to really READ it... read all of it, maybe a chapter at a time, because you have to get the entire picture to realize how much ground it covers and how powerful it is, and how much it matters that we all start dealing with a one-state solution. Before I read this book, I thought the idea was nuts. After reading it, I think we can do it... but more, we have to do it.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 1.0 out of 5 stars Recipe for a second holocaust Virginia Tilley distorts history, demonizes the Jewish people, and skips over fact. Tilley ((a Hamas supporter) denies Israel's right to exist and calls for a... Read more Published 23 months ago by Gary Selikow 5.0 out of 5 stars A possible solution to the now defunct two state solution As many Palestinian and even some Israeli scholars have already known for years (since Oslo), thw two state solution is no longer a reasonable option for a viable Palestinian... Read more Published on June 21, 2007 by Edgar Hopida 4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing Take on an Intractable Virginia Tilley offers a refreshing and, I suspect for most, a fairly novel perspective on viewing the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, as well as offering some very substantive... Read more Published on January 18, 2007 by Burt R. Weissman 5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly and Balanced Few people are as qualified to write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the author of this book. Read more Published on November 24, 2005 by Mahmoud N. Musa 5.0 out of 5 stars A VOICE FOR PEACE This book presents a powerful critique of Zionism which as someone who had a Jewish and Zionist upbringing I found quite painful at times but which I had to acknowledge to be... Read more Published on November 11, 2005 by Deborah H. Maccoby 5.0 out of 5 stars One State Solution -An Idea Whose Time Has Come The One State Solution is superbly written, well researched with arguments well supported by facts and analysis.The choice of vocabulary is wonderful. Read more Published on September 18, 2005 by A. Eric Rosen 1.0 out of 5 stars One state interesting solution While there are many important ideas for peace, this book seems to add little to the debate. A few basic point she does not address: 1. Read more Published on September 1, 2005 by Hal Gordon 2.0 out of 5 stars Laughable, tried and didnt work. Anyone involved in the dubious idea of the one-state solution is tilting at windmills and obviously has no concept of history. Read more Published on August 29, 2005 by Seth J. Frantzman 1.0 out of 5 stars Wrong answers to good questions Virginia Tilley thinks she has it all worked out. She thinks the reason there is violence in the Levant is that Jews, using a "rapidly eroding" argument, feel they have to... Read more Published on June 12, 2005 by Jill Malter Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press (May 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0472115138
• ISBN-13: 978-0472115136
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #829,487 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Opening a "Forbidden Debate", June 13, 2005

By	J. L. Spates - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The great advantage of Virginia Tilley's new book, in this commentator's eyes, is that it should reintroduce an issue that, for reasons much too complex to go into here, has long been "off the table": the hypothesis that the only viable solution to the Palestinian-Israeli problem is to find a way for the disputing and warring sides to live together. In the early parts of her book, Tilley argues that the policy of "in-fill" of Jewish settlements into areas that might have, once, been part of a possible (if resource-poor, surrounded-by hostile others) Palestinian homeland, have made such a homeland utterly unfeasible. Given this, the only solution is to create a single state wherein, in the creation of that state, the two sides have worked long and hard to find ways to accommodate their differences. Tilley is of course powerfully aware that the practical obstacles--and arguments against--such a solution are enormous, but no more so, she contends, than the practical obstacles and arguments facing any serious two state solution. In the latter part of the book, Tilley attempts to wend her way through the rock and a hard place she has "created," as she tries to meet objections and "pave the way" for serious discussion of the issue. The only reason I give this book a "four" instead of a "five" is that, by book's end, it isn't clear, to me at least, that the "one-state solution" is going to work either--even if (and it's a big "if") those involved in the conflict get down to brass tacks concerning her thesis. However, that's a minor quibble: for generations, the problem has proved intractable and she should hardly be held responsible for not "solving absolutely" a conundrum that has perplexed luminaries and people of good will--on both sides--for a half century and more. But this much she has done--and it is much: a serious student of the region and its issues, a scholar empathetic with the problems faced by each side--particularly with the problems faced by Palestinians--she has given us a clear, sophisticated, well-argued "new idea" to consider about a major world problem. Her book's great contribution is its ability to put before us, seriously, an alternative way to continue intelligent debate about the central issues and enormous suffering going on in that small, incredibly important, seemingly God-forsaken, part of the world she takes as her subject. Very much worth reading and debating, in other words.

56 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The One-Book Solution, September 5, 2005

By	John Haines - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For anyone who is curious about the conflict in Israel-Palestine, for anyone
who would like to know the the whys and wherefores of this dispute that has
lasted for over a century, for anyone who doesn't have a lot of time on
their hands to read all the available literature on the subject (and no one
has that much time), just spend a couple of evenings with this book and you
will have a good handle on what is really happening over there and what
needs to be done to find peace between these Semitic peoples.

For anyone who is curious enough to look up the maps of the proposed
division of what was once called Palestine into two states, Israel and
Palestine, it is quite obvious: the 2-state solution cannot possibly happen.
In fact, as Tilley makes abundantly clear, the 2-state solution really never
existed as a factual possibility - it was a propagandistic diversion from the
real issue - how the Arabs and Jews in this tiny land could live together
without killing each other. It isn't as complicated as many would like you
to believe. Both Israelis and Palestinians want and need the same thing -
a place where they can raise their children in safety and enjoy God's
blessings - by the way, its the same God for both of them - but both want
the same land.

Why one group, the Israelis, should claim that their God gave them title to
the land that was once called Palestine and has been inhabited by people,
now called Palestinians, for centuries is beyond me. They claim it is decreed
in the Bible but one can read many interpretations into biblical texts - such
as, white immigrants to North America are manifestly destined by God
to remove, subjugate or destroy all indigenous people, because they had
suntans, and of course because they happened to be in the way.

What Virginia Tilley does is cut through all this crap and bring us to where
we are now. Israel-Palestine, in particular the West Bank (since they have
recently removed the settlements from Gaza), is so divided by immense
settlements (some are actually small cities) and roads to service these
settlements - much as Ariel Sharon predicted long ago with his
cut-them-up-like-a-pastrami-sandwich, facts-on-the-ground strategy - that
the possible establishment of two states is finished, dead, fuggedaboutit.

There is no way in hell that any Israeli politician can advocate the
dismantlement of these settlements which would entail moving hundreds of
thousands of Israelis to some other place in Israel. Therefore there is simply
no room or resources remaining for any second state to be established.

Another solution that is frequently mentioned, particularly by Zionist
fanatics, is that all the Arabs now living either in the occupied territories or
Israel proper be forcibly "transferred" to Jordan or other Arab countries
and be done with. After all, they say, there is so much Arab land and so
little for Israel. Tilley dismisses this possibility, a brutal ethnic cleansing
the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Holocaust, as unlikely due to
international outrage. I am not so confident.

But what about the idea that these two peoples can live together in the
same place? For that I suggest reading this book. If there is one book that
I could recommend on the Israel-Palestine issue, this book is it. I call it
The One-Book Solution.

45 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Changed my whole view, January 12, 2006

By	Writer in the Berkshires (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

I first heard about this book from friends who are angry about it, so I figured I wouldn't bother with it. After all, only some seriously ignorant ideologue would think a one-state solution for this conflict could ever work, right? But then one of my uncles, who happens to be a Holocaust survivor, told me to read it and not have preconceptions, and that it had given him hope for the first time in years.

So partly out of curiosity and partly to be nice to him I picked up a copy. I couldn't put it down, read it in five days, stayed up after midnight... it wrecked several nights' sleep. First, Tilley writes plain brilliantly. Each chapter flows like a page-turner, which isn't easy to do with this kind of material. Mainly, though, she has so many facts at hand, and works through the arguments so carefully, that her argument hit me as air-tight. After each chapter I felt my whole understanding of this conflict spinning around on its axis. But just when I was ready to despair, Tilley offered a way forward that is truly inspirational to me, and that's not easy for a middle-aged Jewish cynic to say about any book these days, let alone one on the Middle East. By the last page, I had tears in my eyes... and nothing to do with them except write this review.

Anyone who trashes this book hasn't read it. Tilley covers so much ground, from history to sociology and geography... it makes a complete picture. She is also very careful, and balanced in her way, but not in that false meaning of "balance" that really means not dealing with Israel's policies and what is really going on, even if those facts are terribly painful to face. I felt her compassion in every line even while she was trashing some of my most closely held beliefs. I wanted to attack her argument several times but never could... rest assured, the book has full references for those who care about such things. Yet it escapes the academic trap (I see from the cover that she's a political science professor) and flows so well that most of us non-academics can float right through it.

But this book isn't just gripping. It's important. I've talked to my friends about putting together a reading group just on this book. Some great classroom debates could come out of it, I imagine. My only advice to anyone picking up this book is to really READ it... read all of it, maybe a chapter at a time, because you have to get the entire picture to realize how much ground it covers and how powerful it is, and how much it matters that we all start dealing with a one-state solution. Before I read this book, I thought the idea was nuts. After reading it, I think we can do it... but more, we have to do it.