Fundamentalist colonialism: the geopolitics of Israeli–Palestinian conflict

In July 2000, it looked as if Israeli-Palestinian peace was just around the corner. Although the Camp David Summit did not lead to a permanent agreement, talks continued. By the fall of 2002, the peace process had all but collapsed. The two sides clash violently and almost daily. The premise of this paper is that Israeli-Palestinian peace is possible. Given this premise, the paper addresses two questions. First, why did the Oslo peace process fail to resolve the conflict? Second, assuming a Palestinian state were to be formed, what would be the best geopolitical arrangement to secure a stable Israeli-Palestinian peace? This paper argues that at its core, the contemporary Israeli-Palestinian conflict is driven by Israeli colonialism: since 1967, Israel has built numerous settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and has, in practice, annexed the land. At the forefront of this colonialist movement are settlers who are members of Israeli fundamentalist groups that believe in the vision of biblical Israel. Historically, colonialism has remained intact as long as the native population accepted its presence. When this passivity was replaced by a quest for independence, colonialism collapsed. Some colonial rulers left peacefully. Others put up a fight. Colonial conflicts ended only when the colonial rulers gave up the colonies. To the extent that history can serve as a model, there can be no resolution of the conflict until Israel withdraws from all the territories and evacuates all its settlements, and a Palestinian state forms in all the West Bank and Gaza Strip. If the Palestinian state takes the form of numerous discontinuous enclaves surrounded by Israeli land, the conflict likely will continue.