Above photo: Palestinian artists add final touches to a mural calling on people to vote during the Palestinian legislative and Presidential elections ,Gaza City, March 24, 2021. Ashraf Amra/APA Images.
The founding document.
In recent years, the idea of a single democratic state in all of historic Palestine has re-emerged as the best solution to the conflict, and it has begun to gain increasing popular support. This idea is not new; the Palestinian national liberation movement, both before and after the Nakba, embraced it, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), until its engagement in peace negotiations in the late 1980s, culminating in the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. The Palestinian leadership envisioned this agreement as a transition to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the territories occupied in 1967. However, due to Israeli intransigence, it ended up entrenching the colonial settlement project and fragmenting the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza into isolated cantons.
It has become clear that the two-state solution is dead, and that it is fundamentally unfair. Israel has buried it with its colonial settlement policies in the Palestinian territories, upon which an independent Palestinian state was supposed to be established. The Palestinian people living in historic Palestine, including those living under Israeli citizenship, are now suffering under a single system of oppression.
In light of these dangerous developments, and more importantly, based on the values of justice, liberation, and democracy, it is evident that the only way to achieve justice and lasting peace is to dismantle the colonial apartheid regime in historic Palestine and establish a political system based on full equality of rights and the full implementation of the right of return, through the establishment of a mechanism that rectifies the historical injustices inflicted on the Palestinian people by the Zionist colonial project.
Against this backdrop, many individuals and groups, both Palestinians and Israelis, have revived the idea of a single state in the last decade, with various models, such as the binational state, the liberal democratic state, and the socialist state. However, they all converge on the goal of establishing a single democratic state in Palestine as an alternative to the colonial apartheid system imposed by Israel on the entire country, from the sea to the river. The model of this apartheid system finally fell in South Africa in 1994, thanks to the joint liberation struggle between blacks and whites, led by the African National Congress.
The political program proposed by the One Democratic State Campaign provides a basis for consolidating this solution in the public consciousness, through which we seek to mobilize support for it among Palestinians and Israelis, with the support of advocates of freedom and justice worldwide, and through a joint struggle against the apartheid regime. Only through an inclusive democratic state, free from colonialism and based on justice and equality, can we guarantee a better future for our children and true peace throughout historic Palestine.
Political program
- One constitutional democratic state: A single democratic state will be established between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, as a state for all its citizens, including Palestinian refugees, whereby all citizens enjoy equal rights, freedom, and security. This state will be a constitutional democracy, where the authority to govern and enact laws stems from the will of the people, and all citizens enjoy equal rights to vote, run for office, and contribute to the governance of the country.
- The right of return, rehabilitation, and integration into society: The State recognizes the right of Palestinian refugees, both those living in the diaspora and those currently residing in historic Palestine, including Palestinians with Israeli citizenship who were expelled from their homes in 1948, as well as their descendants, to return to the country and to the places from which they were expelled, to rebuild their personal lives, and to integrate into the society, economy, and governing institutions of the State. The State will fully implement this right, and to the maximum extent possible, Palestinian refugees’ private and collective property will be restored and/or appropriate compensation will be provided.
- Individual Rights: No laws, institutions, or practices will be permitted that permit discrimination between citizens on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, or culture, or on the basis of color, gender, language, religion, political opinion, property, or sexual orientation. The State grants all its citizens the right to freedom of movement and residence anywhere in the State, as well as freedom of belief and thought. In addition to religious marriage, the State provides the possibility of civil marriage for those who wish to do so. The State also grants all citizens equal rights in all areas and in all State institutions.
- Collective Rights: Within the framework of a single democratic state, the constitution will protect collective rights and freedom of association—national, ethnic, religious, class, and gender—and will provide constitutional guarantees for the free flourishing of all languages, arts, and cultures. No group within this state will enjoy any special privileges, nor will any group have influence or dominance over others. Constitutionally, Parliament will not be permitted to enact laws that discriminate against any ethnic, national, religious, cultural, or class group in the country.
- Immigration: Citizenship of the country will be obtained for other people who want to immigrate to it through regular immigration procedures.
- Building a shared civil society: The State seeks to develop a vibrant civil society, where the establishment of shared civil institutions, particularly educational, teaching, and economic institutions, will be encouraged.
- Economy and Economic Justice: Our vision seeks to achieve social and economic justice and to establish an economic policy that addresses decades of exploitation and discrimination that have created deep social and economic gaps among the people living in this country. Income distribution in Israel/Palestine is the most unequal of any country in the world. A state that seeks justice must establish an innovative economic policy for long-term redistribution to ensure that all citizens have equal opportunities for education, productive employment, economic security, and a decent standard of living.
- Commitment to human rights, justice, and peace: The state will uphold international law and seek to resolve disputes peacefully through negotiation and collective security in accordance with the United Nations Charter. The state will sign and ratify all international treaties related to human rights, and its people will reject racism and promote social, cultural, and political rights as stipulated in relevant United Nations charters.
- Our Role in the Region: The One Democratic State Campaign partners with progressive and democratic forces in the Arab world that are striving for democracy and social justice, and for prosperous societies free from tyranny and foreign control. Specifically, One Democratic State seeks to promote democracy and freedom in the Middle East, whereby its peoples, citizens, religions, traditions, and ideologies are respected, and their right to struggle for equality and freedom of thought is upheld. Achieving justice in Palestine will contribute to achieving these popular goals and aspirations.
- Our Global Responsibility: At the global level, the One Democratic State Campaign is part of the democratic and progressive forces fighting for an alternative world order that is pluralistic, sustainable, more just, more equal, and more humane, free from exploitation, racism, intolerance, oppression, wars, colonialism, and imperialism, in which human dignity is preserved, human rights to freedom and the equitable distribution of wealth are respected, and a healthy and sustainable environment is provided.
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