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The question of whether the Two-State Solution is dead is not uncommon these days. In order to answer it with a decisive no and to ensure that this old conflict is not forgotten in the face of new ones, a two day conference was conducted by the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation and Maison du Futur, the Al Quds Center and the Martens Centre from the 9th-10th of June 2017 at Bikfaya. Leading experts and politicians from the region met to discuss new ideas and impulses.

Will there ever be peace between Israelis and Palestinians? The developments of the last years have not brought about a lot of hope on this issue. In Israel, nationalism and religious extremism is on the rise and there is a lot of internal pressure to continue to pursuit an aggressive settlement policy. On the Palestinian side, living conditions are dire and the paucity of prospects of improvement led to violent outbreaks such as the knife intifada in 2015. It seems like both sides have found that the political environment, the nature of their coalitions or the division within their societies were such that it was hard for them to start engaging in a meaningful dialogue.

The participants of the conference chose a multidimensional approach to this complex topic. Not only was the situation between Israel and Palestine analyzed, but also its regional and international repercussions. Light was shed on the Palestinians living in Lebanon (approximately 500.000) and Jordan (over 2 million) whereby questions of identity, nationality and the issue of resettlement arose. Regarding the international dimension of this conflict, concerns were voiced over the new US administration’s stand. However, some positive developments were also highlighted, particularly with respect to the Palestinian cause at the UN and the International Criminal Court level. Palestinian politicians used the conference to call upon their Arab neighbors to play a more active role in these forums and to assist in Palestinian state-building.

The fact that the term Apartheid is increasingly used to describe the situation let all speakers agree that the status quo is not viable. Both sides live in a constant state of emergency which is not sustainable in the long run. It was agreed upon that an assertive new approach is needed – in the region and on the international level. The times of conflict management have to end and all stake holders have to restart working on its solution towards two independent states.