The Case for Shared Sovereignty

On June 10, 1967, the Israeli army completed its occupation of the former British Mandate of Palestine (the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean) as well as the Egyptian Sinai and the Syrian Golan Heights, and imposed martial law. This was the start of a new era in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which had begun more than a century earlier. The historical import attributed to the date indicates the critical change it is perceived to have signified, seen by many as a fault line separating tiny, pre-1967 Israel from its current position as occupier of Palestinian territories and oppressor of nearly 4 million people. Those who emphasize the decisive importance of the day are essentially seeking to divide the annals of the conflict into two markedly different periods: before and after the Six-Day War. In this view, conditions before the war changed dramatically on the seventh day.

A widely held opinion among the left wing is that the period between 1948 and 1967 was a "golden age" for "little Israel," the homogenous Jewish nation-state in which, for nineteen years, the Palestinian problem that had existed was replaced by "the Israeli-Arab conflict," while the Palestinians became "refugees" and "infiltrators" (fedayeen). In this view, the root of evil began in the "occupation of the territories," a new circumstance that caused the moral corruption of Zionism, which was transformed from a national liberation movement into an oppressive colonial force.

Among the right wing, conversely, the occupation was perceived as the final victory of Zionism--the "liberation of the homeland." Outside "Greater Israel" circles, those unwilling to accept the obligations imposed by international law on an occupying force referred to the territories as "administered," a nonobligating term. "Occupation" gradually morphed from a legal idiom describing the forcible seizure of enemy territories by a foreign army into a concept with political significance. The term "occupation," like others in the conflict vocabulary, became a shibboleth--a code word whose use obviates any need for argumentation or inquiry: Those who say "occupation" are enlightened, while those who avoid it are on the dark side. Similar terms include West Bank (as opposed to Judea and Samaria), settling (as opposed to building communities), liberated Jerusalem, Arab terror, Palestinian state, partition of the country, separation, disengagement, security fence (as opposed to wall). These code words have taken over public discourse, and they enable an avoidance of the complex predicament.

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