Motlanthe deems two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict 'unworkable'

Former president Kgalema Motlanthe has broken ranks with his own party, the ANC, saying the two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is "unworkable".

Addressing the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation a week ago, at the start of Israeli Apartheid Week, Motlanthe said the solution was untenable in light of the aggressive expansion of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, especially the West Bank; the rise of the religious right in Israel; and weakening support for the idea by the US.

Instead, Motlanthe proposed a single, secular federal state, "in which each side enjoys a majority in its territory".

He said: "I say this acknowledging the minority fears ... which persist in the present. As such, a constitution would be required to guarantee the existence of such a federation, even as demographics shift.

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"My version of a one-state solution is built on the idea that a federal, secular, democratic state can be created - in which all inhabitants have equal rights, and ethnicity and religion are no longer dividing features of life."

He said there was "disenchantment" and a lack of consensus over how to create the two independent states of Israel and Palestine.

Furthermore, the idea "failed to bear fruit and bring an end to the violence and tension that has morphed into the status quo in the territory".

The ANC supports the creation of two separate states, but has criticised Israeli aggression and expansion into Palestine.

Motlanthe said a single state already existed because of the "illegal occupation of the West Bank ... without the democratic contours that we should collectively desire".

ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa declined to comment.

Kwara Kekana, spokeswoman for the pro-Palestine movement Boycott. Divestment. Sanctions South Africa, said: "Our focus as a human rights movement is with ending Israel's violations of international law and human rights abuses - as internationals we don't insist on either the one- or two-state solution.

"We believe that the ultimate solution for Palestinians and Israelis must be found by themselves ... We firmly believe that the oppressed, in this case the Palestinians, must decide."