… Says Europe has answer to conflict
By Nkiruka Nnorom

Amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian crisis, a renowned expert of Political Science, Prof Sylvester Odion Akhaine, has called for the establishment of a civic state in Palestine where the Jews and Arabs can co-exist as equals, saying that it is the pathway to ending the longstanding conflict.
Akhaine, who is a Professor of Political Science at the Lagos State University, made the call while delivering a lecture at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) Foreign Policy Lecture Series themed: “The Middle East Crisis and Global Security”.
Prof. Akhaine insisted that only a negotiated two-state solution aligned with international law and offered a realistic chance for a sustainable peace.
He posited that the Palestinian crisis was a creation of Europeans, and that the international community, particularly Europe, had a crucial role to play in resolving the conflict.
He noted that the time had come for Europe to acknowledge its historical responsibility in shaping the crisis and work towards finding a lasting solution.
“I would wish that given the territorial constraints in Palestine that a civic space was possible between the Jews, and the Arabs. But again, as I said before, that will not be possible.
“But the way to resolve that, if you ask me, is that the Palestinian state must be a civil state in which the Israelis who have settled in the West Bank and Gaza, will enjoy civil rights. That was the way the Soviet Union scripted this during the first year of the Palestinian state. This is where you have micro-identity,” he said.
Continuing, he said: “I see the crisis, the Middle East crisis around Israel, as a creation of the Europeans, and the Europeans have an answer to it.
“The arrogance of Israel in Palestine is essentially based on this religious plurality. And that religious plurality is not only of Israeli making, but it’s the entire Europeans that have made Israel strong as a regional power.
“There are so few European states, including those who are declaring support for the Palestinian state that is not supplying arms to Israel. As I speak, they are not supplying arms to Israel. So, that tells you the Europeans have a role to play.”
Reviewing diplomatic efforts such as UN Resolutions 181, 242 and 338; the Camp David Accords; the Oslo Agreements; the Wye River talks; and the Abraham Accords, he said that while these initiatives moderated tensions, they failed to deliver a durable settlement or address the core Palestinian question.
He called on global and regional powers to embrace diplomacy rather than militarization, saying that “The dove of peace can only emerge from negotiations grounded in justice, sovereignty and equal humanity, not from the ruins of Gaza or the ashes of war.”
Speaking, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, Director General of NIIA, warned that whatever happened in the Middle East impacts global prosperity and security and called for collective action in resolving the crisis.
He noted that the Middle East crisis involved multiple factors and social forces beyond just Palestinians and Israelis and cautioned against unilateral actions by global superpowers.
While advocating for a two-state solution, he said: “What this lecture has done is to show us that it is overly simplistic to think of the issues as only involving the Palestinians and Israel state. In fact, we have several underlying factors and social forces that need to be taken into consideration. Going forward, the two-state solution is one option.”