Can we learn from Rwanda?
On 26 July 2025, Sarah Champion MP gave an interview to BBCs Radio 4, regarding the letter signed by 220 MPs calling for the immediate recognition of a Palestinian state. She said:
“This is something that has to happen if we want a two state solution […] What is the alternative if we don’t have a two state solution? It doesn’t bear thinking about.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cx2l2wk3zx0t
I am not an expert, but a one state solution does bear thinking about.
Two-state solutions are rarely solutions. The creation of two states of India and Pakistan, and the division of Cyprus into North and South are two examples where creating two states has not been a solution.
The rejection of the idea of a single state assumes the current likely reality that the Israeli government would be in charge and discrimination against Palestinian people would continue.
But it is possible to have a single state based on equality and without discrimination.
In Rwanda for decades there were ethnic tensions between Hutus and Tutsis, which culminated in the 1994 genocide. After the genocide there was the option to split the country into two states. But a single state solution was tried, where people were no longer divided into Hutus and Tutsi’s, all became Rwandans.
National ID cards and official records removed all ethnic classification.
The 2003 Rwandan constitution states:
“Article 15: All persons are equal before the law. They are entitled to equal protection of the law.
Article 16: All Rwandans are born and remain equal in rights and freedoms.
Discrimination of any kind or its propaganda based on, inter alia, ethnic origin, family or ancestry, clan, skin colour or race, sex, region, economic categories, religion or faith, opinion, fortune, cultural differences, language, economic status, physical or mental disability or any other form of discrimination are prohibited and punishable by law.” https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2061347.html
“Article 54: political organizations are prohibited from basing themselves on race, ethnic group, tribe, clan, region, sex, religion or any other division which may give rise to discrimination”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda#Since_1994
The current Rwandan government is rightly criticised for many of its other actions. But the legal removal of ethnic divisions and a determination not to discriminate has been transformative.
Could we have a vision for a single state of Israel / Palestine – perhaps renamed “The Holy Land” given that it is equally holy for Jews, Christians and Muslims. Where no one can force another person out of their home, because everyone has equal rights and citizenship. Where the population of very town and village is of mixed ethnicity.
This sounds unrealistic, and yet, it has worked in Rwanda.
The alternative to a two-state solution does bear thinking about.
28 July 2025
Adrian Vincent