From the scandalous Nusseibeh-Ayalon agreement to the irreparably flawed Geneva Accords, the last true Zionists — with the crucial help of acquiescent Palestinian officials — have tried their best to resuscitate the two-state solution with the declared intention of saving Zionism. But it is arguably too little, too late. The two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is really dead. Good riddance! In this article for EI, Omar Barghouti examines the largest obstacle to the success of the one-state solution. Read more about Relative Humanity: The Fundamental Obstacle to a One-State Solution in Historic Palestine (1/2)
One of the most important changes that the Oslo process brought about was the de facto transformation, indeed the ultimate corruption, of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, from a liberation movement representing the entire Palestinian people, into a vassal regime called the Palestinian Authority (PA), representing only one third of the Palestinian people, writes EI contributor, Joseph Massad. This has had an immensely deleterious effect on refugees and exiles, and Palestinians living inside Israel’s racial “democracy.” Read more about Reducing the Palestinians
He read out the written text of his speech, word for word, without raising his eyes from the page. It was vital for him to stick to the exact wording, since it was an encoded text. It is impossible to decipher it without breaking the code. And it is impossible to break the code without knowing Ariel Sharon very well indeed. So it is no surprise that the flood of interpretations in Israel and abroad was ridiculous. The commentators just did not understand what they had heard. Veteran Israeli peace activist Uri Avery comments. Read more about Sharon's Speech: The Decoded Version
A thousand accounts of the accord have preceded it from every point in the political spectrum, not to mention the elaborate sound-and-light show in Geneva itself, with a cast including Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa and even Richard Dreyfuss. We have learnt to be wary of stage-managed productions, from Clinton, Rabin and Arafat on the White House lawn in 1993 to Bush, Sharon and Abu Mazen in Aqaba in 2003. In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinians are being killed and maimed every day. Time is of the essence. Maher Mughrabi comments from Australia. Read more about Who can say 'yes' to the Geneva Accord?
An Israeli official recently called for controls on the ability of Palestinians to have babies, and said the delivery rooms where Arabs are born are the “factory for a backward population.” This panicked response to what many Israelis see as a “demographic threat” from Palestinians fits the international legal definition of incitement to genocide. Meanwhile, leftist Israelis are debating ways to “withdraw” from Palestinians lands while keeping most of the settlers in place, and preserving a “Jewish democracy.” EI’s Ali Abunimah asks if any of these schemes can save Israel from a binational future. Read more about Can Israel escape a binational future?
As feared, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s speech on Thursday, December 18 at the Herzliya Conference provided very little hope for 2004. Sharon acknowledged there will be a Palestinian state, thereby recognizing Israel cannot control all the land between the river and the sea, but said nothing about the size of the Palestinian state. He offered no tangible vision for the Palestinians to latch on to which suggested that after decades this man is now addressing Palestinian concerns seriously. Michael Brown analyses the content of Sharon’s speech at the Herzliya Conference. Read more about Sharon's hopeless vision
Not quite a deus ex machina, the Geneva Accord demonstrates the manifest inability of elements within both the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Israeli ‘Left’ to fight for a just resolution to the over 100 year Zionist enterprise in Palestine. Palestinians who desire to negotiate with Israeli politicians face an intractable problem. All Israeli officials who are capable of negotiating (i.e., who are elected to the position of Prime Minister) are ardent Zionists. Yossi Beilin, the main Israeli proponent of the Geneva Accord, worries about the demographic growth of the Palestinian community relative to that of the Jewish Israelis. Brock Bevan comments. Read more about Geneva Accord: Relapse to Structural Discord for Beilin "Absolutely Kosher."
Fifty-five years have past since the United Nations set forth the specific framework for resolving the Palestinian refugee case. On December 11, 1948, the UN adopted resolution 194, affirming their right to return to their homes of origin, property restitution and compensation for losses and damages. Palestinian refugees should be free to seek their right to repatriation, regardless of what negotiators acquiesces to. Rifat Odeh Kassis comments. Read more about The right of return and the right of choice
The two-state solution might have been possible some years ago. Not any more. Rifat Odeh Kassis concludes that the realties, which Israel itself created on the ground are beyond the scope of honest co-existence simply because too much water has flowed under the bridge of this conflict. In the aftermath of Oslo, it became apparent that Israel was quite unwilling to countenance even some objective essentials and fundamentals in the route to peace. To persist with the idea of a two-state solution is to ignore reality. Read more about One democratic state might be the solution (2/2)
The two-state solution might have been possible some years ago. Not any more. Rifat Odeh Kassis concludes that the realties, which Israel itself created on the ground are beyond the scope of honest co-existence simply because too much water has flowed under the bridge of this conflict. In the aftermath of Oslo, it became apparent that Israel was quite unwilling to countenance even some objective essentials and fundamentals in the route to peace. To persist with the idea of a two-state solution is to ignore reality. Read more about One democratic state might be the solution (1/2)
