> In case there is any misunderstanding here, my personal opinion is
> that one state in which Jews and Palestinians (as well as others) have
> equal rights and freedoms is the only lasting solution and that a
> two-state solution is at this point a non-starter. In this sense,
> Palestinians like Ali Abunimah and Israelis like Bryan Atinsky get my
> vote. The thing is that I don't really have a vote in this situation
> (I can only have an opinion) -- it's up to Palestinians and Israelis
> to work it out.
=========================
The problem is that a one-state solution, which most of us would prefer in
principle, and a two-state solution which the Palestinians have been forced
to fall back on and what they understand it to mean, are BOTH non-starters
for the Israelis. The Israelis seem ready to accept an entity which has the
trappings of a state but with only limited autonomy for policing, physical
infrastructure, welfare, education and other public functions for which they
don't want responsibility - the original Camp David program. They'll insist
on controlling the movement of goods and people in and out of the territory,
and such economic development as would be allowed to occur would probably
take the form of Palestinian maquiladoras set up by Israeli and foreign
capital. What would remain to be worked out by the Palestinians, cap in
hand to the Israelis, would be the extent of local autonomy and freedom of
movement and the nature of the economic dependency.
A nuclear-armed Iran and a wave of social revolution in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere in the region followed by a Middle East conflict in which the US and Israelis were forced on the defensive would alter this scenario, but this would be assuming an awful lot at present.