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Compounding matters is the death of mutual trust. Polls show that
most Palestinians don't think this conflict can be solved peacefully
and that support for militant Islamic parties, which advocate Israel's
destruction, is growing.
Among Israelis, more, people are talking about the concept of
"transfer," literally moving Palestinians to another country. At the
grass-roots level, bumper stickers around Jerusalem urge people to
"Deport the [expletives]."
Among the Intelligentsia, prominent historian Benny Morris writes
about the historical "logic of transfer," while former left-wing
stalwarts like author A.B. Yehoshua now espouse the idea.
Against this background, the Abu Mazen report suggests that
Palestinians must "consider other options, including a one-state
framework."
"It's the only option," says Mr. Terazi. "So much of the West Bank
has been annexed that for practical purposes it's silly to talk about a
Palestinian state. I have to tell people that the so-called state Israel
wants to give you is no more than a series of reservations with
limited water resources.
"Most Palestinians react the way the leadership does, 'Wow. It's all
over.
We don't want this, but what are we going to do?' „This kind of talk,
to Israeli ears, is code for a demographic time bomb.
"They simply prefer to bide their time under Israeli rule while
settlements spread throughout the West Bank and the total Palestinian
population comes to outnumber Israelis, before they begin a campaign
against Israeli "apartheid" and simply demand 'one man, one vote,' "
writes Yossi Alpher, former head of the Jaffee Center for Strategic
Studies in Tel Aviv. The answer, he suggests, is unilateral separation
while there is still time.
By Nicole Gaouette
(From Monitor world)

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