The Electronic Intifada, 7th November 2002

Sharon's Appendix: The Bankruptcy of Israel's 'Peace Camp'

Ali Abunimah

[Excerpt]

It is an irony that the Palestinians, who by agreeing to two states and recognizing Israel in 1993 had relinquished their claim to seventy eight percent of the country... are the ones accused of intransigence and "missing opportunities"... The chief attraction of the two-state solution is that it allows Israel... to preserve its "Jewish and democratic" character... It should come as no surprise that an increasing number of Palestinians are concluding that appeasing Israel has brought them nothing but more colonies and less freedom. The obvious corollary is to look for a solution that provides everyone, Palestinians and Israelis, with equality, and freedom in a single democratic state... The bankruptcy of Sharon's policy of seeking to crush the Palestinian will to resist through brute force was obvious within weeks of his election. At the other end of the mainstream Israeli political spectrum, the "peace camp"... offer no new ideas, and no incentives for Palestinians who want true reconciliation and coexistence to build a peace front with them. Their goal is to preserve Israel as a Jewish-dominated state through ethno-nationalist separation.