hello phillip , i am surprised by the lack of comments on this important problem . israel's position and the west's apathy [until recently] on palestinian independence and it's refugees has been said to be one of the major reasons for world wide terrorism .
it would help the fight against terrorism and the recruitment of radicals to their causes if israel can come to an reasonable accomodation of the palestinians' desire for a homeland .
a lot of the world sees israelis as having to take some very difficult and history making decisions on their territorial boundaries and their political and economic relations with their palestinian neighbours.
radicals on either side must not be allowed to derail efforts for peace .
university boycotts draw attention to pressing problems.

I obviously agree that this issue is important, and linked to wider global questions including terrorism. But we may not necessarily agree on what those links are.

As most readers would be aware I am more dovish than much of the Jewish community here and in Israel. I have supported a two-state solution since 1982, and believe in principle that Israel should withdraw from most if not all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip including the settlements if a genuine peace settlement is on offer.

The latter is the big if. I see no evidence whatsoever that the majority of Palestinians are willing to negotiate a conclusive peace with Israel. If we look at the past five years, it is the Palestinian hardliners who have driven the agenda: no to peace offers at Camp David and Taba, renewed demands for a return of 1948 refugees to Green Line Israel rather than the Palestinian territories, and the ongoing violence and terror of the Intifada from both religious and secular Palestinian factions.

In this context, I am highly pessimistic that any conclusive Israeli withdrawal would lead to Israeli/Palestinian peace, or lead to a downturn in broader Arab or Islamic extremism. The opposite may even occur.

I think unfortunately that the Western world are now gaining more insight into some of the cultural and religious factors that make the Israeli/Palestinian conflict so difficult to resolve. Compromise and pragmatism seem on my reading to be very Western terms.

Philip