Obama has already spoken his mind and he has laid down pre-conditions

He supports the notion of a 'jewish' state;
He supports a two state solution;
He will not demand withdrawal from the settlements;
He will not support the right of return.

Unfortunately, the sympatico between the USA and Israel is so firmly anchored with AIPAC having already compromised any form of impartiality the US might have had in order to be an unbiassed negotiator.

One fact sure to be a stumbling block is the matter of National Security for Palestine. The spectre of Israel , armed to the teeth, fanatically anti Palestinian will not agree to a Palestinian state sufficiently armed to be capable of repelling Israeli agression.

ALso, Palestinians want the right of return to their homeland.
What we have in the present Jewish state is a state of Apartheid, extreme racial discrimination and an inbred hatred of Arabs in the younger generation of Israelis.

The only solution is a single state,governing for all citizens as equals with a Parliament of jews, Arabs and Christians, in balance, Presided over by a mediator acceptable to the three faiths

Of course all the experts will declare such a proposal as complete fantasy....That may be so but if there is to be peace, someone has got to resile from the 1947 decision that created this unworkable state and bite the bullet to return to the status quo that existed before 1947 and start again

feeling lonely David?

I think this is one of David's best articles on the topic. And whilst it's true that a lot of Israelis don't want to give up the thought of ruling over their true ancestral homeland (currently called the West Bank) almost all Muslims don't want any Jewish authority, or even Jewish presence, in the area which they over-ran in 634AD and now claim as theirs by right.
The majority of Jews can probably be talked around. Muslims still believe they are in a position of strength on this issue, and so will refuse to budge for the foreseeable future.
Until Muslims believe they are not in a position of strength on this issue, nothing will change.

#maracas1

I agree with your assessment of Obama's preconditions. He should pick up his Nobel Prize and run away as far as he can from trying to solve this long running conflict because he will only come to be totally humiliated by Arab intransigence like his predecessors.

I find it strange that you call Israel an apartheid state when 1.5 million Arabs comprise 20% of Israel's population and enjoy religious freedom, freedom of speech, the right to vote, have their own newspapers, radio and television stations and Arabic is one of the two official languages. Contrast the West Bank where selling land to Jews is punishable by death.

There was no decision in 1947 which created Israel. It was only created after seven Arab armies invaded Palestine to wipe out the Jews and were roundly defeated.

As I have said before the one state idea is dead in the water. The Jews will not be committing national suicide.

# Keith

The silence is deafening. Even you are gobsmacked!

#Camo

The Arabs were offered the equivalent of 100% of the West Bank and Gaza by Ehud Olmert and rejected it. What they want is Israel and nothing less will ever be acceptable. The PLO Charter and the Hamas Charter make this abundantly clear. Some day world leaders will hopefully take the time to read these anti Jewish diatribes and understand that until there is a sea change in Arab thinking any idea of a new Arab state being created between Israel and Jordan is simply not going to happen.

David,I don't know where you obtained your 'facts' but Israel is presently a Zionist neo fascist state that is committing crimes against Palestinians. Increasingly, Jewish people within Israel oppose the actions of the IDF and their humiliating acts against the Palestinians who in Gaza are under siege following Israels operation 'cast lead' that killed 1400 and wounded many more, forcing more into refugee camps.

Obama could relieve much suffering but I doubt it. The situation will only worsen with Obama unable to influence the course of action because the USA is financially owned by the very perpetrators responsible for maintaining the status quo.

Eventually,with growing world awareness of the truth, Israel is going to become more isolated and estranged as they lose what compassion holocaust survivors received from the free world and the prior notion of a jewish state will lose support in favour of a secular state where all faiths enjoy equality. Zionist Israel will implode from within possibly with the assistance from a new order of unity in the arab world

#maracas1

It is obvious you know nothing about Israel's demography and its democracy. Obviously you have no idea that 1.5 million Arabs make up 20% of Israel's population. Your apartheid claim is therefore pure nonsense. You should visit Israel yourself some time. And then go and visit Saudi Arabia, Lebanon or Syria to get some idea of how an Arab state treats its totally Arab population as compared to the Jewish state.

You obviously are also unaware that no Jews live in Gaza anymore having totally evacuated it in 2005. Israel's reward was some 8000 rockets and mortars fired indiscriminately into Israeli population centres since then. I suppose you think Israel has no responsibility to protect its citizens - both Jews and Arabs - against such attacks.

Had the Gazan Arabs spent the last four years developing Gaza instead of totally destroying the infrastructure left behind by Israel and destroying themselves in a bitter internecine war between Hamas and Fatah then a far better outcome would have been achieved and "cast lead" would not have happened.

Shucks I didn't know Israel financially owns America. Where did you get this "fact" from?

A "new order of unity in the Arab world"? Are you really serious?

I guess you would not like to post your address and name but prefer to continue making your outrageous comments under the cover of anonymity. I suggest you back up your comments with some hard facts.

David
You certainly expose yourself as a fanatical apologist for Zionism .
I know about the Palestinian rockets into Israel and the total death to Israeli's as less than twenty . The rockets constitute no more than acts of defiance against the illegal occupiers. I also have witnessed the retaliation by Israel in operation cast lead that killed 1400 in two weeks injuring even more.I also understand that the treatment of Palestinians in their own land by Israel prompts the opressed to carry out suicide attacks fuelled by their frustration and humiliation which in turn has the IDF paranoid about security.
So be it that is the price the occupiers have to pay for their violence against unarmed stone throwers.

I rely on George Galloway for up to date information , the British Respect parliamentarian who is organising convoys to take relief into Gaza which is still under siege by Israel and Hosni Mabarak another apologist for Zionism. I subscribe to Jews for Peace, and other Jews who oppose what the Zionists are doing to the Palestinians for alternative information and through the medium of the internet, the Apartheid of Israel is bared for all to see.

I am aware of the history of the modern Jewish state and their illegal expansion into the settlements. I no longer hold sympathy for Israel as they have now become the fascists that they escaped from in the 1930's.
As the world becomes aware of the truth instead of apologists propaganda such as you are peddling, the days of the jewish state are numbered

#maracas1

"I know about the Palestinian rockets into Israel and the total death to Israeli's as less than twenty." - You forget to mention these attacks went on for 8 years causing trauma to tens of thousands of civilians exposed to such attacks. You also forget to mention the steady upgrade from crude rockets to Katuyshas and Grads enabling them to reach into Israeli population centers like Ashdod and Ashkelon.

"The rockets constitute no more than acts of defiance against the illegal occupiers." - No Jews or the Israeli army have been in Gaza since 2005.

"I also understand that the treatment of Palestinians in their own land..." - It is not their own land yet. Sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza still remains to be allocated. Israel has a claim to sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza pursuant to the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. Israel has offered to cede its claims to more than 90% of the total area and this has been refused by the Arabs in 2000 and 2008. Again another opportunity thrown to the wind - just like the failure to establish their own state in 100% of the territory when it was wholly under Arab rule between 1948-1967.


"I rely on George Galloway" - So that's your problem? Do you believe that fraternising with Hamas is acceptable?

"Hosni Mabarak another apologist for Zionism." - Really? When did he last visit Israel?

"I subscribe to Jews for Peace, and other Jews who oppose what the Zionists are doing to the Palestinians for alternative information and through the medium of the internet," - Perhaps you should seek out sources that give you a factual account of the conflict and try to understand its basis.

"I am aware of the history of the modern Jewish state and their illegal expansion into the settlements." - Jews were kicked out of some of these settlements in 1948 when six Arab armies attacked Palestine in order to wipe out its Jewish inhabitants.

David,
prior to 1948. Jews, Christians and Moslems lived together in Bethlehem peacefully.
Zionist interpretation of their texts led them to believe they had God given Rights to 'The Promised Land'and their vision to establish a Jewish State commenced in the 1930's and received impetus after the League of Nations supported the migration of Holocaust survivors to migrate there in 1948.
there might not be a problem if zionism had not prompted Jewish folk from America and elsewhere to swell the population and expand their borders illegally, violently and turn the jewish state into a state of Apartheid.
They have consistently used violence, forcing Palestinians off their land to expand the settlements.
Palestinians have continued to oppose jewish expansion and now atttitudes have polarised to the point where there is no peaceful solution in separate states.You would know that Hamas was elected by the Palewstinians and although George Galloway does not agree with Hamas (He lived in Yasser Arafat's Compound for a number of years) He recognises Hamas is the elected Government.
You can say what you like in opposition to Palestinian claims but rest assured, Jewish settlers will know no peace, the more they commit crimes against Palestinians, The more determined will be their resolve to reclaim their lands.
The Berlin Wall came down and so will the apartheid walls in Palestine. The solution is a secular state in Palestine governing for all. "The State of Israel" has a use-by date.

#maracas1

"prior to 1948. Jews, Christians and Moslems lived together in Bethlehem peacefully." - No Jews lived in Bethlehem to my knowledge.

"their vision to establish a Jewish State commenced in the 1930's and received impetus after the League of Nations supported the migration of Holocaust survivors to migrate there in 1948" - The League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. Britain restricted entry of Jews into Palestine between 1939-1945 to 75000 per annum in the face of Arab pressure and totally contrary to the terms of the Mandate. After the war Britain turned around many ships filled with Holocaust survivors to prevent them landing in Palestine.

"there might not be a problem if zionism had not prompted Jewish folk from America and elsewhere to swell the population and expand their borders illegally, violently and turn the jewish state into a state of Apartheid." - Reconstitution of the Jewish National Home in Palestine including Jewish rights to closely settle state lands in the West Bank and Gaza is sanctioned by the League of Nations Mandate and Article 80 of the United Nations Charter. Your continued rant on Apartheid is ridiculous as pointed out previously.

"although George Galloway does not agree with Hamas (He lived in Yasser Arafat's Compound for a number of years) He recognises Hamas is the elected Government." - The only way Galloway got into Gaza was with Hamas consent. His warm embrace of Hamas PM Haniyeh in photo op shots indicates the extent to which Galloway is prepared to collaborate with someone Great Britain regards as the head of a terrorist organization.

"The solution is a secular state in Palestine governing for all." The Jews will not commit national suicide. They waited 2000 years to get their land back from conquering occupiers and they will not part with it lightly. The Arabs had 100% of the West Bank and Gaza which they exclusively occupied and controlled between 1948-1967 when they could have created their own State. Its a bit late to cry now after the horse has bolted.