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• Monday, January 5, 2009 08:52 AM

  A two-state solution is not a solution

  There is something striking about Benn's conclusion:

  "Alas, the war has also shown that there is no credible way to stop rockets, as Hamas has launched them deeper into Israeli territory than ever before. At this backdrop, it will be difficult to build public support for a West Bank withdrawal. Israelis will be even more reluctant to expose Tel Aviv and the Ben Gurion airport to the possibility of rocket fire from the West Bank. The new American president will have to work hard to overcome this fear. Otherwise, Israelis will still find it easier to go to war than to wage peace."

  This suggests that a two state solution is never going to work: even if Israelis were somehow convinced to allow a Palestinian state, what would stop Palestinians from hurling rockets across the border from the West Bank? And what would stop Israel from responding with exactly the same kind of invasion it is inflicting on Gaza today?

  A two state solution was not a solution for Gaza, and it won't be a solution for the rest of Palestine.

  There is only one solution, and that is integration. When people see each other everyday as equals, not as distant subhuman vermin, they find it hard to kill each other. Separation of Palestine from Israel is the exact opposite of what is needed. What is needed is a single state that treats Arabs and Jews as equals. Until the "peace process" takes that as a goal, we can forget about peace in the region.

  —Saleem Read Saleem's other letters
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