Hussein Ibish: "Palestinians cannot be expected to acquiesce to, much less subsidise, their own oppression and they have every right to peacefully and lawfully challenge the occupation and demand clarity.

The same logic ultimately applies to the PA state and institution building programme. By developing the framework of Palestinian statehood, the programme forces Israel into the clarity of a simple choice: either gradually and however grudgingly cede more and more attributes of sovereignty in greater and greater parts of the occupied territories to the PA in order to allow the programme to develop, or kill it. The state building programme cannot survive stasis. It requires continuous, even if gradual, expansion. It asks Israel a simple question: are the occupied territories ultimately your country or ours?"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/07/israel-must-clarify-palestine-status

Israel must clarify Palestine's status

The Palestinian boycott of settlement goods demands Israel addresses the territory's ambiguous legal and political status