LATimes THANK YOU for publishing Hanan Ashrawi's most recent article on Palestine.

AnneSeldenAnnab at 11:36 AM November 15, 2010

THANK YOU for publishing Hanan Ashrawi's most recent article on Palestine. I have long admired Ashrawi's heroic perseverance and dignity- and her obvious ability to clearly explain the facts to a mainstream American audience. When the goal is a just and lasting peace, it becomes more and more obvious that the choice at hand is not one state VS two states. Modern reality is that the only real choice is a secular two state solution and settlement right now, to once and for ALL stop perpetuating and exasperating the Israel/Palestine conflict.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-ashrawi-mideast-20101115,0,6866472.story

Op-Ed

Israeli actions jeopardize two-state solution

Israel's refusal to cease Jewish settlement construction will make it impossible to create a viable Palestinian state. Failure of the two-state solution has ramifications for the region and the U.S.

By Hanan Ashrawi

November 15, 2010

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has reached a critical stage. For more than two decades, the two-state solution has been the basis of international efforts to make peace in the region. Yet the Israeli government's refusal to cease settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem will shortly render the creation of a territorially contiguous and viable Palestinian state impossible.

A failure of the two-state solution will generate further instability in the region, strengthen rejectionist elements on both sides and likely mean that the conflict will drag on for generations. It will also damage U.S. standing in the Middle East and America's national security interests.

Despite this, there does not seem to be a recognition on the part of Israeli leaders and some in the U.S. of the urgency of the moment. Many observers in the region and elsewhere have concluded that Israel's policy of creating "facts on the ground" has already made a division of the land unfeasible.

Settlements are not an abstract or secondary issue to Palestinians, who see the constant encroachment of Jewish-only colonies that swallow their land and their hopes for the future. There are half a million Israeli settlers living illegally in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and their numbers are growing.

From the beginning, one of the driving motivations behind the settlement enterprise has been to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state... READ MORE