Hope for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine is not the preserve of thoughtless optimists: In fact, a deal to end the struggle is within reach - if both parties have the will for it

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/hope-for-a-twostate-solution-for-israel-and-palestine-is-not-the-preserve-of-thoughtless-optimists-8477418.html

Matt Hill
Friday 1 February 2013

Surprising as it may sound, William Hague is turning out to be the most vocally pro-Palestinian British foreign secretary of recent times. Speaking in Washington this week before a dinner for Hillary Clinton, Hague warned that as a result of Israeli West Bank settlement growth the two-state solution was “in danger of slipping away”.

There’s nothing new about such claims. In ‘ The End of the Peace Process’, the great Palestinian author Edward Said said his people’s dreams of statehood were being buried under a ton of Israeli settlement tarmac – in 1998. But as such prophecies become more common, there's a danger they will become self-fulfilling, causing more and more people to give up on peace altogether.

So we need to say it loud and clear: the two-state solution isn’t dead. In fact, a deal to end the Israel-Palestine struggle is within reach – if only the two sides can will themselves to grasp it.

To be sure, this goes against the conventional wisdom. After all, the barely concealed purpose of Israel’s settlement programme is to cut the West Bank to ribbons...READ MORE