Monday, February 27, 2006

Hamas signals (again) that it will accept a two-state solution: "Palestinian prime minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh said in an interview yesterday ... that Hamas did not harbour animosity towards Jews and did not wish to throw them into the sea.

"'If Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, then we will establish a peace in stages,' he said, beginning with a long-term truce. He declined, however, to commit himself when asked if Hamas would recognise Israel's right to exist, a commitment implying permanent peace rather than a period of truce followed by war.

"'The answer,' he said, 'is to let Israel say it will recognise a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, release prisoners and recognise the rights of the refugees to return to Israel. 'Hamas will have a position if that occurs.'"

"Israel views the demand that millions of Palestinian refugees return to Israel as a non-starter, since it would mean the demographic demise of the Jewish state."

Zionist Israel is a racist state (like White Australia or Apartheid Africa) where 'Arabs' are considered inferior and totally unacceptable as citizens.
Beginning in 1948 and continuing, millions of Palestinians have been made into refugees in order that the Zionist state might colonise the land. Since the fall of the Soviet Union one million Russian Jews have migrated to Israel, but as Chomksy has previously remarked, Israel would resort to nuclear weapons rather than allow Arabs to return.

As a practical matter therefore the return of millions of Palestinians to Israel is not possible in terms of a political settlement. Some other solution would need to be found, eg monetary compensation or resettlement somewhere else. This would be the subject of current negotiations except that Israel has now and has never had any intention of a 'two-state' solution. Although the realities on the ground had forced even Sharon to abandon Gaza and heavily populated parts of the West Bank, Israel has every intention of colonising and annexing as much land as possible.

UPDATE: Full interview with Haniyeh here.

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