Michael Shaik (VIC) responds to “The Enemy Within” The Australian 11Nov09 PUBLISHED November 11, 2009
The Australian: “The Enemy Within” by Philip Mendes and Nick Dyrenfurth, 11 November 2009
Philip Mendes and Nick Dyrenfurth are wrong for blaming “a motley coalition of Trotskyists, Maoists and other tiny fringe groups” for the revival of interest in a one-state solution to Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Although a two-state settlement remains the preferred solution of most Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, their growing disillusionment with this formula stems from the ongoing failure of successive peace processes to halt the expansion of Jewish settlements throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
As early as 1983 the former head of Israeli military intelligence, Yehoshafat Harkabi, warned that Israel’s ongoing colonisation of the occupied territories would lead to its transformation into an Arab-Jewish state and the consequent “Belfastisation” of the area. Last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced his intention to resign from office over Israel’s refusal to freeze settlement construction. In the same week, his chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat noted that it might be time for Abbas to “tell his people the truth, that with the continuation of settlement activities, the two-state solution is no longer an option”.
None of these men are known for Trotskyist or Maoist sympathies.
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