[Skybird]

Settlement policies are a problem, and a complex one. I think neither what is being demanded by the international community (divided Jerusalem) nor what Israel additionally is doing to nullify any attempt to regulate settlements, works well. Europe is extremely vulnerable to this unproven theory that you can just throw different, even hostile ethnic groups into one basin and then it all will be good (just look at the Balkans, where it is approaching violent unrest again, or Belgium, where at least the rifts are fought over in non-militant ways so far). Ringelpietz-mit-Händchen-halten und Friede-Freude-Eierkuchen may be cute to watch when the children in fancy dresses perform a christmas stage play in the church, but it is simply naivety to try that in powerpolitics and Realpolitik, it is no realistic perspective for so many places in the world.

Israel must stop to frequently attempt to drive new settlements into Palestinian areas, whereas the palestinioans better stop raising claims for a two-Jerusalems option.

For Israel, at least I can undersxtand from a rational point why they try to delay a two state soltuion. They are already so small in territorial size that they find it hard to defend that territory in any future war, and they have all reason to fear the pressure of arab and Palestinian demographics that destabilises their society both from within and from the outside. Like leaders building cities sometimes formed straight, wide boulevards from the city'S outer district into the cnetre in order to be able to shift military forces qucikly in case of riots, Israel tries to scatter the map so that it'S forces in case of need can reach and embark different areas as fast as possible, also they try to establish legal claims for property in order to get a future foothold even in areas where Palestinians try to break Israel by demographics (mind you, althoiugh they are so much in need of everything they have multiplied their population size by several factors in the past 60 years, I described the basic trends in different sources on population estimations on one of the previous pages).

I do not believe in the two-state-solution to be a lasting solution, and that it would bring peace to the ME, because the conflict is not only about issues that could be limited to just questions being adressed by this solution. It is also about a millenia-old inner-Islamic confrontation, a traditional rivalry of non-Israelic powers in that region, different ethnicities holstile to each other since I do not know how long, and a basic anti-semitism within Islam that has always been there since Muhammad fled to Medina and that would always hate Israel and Jewry for just being in existence, and being Jewish. If you go back to ancient times, this piece of land the ancestors of the current actors and powers have fought over already millenias ago, basing modern claims on according old, religiously ambitioned sagas.

But maybe a 2-state-solution would buy some time, 10 or 20 years, if they are lucky maybe even 30 or so. But the question must be asked: buying time - for what...? Negotiating the conditions of self-destruction of Israel? Even a Palestinian state, no matter it's form and size, will be enough. It will never be enough as long as the Jews maintain a state of their own in the area. and as already said, the reasons for conflict in the ME are complex and are not limited to just the existence of Israel or questions over the status of "Palestine". Where people live by the expectation that a state for the Palestinians would bring a lasting answer to conflicts of the present, they necessarily will be dissappointed sooner or later.

At least one nthing can be said about all sides: the religious claims that motivates all sides and always spill fuel into the fire - Muslims as well as Jews - do not help the people to get along any better with each other.