AH, PALESTINE! I can picture it now. The birth of a nation! There will be dancing in the streets, loud bursts of fireworks celebrating the happy occasion, kids wearing colourful “I HEART Palestine” T-shirts throwing confetti in the air, as they usher in a glittering era of peace stretching from the banks of the Jordan River to the beaches of Gaza.
Or maybe not.
The reality, of course, is that were a Palestinian state to be declared any time soon, there would be (within hours) Hamas militants seizing control of the streets, relentless bursts of machinegun fire as opponents of Islamist rule are butchered, and kids wearing filthy “Kill the Jews” T-shirts hurling rocks and molotov cocktails in the air as they usher in an era of the same old murder and mayhem.
Earlier this week I met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and asked him if the “two-state solution” – that idea beloved of all Western politicians that Israel can magically conjure up a peace-loving Palestine on the West Bank – is dead.
His answer convinced me that it is. Not because of Israeli policies, but simply because of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas ideologies over which Israel has no control.
Mr Netanyahu – a conservative, four-time elected leader – is happy for Israel to cede “a form of sovereignty” to the Palestinians. There are only two preconditions, and to be honest, they’re not much to ask.
Indeed, any fair and sensible person can see that without these two preconditions being fulfilled, no sane leader would ever countenance allowing a Palestinian state to come to fruition anywhere near Israeli borders.
The first is very simple. “Before we can recognise a Palestinian state, they must recognise us,” Mr Netanyahu told me. This sounds blindingly obvious – because it is. How on Earth can you give any form of “recognition” to somebody who refuses outright to “recognise” you? Or even to recognise your right to exist?
Read the full article by Rowan Dean at The Courier Mail (subscriber only)