First we saw the white-wash which was the Israeli inquiry into the deadly attack on the aid flotilla last May. The inquiry ruled that the attack and the naval blockade are legal under international law. It is beyond belief that these actions can be found to be legal. The attack was in international waters on a ship sailing under the Turkish flag, this can be interpreted as an act of war or at the least an act of piracy. We can only hope the UN inquiry due to be released later this year produces a different set of findings. Although like previous UN inquiries it is likely Israel will reject the outcome.
Then yesterday we saw the leak of Palestinian documents showing how much the Palestinian negotiators have been willing to sacrifice in order to come up with a peaceful settlement. The documents show that the Palestinian administration were willing to surrender all but one of the illegal settlement areas in East Jerusalem to Israel. This is despite the fact that Israel have illegally occupied these areas since the 6 day war in 1967. This huge gesture was still not satisfactory for Israel, one can only presume that Israel is not interested in giving away the land it seized and will continues to build illegal settlements on. It appears that the only acceptable resolution for Israel is the complete surrender of all settlements by the Palestinians.
The map below shows how much land the Palestinians have lost since 1948. The longer the occupation and settlement building continues the more likely it is that there will never be a peaceful resolution. This may prove to be a crucial mistake by Israel as eventually the only workable solution will be a one state solution.
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