Martin Sherman like so many Jews and Israelis is from the Harebrained School of Dumb Ideas. The simple facts are as follows: 1) The Palestinian People have the universal right to self-determination. 2) It is *not* up to Israel to determine or define the nationalistic aspersions of the Palestinian people. How and why some Jews and Israelis erroneously think that they have a say in this matter is beyond me. As I have stated before the five or so criteria for an independent sovereign state are as follows: 1) Territorial integrity. The Palestinian People (unlike the Israelis) have stated that their state will have defined borders (1967 Green Line). 2) Internal Consensus Sovereignty. The Palestinian People have, time and time again, expressed their desire for statehood under recognized Palestinian leadership/government. 3) External Consensus Sovereignty. The International Community has decided/is in agreement that the Palestinian people are deserving of their own state (side by side with Israel). 4) Non-interference from external actors in domestic/foreign policy. The only real danger to Palestinian Sovereignty is of course Israeli interference however this should be negated with a robust Palestinian Army (backed up with neighboring Arab nations) to protect against such Israeli interference in Palestinian domestic/foreign policy. 5) State law is legitimate. Shouldn’t be an issue as the Palestinian People are more secular than some other sovereign Arab/Muslim states. As you can see the Palestinian People can comfortably fulfill these 5 points however the Israelis have continually tried to stymie any and all Palestinian efforts at independence as they cannot come to terms with reality and accept the Palestinian Peoples right to be, to exist as the nation-state of the Palestinian People. This refusal not only contradicts the universally accepted right of all peoples but also makes a mockery of Israel as this is one universally accepted right that Israelis accept for themselves but deny to others. Going forward Israel will continue to be sidelined by the International Community in relation to the Peace Process and a State of Palestine will be established - failing that a One State solution will be implemented - either way the Palestinian People are not going anywhere and Israelis/Jews will just have to swallow this bitter pill.

All Jews and Arab will live Jahnam as brotherly love. Life on earth is too short to dispute. Jerusalem does not and well not belong to Jews or Arab. It belongs to God!

that thing makes me giggly. wonder what it worth today. mmm I know the coins had a hole in them very weird indeed. ;p

...that "palestinianas have only 100 years of History. We Jews have more thatn 3500 years of history to this land. The difference between you and us is that from the beguining we wanted to share the land but you try to kill us. 100 years of History is aproximate true, because 1800 we already had Jews in the Land and already Jerusalm had a mayority Jewish Population. Jews came in thosands to their spiritual Homeland to rebuid it. When this happened arabs (not palestinians)started comming to land looking for work. The arab emigration is as big as the Jewish one. So don'tget so emotional about the Palestinian Identity. Palestine was the name giving by the Romans to the Jewish Homeland, after they won war against the Jews. And when Israel was created 700.000 Jews had passports identifiying them as Palestinians. So you see you even stole your own identity to erase finger prints of history. But this is not strange, muslims have wanted to rewrte history every where they went. As if the world only started when Mahoma appeared. I hope Ynet has the courage to publish this, because lately they are censoring a lot of not so leftist talkbacks and publishing ones from Turkey and ......

creative writes, "Unilateral dis-engagement from Pali areas. Israel should decide it own borders, let PA control west bank Arabs." Been there, done that. Can you spell G-a-z-a? The only thing keeping Hamas from taking over the West Bank is the presence of the IDF.

so highly theoretical, and obviously not an opinion from the pAlestinanians or whoever they may be. These guys accept nothing, especially not reason, logic or thinking outside of the box. This situation is really about big business; jobs for think tanks, SUV contracts for security organisations, the careers of journalists and bleeding hearts are at stake. Give the place back to the Irish and piss 'em all off.

Thank you for another excellent column. However, what you really need is to be part of an organized independent effort to inform the population and to actively promote this and other aspects of the One State Solution. You have been writing about this for years, but a large segment of the population has been spooked by the left into thinking that if Israel annexes Yesha, they will be overwhelmed by the increased Arab population. Most of their figures are bogus. Worse, many Israelis are woefully unaware of Israel's legal rights to the land. Secular education has been in the hands of leftists and they have promoted the Arab narrative at the expense of true historical and legal facts that favor the Jews. Please, Mr. Sherman, put your efforts into joining forces with other like-minded leaders and academics and take the initiative. The government is choking national hopes by surrendering a little bit at the time. Very soon the Arabs will declare unilateral independence and then all your fine columns and studies will have been for nothing. It's time for action, Mr. Sherman.

plus all other terrorist organization including Fatah. Islamic Jihad and the rest of them. The Arab world is mired in poverty, hatred and violence from the Somali pirates to the genocide in Darfur. That is your identity. You cannot create the IBMs or Microsofts and you know it. You can only take what somebody else has. It is absolutely crazy that the Hashemite kingdom that attacked Israel gets the water from the Jewish state as a reward for the peaceful border. That is again your identity. The Palestinian Arab state will never come into being because the Arabs do not want a second Palestinian state after Jordan. It will be mired in poverty, corruption and hatred like the rest of the Arab world next to the advanced and prosperous Jewish democracy. Israel will always be a country you will be jealous of. You will envy the Israeli healthcare and educational opportunities. You will envy the Israeli ability to survive and move forward while the rest of the Arab world dwells in ruins and terrorism. And since your pride will always be wounded it is better for both Jews and Arabs to divorce as much as it is possible.

There is a people who is much older than you, whose claim to the land is much older than your claim. To us, every inch of the land is holy; that is not true for you. Here is what the Jews had to say during their first exile (to Babylon) from the Land of Israel: (circa 586 B.C.) "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth saying, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jersusalem above my chief Joy." -Psalm 137 -Written by Zionists into the Hebrew Bible long before there was any entity known as the Palestinians. Nontheless, Salma, if your people want a state in 'Palestine', and if your people can act responsibly, you can have on. Why? Because unlike your people, we recognize others' claims, even if our claim does pre-date yours. However, if you persist in your dream of denying the Jewish People their right to a state in 'Palestine', you will end up with nothing, and sooner or later the Arabs will be kicked out. While many nations will howl about international law (as if international law were remotely related to moral law), etc., nobody can stop Israel. What is rarely discussed is that Israel has over 200 nuclear weapons, along with a submarine-based second strike capability. You think you can out-wait us. We have waiting for 2,000 years!

...is 100% correct! Thats because the land is, was, and always will be Jewish land. You call it Judaization, we call it the necessary reversal of Arabization. Arabs are the occupiers. They settled Jewish land, and now call it their "Palestinian homeland" in an attempt to flip history on its head, and ignore that it was Jewish land all along. The Jewish nation was expelled from Israel, and it was a crime we never forgot. A 2000 year old crime is still a crime. Jews have been saying "next year in Jerusalem" on Passover, for each and every one of those 2000 years. Israel from the Jordan river, to the Mediterranean sea, is Jewish land. Get over it & make peace.

There are, at most, about 1.5 million Arabs in Judea and Samaria. Their birth rate is declining rapidly. Moreover, tens of thousands are emigrating permanently each year. The solution is simple. Pay Arabs to leave at a much faster rate. Polls show most want to leave, so it's win/win for everyone. Arabs from Judea and Samaria get the chance of a better life. For Israel, it's a one time investment with permanent returns.

If its good for Arabs, Its good for Jews....the new Ethnic Cleansing, pay them to leave.

The author lives in denial. He cannot see that the Palestinians love their land as much as the Jews do. He thinks they can be bought off with a generous bribe. How sad and delusional, not to mention racist and similar to apartheid. He dreams of a day when the original inhabitants of the land will somehow go away, leaving it purified for the Jews.

When your kind start producing the Nobel price winners instead of terrorists then you be able to live in peace with Jews. However, you know and the rest of the world knows that you will never excell in anything except hatred and violence.

For a while last year one could see the adverts of the Jerusalem Summit in Israel's online newspapers propagating in exactly the same terms ("alternative paradigm") the same ideas, Rightwing organizations dedicated to the destruction and dispersal of the Palestinian people love to aim their guns at UNRWA. The reason is obvious: in all the countires where it operates (occupied Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan) it is an important unifying force for the Palestinian people. It gives vital services to the Palestine refugees and their descendants. At the UNRWA schools Palestinian children get a decent education and learn about Palestinian history. Indeed UNRWA plays a vital role in helping the Palestinians to assert their national identity. If you read the detailed proposal of the Jerusalem Summit one gets the distinct feeling that this is an unashamed proposal for cultural genocide made in deceptively moderate terms. But that doesn't make it less evil. I have read some of Sherman's articles before. He is an odious extreme rightwing Zionist, who is here plagiarizing the proposals of another rightwing Zionist organization. What a great intellect!

A survey carried out the Panels Research Institute over one year ago finds that more than 75% of Israelis see partial or total transfer of Israeli-Arabs out of Israel in any final-status agreement that includes a Palestinian state.The poll asked whether it would be justified, in the framework of an agreement for the establishment of a Palestinian state, to demand the transfer out of Israel of all Arabs. Nearly 30% said yes with no reservations, while 28% said only Arabs who did not express loyalty to Israel should be expelled. In addition, another 19% said that Arabs who lived in areas bordering the PA-controlled areas, such as Wadi Area and the southern Galilee, should be transferred out.The remainder, just under 25%, said no Arabs should be transferred out.The survey encompassed 668 respondents, taking part in a series of Panels internet surveys. The Panels Institute says the respondents are a representative sampling of the adult population in Israel, and that the margin of error is 3.7%. The solution ? Details at : http://xrl.us/bjcgx

this analysis was made as if palastinians are like the jews in their thoughts ... but sure as i know the palastinians pshycology beter than this author i will said ...he suggest one state of two nations equally in evry thing with members in the keneset and voting of the pm. with denying the right of return of the other palastinians and stabelize the return of jews which will not be logic in one state of all its citizines arab and jews or israili or whatever you will named them .... yesterday my friend said .... that the palastinians can not change their identity however is the suffering ... but jews can not bear suffering they are the one to change their identity but sure they can not change their doing of .........he means crimes

Gaza contain mainly from 4 main families intribul structure aka Hamulas, 4 Bedoins, someone pali here even blured it out, Bedoins were nomadic people, they didn't own a land. further more, you wrong about jews moving to north africa, especialy when arab nations kicked the jews out, in Yemen even today jews lives in getos.

it means house of bread, simple fact you missed probably every time, jews kived in your city 2000 years ago the most famous one was the Christ, so where r the jews now? the original habitate of the city.

Your answer cote my eyes. i liked your argument. you really made your point. Israel point. I liked this " To us, every inch of the land is holy; that is not true for you. " For them every inch of the tiny land of Israel is the most dear to them. they have to live with the idea that Israel is here for ever. Well done . Yes they can't win.

y would jews will change their hiastory past just because bunch of whining, people who suffer don't make sucide bombings or send rockets. jews know a lil about suffering from way back and the palis whining is nothing they r looking for reasons to complain.

In view of Israel's current standing in the civilized world as the only remaining colonizing and occupying power in the 21st century, and the identification of the Moslem world with Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque (not to mention fundamentalist Shia Iran), I advise Mr. Sherman to rethink Israel and the future of the Jewish presence in the Middle East.

If you are ignorant and do not know how to understand what you read this your problem, not my problem...If you want to return to Palestine after 1800 years, it is a fortiori that the Palestinians return after being driven out of about sixty years....any way the history of Jerusalem and Palestine more than 3000 years

of Israel rather than the construction of Palestine". This is correct Mr. Sherman, but you fail to point out that rather than this being a "raison d'etre", it is a means to an end. The concept is that "Palestine" will be created upon the "ruins and rubble of Israel". This philosophy is what makes it necessary, from the Palestinian point of view, to have UNWRA, to keep the refugee status alive by not receiving citizenships etc. King Hussein contibuted to, and compounded this philosophy when he very cleverly divested himself of all responsibilty for the so called "West Bank", thereby creating a "stateless, homeless and disenfranchised population that will keep the spark ignited because of their restlessness added to the fact that their Israeli Arab "brothers" do not wish to be part of any "Palestinian State" other than the one that will arise out of the demise of Israel. Only when these plain and simple facts will be understood and accepted by world politicians and organizations will it be possible to attempt an alternative solution as the one you so enthusiastically outlined. Your solution is pragmatic, whereas their solution is emotionally driven by mythical concepts which have become ingrained and stamped on their psyche. Erasing them will prove very difficult, nigh impossible.

You are absolutely right. Maybe before "rethinking" Sherman should domonstrate his capacity to think rather than to fantasize

The first Palestinian Arab congress (al-Muʾtamar al-Arabi al-Filastini) met in Jerusalem from 27 January to 9 February 1919. Organized by local Muslim and Christian associations, its thirty participants framed a national charter that demanded independence for Palestine. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/brits.html