Two State Solution

At this point, the most viable solution may be, as the former head of Israel's Navy and internal security, Ami Ayalon, says, "Instead of building trust and then agreements, we make the agreements now."

King Abdullah has frequently gone out of his way to assert that "Jordan is Jordan" and "Palestine is Palestine." He has also encouraged Hamas to dispel the possibility of Jordan serving as a substitute homeland.

Would not a truly democratic state joining Jews and Palestinians become the "light unto nations" that Israel was always meant to be?

The end of Hana Shalabi's 44-day hunger strike has produced mixed results, and has pointed out another under-reported issue -- the separation and difficulty of movement between Gaza and West Bank.

While the two-state solution will not be realized immediately, there are many steps that can and should be taken to create the right underpinnings and environment for a successful peace deal once the politics is right. What is to be done during this interregnum?

The nearly complete mastery of U.S. politics that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again displayed in Washington last week belies a dark reality for the Jewish State.

Former Knesset Speaker Avrum Burg endorsed the one-state solution in an article in Haaretz in December 2011, and called the entire left to do the same. Burg has flirted with the idea in the past, but he was never so explicitly.

The entire Zionist enterprise is in danger right now, and history will not only judge those who caused this, but also those who were silent while it happened.

Although the two-state solution was far from perfect, at least it gave answers to these basic questions of governance and civic rights. But Israel's citizens and its government have decided. It will not be.

If Palestinians are united, they can exert concerted, nonviolent campaigns to finally end the brutal 44-year-old Israeli occupation of their land.

Mr. Abbas: I know that this proposal is very difficult for you to accept. I write to you on the eve of Yom Kippur, because my heart is weary and full of sorrow; because I see the two-state solution slipping away.

In the past, I have opposed the Palestinian move to unilaterally seek UN recognition of their state, but at this late hour the only way to avoid what will be an unprecedented period of uncertainty is for the United States and the European Union to lead the way.

The Palestinians say they are going to ask the United Nations Security Council for their recognition as an independent state. And the United States says it is going to veto the Palestinian proposal.

The Palestinian state that is now emerging should be recognized as an affirmation action state, recognized by the United Nations before it has control over any territory of its own as a way to alleviate the special suffering of the Palestinian people.

WASHINGTON -- A Palestinian effort to seek statehood at the United Nations later this month may be the last, best hope for a negotiated two-state solu...

Americans are left assuming that the Israelis are merely defending themselves against cruel aggressors. It never occurs to most Americans to ask why Gazans would risk their lives on military operations against Israelis.

Israelis must now rise not only against the vast socio-economic gap between the rich and poor, but against the defunct Netanyahu/Lieberman policies toward the Palestinians that, if not changed, will bring Israel to the brink of socio-economic and political disaster.

Israeli politics is not easily swayed in new directions even by major "shocks," and particularly by public opinion -- which policymakers have traditionally ignored.

Besides shaming itself once again, the Obama administration will be closing the door forever on the solution that it and administrations before it -- and the international community -- have worked so hard to push forward.

Considering the sweeping changes across the Middle East and the rising din of the popular voice of nonviolent resistance, the United States may be forced to confront the Israeli government with a stark choice.

Why is it so hard for either the Palestinians or the Israelis -- or, for that matter, different voices within the Jewish community -- to stop shouting and begin listening to one another?

Abu Mazen's case for going to the U.N. for support of a Palestinian state because there is no other way is a gross distortion of events, which again raises questions about his intent.