TIMES OF ISRAEL
Shlomo Avineri and the two-state solution
by Lewis Rosen
October 12, 2015

…[Professor Shlomo Avineri] suggests that most supporters of the two-state solution assume that the Palestinians have a similar view of the conflict. Avineri goes on, “Unfortunately, this is an illusion. The basic Palestinian position, which usually isn’t always explicitly stated, is totally different and can be easily detected in numerous Palestinian statements. According to the Palestinians’ view, this is not a conflict between two national movements but a conflict between one national movement (the Palestinian) and a colonial and imperialistic entity (Israel). According to this view, Israel will end like all colonial phenomena – it will perish and disappear. Moreover, according to the Palestinian view, the Jews are not a nation but a religious community, and as such not entitled to national self-determination which is, after all, a universal imperative. According to this view, the Palestinians see all of Israel – and not just the West Bank and Gaza – as analogous to Algeria: an Arab country out of which the foreign colonialists were ultimately expelled.” READ MORE