Thursday, June 26, 2014

Can We Expect More Forward Balance?

One of the issues that was discussed today with The Forwards's editor Jane Eisner was whether the two-state solution is still a possibility. Dani Dayan, with an approving nod from me,

basically said 'no'.

I returned from the trip to Psagot Winery at Migron, Ofra, Shiloh, Esh Kodesh and Ariel University and this was in my box:

Reported
A clear majority of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip oppose a two-state solution to end their struggle with Israel, according to a poll released o Wednesday.

Sixty percent of those polled, including 55% in the West Bank and 68% in Gaza, reject permanently accepting Israel’s existence and instead suggest their leaders “work toward reclaiming all of historic Palestine, from the river to the sea.”

Two-thirds of those polled support continued “resistance” against the Jewish state. Consequentially, those who say they support a two-state solution view such a move as “part of a ‘program of stages’ to liberate all of historic Palestine later.”

The survey, conducted throughout the Palestinian territories, was commissioned by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and was conducted by a leading Palestinian pollster from June 15 to June 17.

The Washington Institute characterized the poll’s results as a sudden, hardline shift within the Palestinian community. It also presented the pragmatism revealed in the minutia of the survey: 80% of Palestinians would “definitely” or “probably” be in favor of greater job opportunities in Israel, and 70% of Gazans strongly favor Hamas maintaining its cease-fire with the IDF – despite generally favoring resistance.

Oops.

And something else.

Eisner published an article expressing more than empathy with official Israel position on the anti-Semitism in the Presbyterian:-