NO! Israel doesn't want a separate Palestinian state since it would then have to grant it autonomy over its own borders and air space. Much better for Israel to continue its occupation and continue to build settlements on the West Bank, separating and crippling Palestinian communities in those areas. Let's face it, Israel wants ALL the land west of the Jordan. After all, God granted it to them many thousands of years ago, long before the UN got its real estate license.

This your comment sounds definitely unscholarly.Using even the Jews book as a reference,they were driven away or better still,they were liberated by Moses from Pharoah across the red sea to another set of people's territory.In the same manner that Americans initialy accomodated Britons on their land and later drove them away,so also shall israel be driven away from the illegally occupied land.it seems you are not exposed.let me inform you, it is the war of zionism because the Jews Rabis themselves were against having a an independent state.It is God's curse on them.By the way,the justification fo establishing israel state was the Hoolocaust palaver,why was it not establhed in Germany or a place in eourope where the acclaimed false Holocaust took place.be fair and just.you kill Palestinians and you do not want them to retaliate.never mind,Israel and their allies' doomsday is imminent.

... do you think that 'Gods curse' has put Israel back in their land? Come on! look at the facts! God put Israel back in the land of Israel, man can try as much as they like to remove Israel from its land, but as long as God is with Israel, no one can make a Palestinian State, because God wants Israel to have the the west bank. Look at your bible! God says how he will never cast away his people, look in the new testament, Romans 11v1, Paul says, has God cast away his People?' God forbid! GOD HAS NOT CAST AWAY HIS PEOPLE! Go to Israel see for yourself! The Israelis keep on getting shot at with rockets, their children are killed.. but the media muffle the truth every time, I expect you have never been to Israel ... you have just seen the media's bias reports. If you got to Jerusalem ... at night Arabs are can walk around the Jewish Quarter without fear! But if a Jew goes into the Arab quarter, he is risking his life! The Arabs can live anywhere they wish in Israel, the Jews cant go into the 'A areas.'

Its not illegal occupation of the west bank! The Arabs had it for 19 years... Israel has been there for 40 years! Jerusalem has been 66% Jewish since records began, just because the Jordanians captured it for 19 years, (it was then 0% Jewish (all Jews were kicked out) the BBC and other media sites still talk of it as 'Arab East Jerusalem,' ... The only time it has been Arab East Jerusalem is in that 19 years that the Arabs owned it. IT IS NOW OWNED BY ISRAEL! The media is a bit out of date!

When does Israel kill 'Palestinians?' If your children were killed by rockets, how would you feel? Israel only Invades Gaza when they keep on firing rockets at Israel!
Would you then give the Arabs more land to make bases to shoot at you? If Israel gave away the west bank, then Telaviv would be attacked by the rockets too. 'Palestinians' only get killed when they start attacking Israel, its the arab leaders that are to blame, if the Arabs could just leave Israel alown, it would be fine, this saying is true!
If Israel put down its arms, there would be no Israel, but if the Arabs put down their arms, there would be no war.

Its true, and don't believe every thing you are told by the media, because most of it is untrue.

I believe the Bush administration will do anything that might give them a chance to redeem themselves for posterity. Trying to broker some kind of peace between Palestine and Israel has a minuscule chance for success. The creation of a recognized Palestinian state cannot happen with two belligerents and I see neither government changing in the near future. Bush and his administration would probably do better to try and convince the rest of the world that waterboarding is a positive attribute of a democratic and free nation.

Why would anyone think the Palenstinians want a state? All they have ever said is they want Israel wiped off the map and appear to be dedicating their lives entirely to that goal Has anyone from Arafat to Hamas ever done anything for their own people other than teach them how to be suicide bombers? The people live in poverty with no hope for a future and their leaders march through the streets shooting rifles into the air. If they had a state, what would they do with it? Build a nation, educate and take care of their people like Israel has? That doesn't seem likely.

No. Not as long as the hyprocisies of the Israeli State continues. Its extremely unfortunate that a state that was created to give refuge to the Jewish people from the atrocities of genocide, would emulate that same policy to the regions indigenous people. There is a claim that it is god's gift to the his people but i have yet to actually see him come from the clouds and delegate his will to Blair or any members of the UN council apart of the Arab Peace Initiative. Its time that Olmert drops the thousand year old religious rhetoric, allow the basics humanitarian needs for the Palestinian people to be obtained, and begin serious negotiation's to stop Qassam rockets from going into Israeli and solders from going into Gaza.

It is possible - but the big question is: such peace deal so hastily scrambled, will it last? President Bush is racing against time to fullfil his targets. I think political maturity dictates that the Middle East Peace deal is not something which can/should be ascribed to one person. It shouldnt be anybody's personal trophy. President bush should make sure & authentic steps ... and hope whoever takes over from him picks up from where he left. This is a better option than bungling up everything in an attempt just to save personal face. The Middle East problem is a world problem and not just a George Bush or American problem.

Good Question...Israel is being stubborn with making compromises and dismantling its ILLEGAL Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine (Palestinian territories)...Serbia gave up Kosovo...Why is Israel an exception to the rule when it comes to Israeli government withdrawing to its pre-1967 borders as International Law and UN Resolution 242 states?

To Everyone,

A new petition was created two months ago by an author who wants to remain anoymous. The petition calling for the end of construction and dismantlement of all illegal Israeli settlements and blocs in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The petition's statement is rather long but it does quote the Geneva Convention forbiddening occupying powers to transfer their citizens into occupied territories. It describes the continual construction of settlements, local and economical consequences towards Palestinians, the Seperation barrier and settlements and the destruction and diversion of resources from Palestinians to the settlers. The petition still needs support. If China can be pressured on Tibet's Freedom and demand for independence even at the Olympics, Serbia pressured to give up Kosovo its historic heartland and Russia pressured to withdraw from Georgia with status consideration for two pro-Russian Georgian provinces South Ossetia and Abkhazia seeking self-determination than Israel shouldn't be an exception to the rule! Please pass this notice on to anyone interested.

The Petition can be read and sign here:
http://www...ition.html

From Aan Barnes

Wow, the Israel sites are biassed. The Palestinians sites are biassed. Both Sites say different things and have a different history. Me as 3rd party viewer wouldnt know who to believe. Some one is lying. I think the only way to solve this issue is for one or the other nation to kill off the other.

Short answer: NO. Long answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! The conflict and strife in the middle east, specifically in the Holy Land region, is thousands of years old (well, many parts of it, anyway) so something like the creation of a Palestinian state isn't possible in such short order, no matter how long negotiators have been working for it. Just stop thinking in terms of years. In fact, when you hear someone say "year" regarding anything going on in this area of the world, think "decade". If someone says "In two years" think "In twenty years" and maybe you'll be able to guess when something might happen. And you have to subtract a decade for every major set-back. If you factor in everything that's happened in the Israel-Palestine region over the course of the last ten years then we've pretty much gone back in time, probably to about a year or two after the state of Israel was founded. Now, if you make the proper calculations that probably takes us back to 1950. So, if by "2009" you mean the 2009 of 1950 then I'd answer "Maybe" to this question. That is, "MAYBE there will be a Palestinian state... in fifty-nine years." I have to admit that, in light of what others have been saying, I don't quite trust the intentions of ANY side in this conflict, even outsiders like the U.S.. Some Israelis probably would like to see a Palestinian state, but it sure does seem like very few of their leaders actually do. And, as some have pointed out, many Palestinians pretty much DO want to see the state of Israel obliterated, or at least dissolved. In this sort of situation there will be NO PROGRESS. They (the Palestinians and surrounding Muslim nations) surely don't want to wage some huge destructive war against Israel because just as many supposedly sacred Muslim sites would be destroyed in such a conflict as there would be Jewish ones. They would rather just disrupt Israel and continue making smaller attacks and get the U.S. out of there so they could just overwhelm Israel, but Israel will not let this happen and I don't think we will, either. As for Bush and his road map and the talk of deals, that guy is so utterly USELESS that even if he (or his agents, at any rate) does hammer some sort of shaky "deal" together it will no doubt fall apart like everything else has in this peace process. I say we chase ALL peoples out of the region and turn the entire Holy Land over to the archaeologists of the world.

Oh yes, only if a Pig fly and George Bush's approval rate jumps up to 35%.

NEWS UPDATE (Nov 6): Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has appeared to concede that a Middle East peace deal will not be reached by the end of the year.
READ MORE http://new...713690.stm

no.... its a little to late.

It's already 2009. Fairly good under the circumstances.