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Do Palestinians Want a Two-State Solution?

(Mosaic) Daniel Polisar - It is commonly asserted that there is majority support among Palestinians for a two-state solution. I examined 400 surveys carried out by five Palestinian research centers which have conducted regular polls in the West Bank and Gaza for many years. The depth of Palestinian opposition to a prospective deal becomes clearer when one examines responses to specific components. There was vehement antagonism to limitations on the Palestinian state's sovereignty, with 70% or more consistently rejecting the idea of a demilitarized state. Moreover, Palestinians overwhelmingly repudiated the idea of east Jerusalem becoming the capital of their state and incorporating its Arab neighborhoods. Presumably, the obstacle was that, in parallel, Israel would exercise sovereignty over the Jewish neighborhoods, the Jewish quarter of the Old City, and the Western Wall. The mere mention of west Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in parallel with east Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state, led more than 2/3 of Palestinians to express their opposition. In June 2014, a poll commissioned by David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy found that the runaway first choice, selected by 60% as the main Palestinian national goal over the next five years, was "to work toward reclaiming all of historic Palestine from the river to the sea." On every survey in the last five years, clear and growing majorities of Palestinians have expressed opposition to the best deal Israel might agree to in the foreseeable future. No one committed to laying out the facts honestly can defend the proposition that majorities of Palestinians support a two-state solution. The writer is executive vice-president at Shalem College in Jerusalem.
2017-04-05 00:00:00
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