Monday, April 16, 2007

Olmert and Abbas meet to please Rice

Apparently Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas have met to discuss the nature of a Palestinian state.

The BBC has an optimistic report here, whereas Ha'aretz carries a more battle hardened and cynical viw here based on a closer relationship with the protagonists.

In essence it is of course big news that these two have met, however they have met after considerable pressure from the US, and clearly the Palestinians feel that the Israelis are just going through the motions to tick the right boxes to keep the Americans happy.

That said, maybe Ha'aretz or the Palestinians are wrong?

The facts are these.

The Palestinians are tired.

The Israelis are tired.

The USA needs a solution.

So where is the problem? Most Palestinians and Israelis could agree on 98% of the solution tomorrow, in somewhat less than 35 minutes!

The problem is of course the significant minority on both sides who want it all.

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