Ali Abunimah, Sydney Morning Herald, May 13:
Israeli leaders understand what they are up against; the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said last November: “If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, then, as soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished.”
This struggle has begun as more Palestinians, recognising statehood is unrealistic, debate and adopt the one-state solution, offering Israelis and Palestinians equal rights in the land they share. Last year, I was part of a group of Palestinians, Israelis and others who published the “One State Declaration”. Inspired partly by South Africa’s Freedom Charter, we set out principles for a common future in a single democratic state. Most Israelis, unsurprisingly, recoil at comparisons with apartheid South Africa. The good news for them is that apartheid’s end did not bring about the disaster many feared. Rather, it was a new dawn for all the people of the country.
UPDATE: Talk about a one-state solution is flowering.