Where is Palestine?
President Bush prepares to leave the Oval Office no doubt wondering why his “two state solution” has failed to get to first base after six years of fruitless negotiations.
The answer can be found in the following statement made by Palestinian Authority President – Mahmoud Abbas – appearing in the Wall Street Journal on 19 September:
“What is often overlooked is the enormous historic compromise we already made in accepting the two-state solution and the creation of our state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on only 22% of our historic homeland.”
President Abbas’ claim that the West Bank and Gaza comprise 22% – instead of 5% – of the historic homeland of the Palestinian Arabs continues to materially derail efforts to resolve the issue of sovereignty in the