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postponed. Unfortunately our leadership agreed to this compromise imposed by the Americans and until now the groups have not reconvened.

Article 1 of the Convention puts a responsibility on each country that is party to it to ensure that the Convention is implemented. So we could even sue the British, American or French governments for violating Article 1 by not taking measures to make Israel implement it. And Israel, in all its history, has never been penalised for anything it does, even the latest crimes in Gaza which were so obvious and seen live on TV.

Israel wants to control all of Palestine either directly or indirectly through the Palestinian Authority. On our side, till now, every political party, including Hamas, talks about two states. But is it achievable? Israel is putting every obstacle in the way. It says it wants two states while keeping some settlements in the Palestinian state. Those settlements are there to prevent the establishing of a Palestinian state and this was planned way back in 1978 when a special committee met to create a strategic plan for the location of settlements – while our guys were sleeping.

To have a real state according to 1967 borders is not possible till all the settlements and of course the Wall are removed. Eventually, sometime in the future, these two states have to be one state, or at least a confederation. But who talks about one state now? People like me who sit in offices in London, Chicago or Bethlehem, and intellectuals like lawyers and university teachers, want one state. But there is no political party in Palestine or Israel that says it wants one state. The real political powers, the political parties in both Palestine and Israel still talk about the possibility of two states, but I think they will soon realise that nothing’s left out of which to create two states. Reference 1 Tom Segev, 1967: Israel, the war, and the year that transformed the Middle East (New York,

Metropolitan, 2007).