A quarter of a century ago, when the two-state solution was still possible and we were optimistic that there was a path to get there, I was co-chairing Builders for Peace (BfP), a post-Oslo project launched by then vice president Al Gore. It was created to support the ongoing peace process by promoting economic development and employment in Palestine. As we repeatedly made clear, our goal was not to substitute economic progress for peace, but to create the prosperity and hope needed to sustain the process until the "final status negotiations" that were to occur at the end of a five-year transitional period.
After frequent trips to the region in those early years after Oslo, I became deeply concerned that things were not going well. New hardships were being created for Palestinians by the closures and expanded checkpoints Israel put in place after a Jewish extremist massacred Palestinians at Al Ibrahim Mosque. The brutal and demeaning behaviours exhibited by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints and in Hebron were deepening animosity. American businesses that had initially expressed interest in investing in Gaza or the West Bank gave up after realising that Israelis weren't interested in allowing Palestinians to freely import raw materials or export finished products. Nor were the Israelis allowing Palestinians access to resources in the territories.
Meanwhile, settlement expansion was continuing at a rapid pace. At one point, I met president Bill Clinton and he asked me how BfP was progressing. I told him that honestly, we weren't doing well at all. After relaying my observations and concerns to him, I said, "Since Oslo, Palestinians have become poorer, less employed, less free and have lost more land to settlements. They aren't experiencing the benefits of peace and are losing hope".
What troubled me most, I told the president, was that his negotiators were ignoring our entreaties to take seriously these Israeli-imposed impediments to Palestinian prosperity and freedom. They saw our work as a nuisance and a distraction from their "important peace negotiations". If this mind-set of ignoring Palestinian rights and the impediments being created by the Israelis continued, I warned Mr Clinton, Palestinians would lose trust in the United States, the process and the hope that they would ever be free of the occupation. President Clinton was upset by my report and asked me to write him a detailed memo, which I did. Nothing, however, was done to correct this downward spiralling trajectory, which has continued until the present day.
I have been prompted to write these reflections because of two recent developments. The first is a discussion taking place in Israel following the meeting between Israel's Defence Minister Benny Gantz and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, followed by reports of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's plan to "shrink the conflict" by offering economic palliatives to improve life for Palestinians under occupation. Instead of the Oslo formula of "land for peace" the "new" idea (actually, it's an old idea) is to exchange "economic benefits for security". This turns the initial logic of the peace process upside down. Instead of ending the occupation, the Bennett/Gantz proposition is to make life easier for Palestinians so they will accept its continuation. "Shrinking the occupation" is merely a cynical ploy to mask Israel's consolidating control over the lands occupied in 1967.
The downward spiral has continued to this day
The second development that prompted me to recall what the US failed to do in the post-Oslo period is a bill, the "Two-State Solution Act" (TSSA), being introduced by a number of progressive members of Congress. It is difficult to find fault with much of what's in TSSA, other than the fact that what it proposes is 25 years too late to make a difference. It calls for making US aid to Israel conditional on there being no more expansion of settlements, which TSSA affirms are illegal, and violations of Palestinian human rights. These are all well-intentioned gestures, but as the saying goes, proposing them now is like "closing the barn door after the horses have all escaped".
TSSA ignores the realities that have been created by decades of US neglect that have allowed Israel to run roughshod over the occupied lands resulting in what Human Rights Watch calls an apartheid regime. There are well over 650,000 Israelis living in strategically located West Bank settlements. They are connected by Jewish-only highways and protected by checkpoints that carve the territory into pieces.
The TSSA may make its sponsors feel good that they've taken a principled stand for human rights, and I salute their courage; I know, after all, some pro-Israeli groups will make every effort to punish them. At the same time, I must also acknowledge the sad truth that a viable two-state solution is no longer possible given the immense settler presence in the occupied lands, placed in locations specifically designated to make it impossible to allow for an independent, viable Palestinian state.
Given that reality, it's pointless to try to give a transfusion to a cadaver that's been eaten up by cancer. And so, 25 years after I wrote my memo to Clinton, we have arrived at this sorry state of affairs. Israel, acting with impunity born of the neglect of Palestinian rights and the enabling hand of successive US presidents and Congresses, is proposing cynically to make Palestinian life better as it consolidates its hold over the occupied lands. Meanwhile, some members of Congress, thinking they are doing the right thing, are proposing a bill – which will never pass – that tries to save the two-state solution, which is beyond saving. It’s all both sad and maddening. It didn't have to be this way.
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
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- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
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- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Brief scores:
Day 1
Toss: South Africa, field first
Pakistan (1st innings) 177: Sarfraz 56, Masood 44; Olivier 4-48
South Africa (1st innings) 123-2: Markram 78; Masood 1-4
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Britain's travel restrictions
- A negative test 2 days before flying
- Complete passenger locator form
- Book a post-arrival PCR test
- Double-vaccinated must self-isolate
- 11 countries on red list quarantine
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
As it stands in Pool A
1. Japan - Played 3, Won 3, Points 14
2. Ireland - Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1, Points 11
3. Scotland - Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1, Points 5
Remaining fixtures
Scotland v Russia – Wednesday, 11.15am
Ireland v Samoa – Saturday, 2.45pm
Japan v Scotland – Sunday, 2.45pm
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
THE%20SPECS
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FIGHT CARD
Sara El Bakkali v Anisha Kadka (Lightweight, female)
Mohammed Adil Al Debi v Moaz Abdelgawad (Bantamweight)
Amir Boureslan v Mahmoud Zanouny (Welterweight)
Abrorbek Madaminbekov v Mohammed Al Katheeri (Featherweight)
Ibrahem Bilal v Emad Arafa (Super featherweight)
Ahmed Abdolaziz v Imad Essassi (Middleweight)
Milena Martinou v Ilham Bourakkadi (Bantamweight, female)
Noureddine El Agouti v Mohamed Mardi (Welterweight)
Nabil Ouach v Ymad Atrous (Middleweight)
Nouredin Samir v Zainalabid Dadachev (Lightweight)
Marlon Ribeiro v Mehdi Oubahammou (Welterweight)
Brad Stanton v Mohamed El Boukhari (Super welterweight
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
The biogs
Name: Zinah Madi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and links
Nationality: Syrian
Family: Married, Mother of Tala, 18, Sharif, 14, Kareem, 2
Favourite Quote: “There is only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.”
Name: Razan Nabulsi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and Links
Nationality: Jordanian
Family: Married, Mother of Yahya, 3.5
Favourite Quote: A Chinese proverb that says: “Be not afraid of moving slowly, be afraid only of standing still.”
Bharat
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
