Luis asked Jeremy R. Hammond:

Mr. Hammond, Based on the current situation, where do you think the 2-state solution is heading, not what diplomats but what the reality dictates?

Jeremy R. Hammond There are encouraging developments. Israel and the US have never been more isolated from the rest of the international community. The Palestinian Authority (PA) under Mahmoud Abbas has shown some willingness to disobey their overlords in Tel Aviv and Washington. Palestine is now recognized as a state by the UN and can gain access to the legal mechanisms of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) to pursue suits against Israel. The EU has issued guidelines that Israeli companies seeking financing must declare that they have no association with the occupation regime.

But we still have a long way to go. Israel's collective punishment of the civilian population of Gaza continues. The occupation regime continues. US financial, military, and diplomatic support for Israel continues. The PA's acquiescence to US-Israeli demands continues, including its unwillingness to submit an application to accede to the Rome Statute to gain access to the ICC. Hamas and Fatah unity remains very shaky.

As things stand at this moment, the two-state solution will remain an unfulfilled goal and Israel's occupation and settlement regime and oppression of the Palestinians will continue. It remains for the moment sustainable primarily because of US support. What needs to happen is for the PA to apply to the Rome Statute.

But the PA was created during the Oslo process to serve Israel's interests, to have an obedient administrative body in the West Bank to keep the Palestinians in line on behalf of the occupier. It has become a body interested in its own survival more than the interests of the people it is supposed to represent. Abbas seems not to have the courage to do what needs to be done. He's too afraid of risking Israel withholding the tax money it collects in the West Bank on its behalf and the US cutting off funding.

If the PA won't do what is necessary to pursue the rights of the Palestinian people, the people will need to rise up and dissolve that body, establish new leadership, and move forward.

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