PALESTINE Memories of 1948 - Photographs of Jerusalem | Page 152

cannot last. They must make peace with the Palestin-
ians. Peace under reasonable conditions: at the time of
the partition in 1948, the United Nations granted just
over half of Palestinian territory to Israel, which has for-
cibly settled on 78% of the territory. And now Israel is
offering half of the remaining 22% to the Palestinians!
The survival of Palestinians is now in the hands of
those who remain in Palestine and in Israel. As long as
they stay, they are an obstacle to the Israeli dream. The
Jewish state could appropriate all the territories it wants,
it has to see the reality in front of it: there are today as
Bethlehem, around 1923
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Memories of 1948
many Palestinians as Israelis. They must, then, accom-
modate them. However, Israel does not want either one
state with two peoples, or two states. The situation is
deadlocked because, as long as the Israelis do not make
peace with the Palestinians, the Arab populations and
Muslims will be their enemies. To make peace with
Arabs and Muslims, it must first start to make peace
with the Palestinians; true peace, that which exists in the
hearts of the people, not that of treaties signed between
governments. The Palestinians are the gateway to peace,
the only salvation for Israel.