re: #131 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

20 years ago, back when the Oslo Accords were just being negotiated and made public, there was perhaps a reason. The intervening years has shown that Arafat was not interested in doing anything more than mugging for cameras - he wasn’t willing to do the heavy lifting of making an actual peace deal - Oslo was a framework arrangement.

Israel disengaged from Gaza, but that ended up allowing Hamas to take over, and there’s now more chance of a 3-state solution than a 2-state one. Hamas and Fatah still don’t have a government (haven’t held elections) and neither really can govern more than their bit of territory - Gaza for Hamas and parts of the West Bank for Fatah.

It’s a mess right now, and I don’t see a way forward when none of the leaders involved have any actual interest in peace talks. Because that’s what it takes to make peace deals - a leader committed to the idea.