I support what is often referred to as the One-State Solution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/­Binational_solution), whereby Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza become a unified secular state, with everybody equal citizens under law. It is not currently a popular solution, but I think that it is the only one that will produce stability in the long term.

It is, to my mind, the only fair solution. The biggest problem between Israelis and Palestinians - historical romances aside - is the severe inequalities between the two peoples. Israelis live in a modern, high-tech, western state. Palestinians live in refugee camps. I don't feel that a two-state solution will address this issue. You'll still have one country that's well-off, and another country that gets all the crap that's left over. How is that, in any way, a lasting recipe for peace?

The two-state solution is attractive to politicians - American ones especially - because it doesn't involve taking any real risks. Everybody likes the sound of the two-state solution, but nobody has yet been able to point out how this plan will solve any of the real problems in the region. Furthermore, they've been hung up on the details of this plan for DECADES. However, the politicians don't really have to worry about the details, since this plan will never come to fruition. I suspect that the Palestinians (and probably the Israelis, as well) know that the product of a "two-state solution" will not be any different than what they have today. The Palestinian State will remain (as it is now) an empty symbol.

I feel that a One-State Solution will be the ultimate fate of the region. A nation that exists to serve one ethnicity or religion is an anachronism. It is an idea that has been consistently proven to be disastrous, and it simply does not agree with modern western sensibilities. I believe that, for this reason, the Israeli government will be forced by even their closest allies to re-think their notion of a state.

Zionists usually counter this argument with talk of the Holocaust. And as a Jew, I feel the pull of their argument. However, as a 21st century American, my point of view is more in agreement with that of Hitchens - that the Jews in Israel are less safe for having an Israeli state. Thus, the idea of an Israeli state being a safe-haven from future Holocausts seems a bit absurd.

Wow. I can't believe that I actually agree with Hitchens about something.