Professor S. Michael Lynk:

I will try to be succinct because I know other questions are coming as well. The first question has to do with settlements. If I understood the gist of the Senator's question, he asked in what way the settlements, of which there are 300 Israeli settlements with 700,000 plus settlers, stand in the way of a two-state solution and what the prospects are of a two-state solution. I could easily say that this has pretty much obliterated the possibility of a two-state solution. One of the worst things that can continue to happen is for those who pay attention to the Middle East and Israel and Palestine to continue to issue the rote statement that we want to do everything we can to preserve a two-state solution and get the parties back to the negotiating table. If people are willing to continue to wave a cardboard wand or sword at Israel thinking that will be enough to stop the settlements and preserve the land the Palestinians and the world thought was going to be the land base for a genuine Palestinian state, then I am afraid we are engaged in self-deception with respect to this.

The settlements are the engine of the occupation. They are there for two reasons. One is to be able to establish the demographic facts on the ground to be able to create an illegitimate and unlawful sovereign claim for Israel to say this is its land and it is planting its flag on it. The second reason is to be able to ensure there is no Palestinian state or if there is, it is a statelet that defies every definition-----