Illuminating the Arts-Policy Nexus 

Mr Wilson's whole premise is encapsulated in this wild statement that "It is widely agreed that the long-term interests of Israel and Palestine are best served by a two-state solution." Widely agreed by whom?-by the US?, Turkey? the Saudis?, certainly not by the homeless of Palestine who want their stolen land and homes back. The concept of two state solution is well dead: continued appropriation of Palestinian lands by the Israelis mean that a stand-alone Palestinian state could not ever exist in any meaningful way. To portray this war of occupation by the Israelis as some kind of tit-for-tat between two equal adversaries is not naive; it is simply lies. Israel is the most powerful state in the middle east in terms of firepower; the Gaza Strip and the West Back are the weakest. "Negotiations" are therefore actually impossible when one of the players holds all the cards, and is supported in whatever it chooses to do by the most powerful state on earth. I am unsure whether Andrew Wilson is actually paid as an Israeli proxy to regurgitate this nonsense or whether he actually believes it. Either way it is a sad indictment on journalism. It is sufficient to look at the history of the last 60 years of Israel's brutal occupation of Palestinian lands to know the truth.