IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME AROUND:

Fayyad rejects bi-national state idea (FELICE FRIEDSON WITH BENJAMIN JOFFE-WALT, 08/02/2010, Jerusalem Post)

Fayyad has been championing a plan to build national Palestinian institutions so as to create a de facto state over a period of two years, which comes to a close in August 2011. The initiative is known as the ‘Fayyad Plan’.

“[Statehood] is not something that is going to happen to the Israelis, nor something that is going to happen to the Palestinians,” Fayyad said. “It is something that will grow on both sides as a reality... creating a belief that this was inevitable through the process, a convergence of two paths, the political and the process, from the bottom up and the top down.”

“When we started there was skepticism, but I am most encouraged by the growing number of people who now believe it,” Fayyad said, referring to the “necessity” to “build a state based on universal principles” and “support the shift and mindset away from violence.”

The Palestinian Authority’s chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said that a one-state solution is not on the table, arguing that any negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel would be based on “the terms of reference of two states and 1967 [borders] with agreed swaps.”

“I am against a one-state solution, my option is a two-state solution – that is the only option for Palestinians and Israelis,” he told The Media Line. “We want to reach the end game, we want to end the conflict.”