Give us one Jewish-Arab state: Qurei tells Israel

The Palestinian people may forego their decades-long struggle for an independent state and instead push to become citizens of a single, Jewish-Arab nation, the Palestinian Prime Minister said on Thursday in response to an Israeli threat to unilaterally draw boundaries.

Ahmed Qureia’s warning — his first tactical response to Israel’s threat — was that if there is no agreement, ‘‘we will go for a one-state solution’’. He said Israeli policy has left him no choice. The premier showed maps of Israel’s controversial barrier; the wall is an attempt to ‘‘put Palestinians like chickens in cages,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s to unilaterally mark the borders, this is the intention behind the wall,’’ he said. ‘‘It will kill the road map (peace plan) and kill the two-state vision.’’

Qureia’s proposal, Israelis believe, would threaten the essence of Israel’s Jewish identity. Within Israel, pressure has been mounting to divide the two populations. About 5.5 million Jews live in Israel. Some 3.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza, and 1.2 million Arabs live inside Israel’s 1967 borders.

Israelis dismissed Qureia’s call. Ranaan Gissin, adviser to Ariel Sharon said: ‘‘I assure you, there will never, never be a (single) state.’’ US Secretary of State Colin Powell also rejected the suggestion. Sharon’s ‘‘

disengagement plan” would finish a barrier separating Israel and seal chunks of Palestinian territory onto Israel’s eastern edge. — (LAT-WP)