Bob Simon tells Charlie Rose that Israeli-Palestinian peace process probably gone

While the Gaza strip leads the headlines, Palestinian control of West Bank decreases. Bob Simon spoke with Charlie Rose Wednesday evening, regarding permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace. He said, in his view, that peace between the two peoples was probably lost and gone forever as a result of the increasing number of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, pushing Palestinians out of their homes and off their land. More and more Palestinian land in the West Bank, he stated, has been occupied by Israeli settlements that has caused the Palestinians to be marginalized in their own territory. In his words, unless something drastic happens within the Israeli government to change its policies, the Palestinian people will become the victims of apartheid in their own land.

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Because the U.S. media fails to accurately provide an unbiased view of Palestine, few Americans realize the extent to which Palestinians are losing their homes, businesses, and livelihoods as Israel expands its control of the West Bank.

If the United States really wants to assist the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Israel must remove its settlements from the West Bank. Failing that, the West Bank and Gaza must be considered internationally as a whole new country under a Palestinian government, making Israeli settlers citizens of Palestine rather than Israel. Their choice would be either to leave or to follow the laws of the Palestinian government.