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JERUSALEM-Israeli leaders have taken to using a new phrase loaded with hidden meaning ahead of a proposed conference this month in Annapolis-"two states for two peoples."The phrase is a variation on the Bush administration's repeated calls for a "two-state solution," which implies Israel's abandonment of the notion of a Greater Israel that incorporates the West Bank and the Palestinians' abandonment of any notion of destroying Israel.The "two peoples" formulation-acquiring currency among Israeli leaders in the weeks before an international conference in Maryland-sounds innocuous enough to the untrained ear.But the formulation is in fact a political battle cry-a blunt rejection of Arab demands that Palestinian refugees be permitted to return to Israel.If this was not clear enough, Israeli spokesmen have spelled it out. The phrase, they said, means that Palestinian refugees could return to the planned Palestinian state but not to Israel, whose Jewish character would be overwhelmed by such an influx.Last week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert raised the stakes by demanding that the Palestinians formally recognize Israel as a Jewish state. This, Mr. Olmert declared, would be a precondition for bilateral negotiations to follow the Annapolis meeting."This has been made clear to the Palestinians and the Americans," he told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee last week.Mr. Olmert's position drew expressions of puzzlement and outrage from Palestinian spokesmen, including moderates who adhere to the "two-state solution" formula.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
