Qaddafi Calls for Single-State Solution in NYT

He calls it "Isratine!" Why can't we all just be friends, sit around the fire, and sing Kumbaya?

This is actually an old idea from the late 1960s and early 1970s that made some sense when the Arab side was at least nominally secular, namely Palestinian Muslims and Christians. Lebanon--where Christians, Sunni Muslims, and Shia Muslims lived in brotherhood and peace--was usually offered as the model for a multi-sectarian state.

But then reality intervened in the form of the Lebanese Civil War. No one in his or her right mind would today offer Lebanon as a model for a Palestinian solution.

To further complicate matters, the "secular" Palestinian movement is increasingly dominated by Islamists who wish to live under Shari'a. Fatah's loss of Gaza to Hamas is a perfect example of such a development. I suppose Hamas would allow the Jewish population to remain in Palestine, as long as Muslims ruled and the Jews were willing to live as Dhimmis. But that's not what the Israelis have in mind.