Fanciful Map Indeed

By Published On: May 11, 2009

Robert Mackey, writing in the New York Times blog, uses a fanciful map of a future Palestinian point to argue:

since Israel has no intention of withdrawing completely from the West Bank, what kind of map might incorporate part of the territory into Israel and still make the remaining part a truly “viable” state?

Mackey’s talk of “Palestinian Archipelago” aside, all it takes is a glance at maps drawn up by President Clinton’s team during Camp David negotations to realize that Mackey is making much ado about nothing.

archipelago.jpgRoss map1.gif

At left, you see the pretend map drawn by somebody called Julien Bousac and used by the New York Times writer to argue that Israeli territorial intransigence is blocking a Palestinian state. At right is the real map devised by President Clinton but ignored by the Times writer. Clinton’s map demonstrates that Palestinian territorial contiguity is possible and not beyond the means of “any sensible mapmaker,” to borrow from Mackey’s words. Israel agreed to it, so while there are serious obstacles blocking the way of a successful Palestinian state, Mackey is barking up the wrong tree with his fanciful musings about maps. (Map at right is from Dennis Ross’ The Missing Peace.)

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