In which A.B. Yehoshua makes his first appearance

After waiting for a couple days for Haaretz to post an English translation of A.B. Yehoshua's op-ed, I decided to translate it myself. Shortly before I went to print, as it were, Professor Shapir, who was kind enough to assist me, informed me that, yes, Haaretz had finally posted the piece on its English website. Good news for readers - you won't have to suffer through my amateurish translation, although I must say it wasn't bad at all.

To the point, Yehoshua has written a terribly important piece that demands to be read. It contemplates the possibility of an unwanted future of a single bi-national state between the River and the Sea. His piece demonstrates the urgency of the situation, the disaster of a one-state solution, and entreats supporters of Israel "to display moral forcefulness, and keep Israel from the downward-spiral course it has set for itself."

Here's a taste, followed by the link:

But for those who believed in and dreamed of an independent Jewish-Israeli identity which, for better or for worse, stands up to the test of dealing with a national-territorial reality entirely its own, a binational state represents a broken dream, a surefire source of demoralizing conflicts in the future, as was proven by the failure of binational experiments around the world that involved peoples who were closer to one another than are Jews and Palestinians in terms of religion, economics, values and history.

Is it still possible to forestall this anticipated downswing in the patient's health? Will it still be possible to persuade the Palestinians to mobilize for the attainment of the two-state solution (even if the states are joined as a federation)? Will it still be possible to persuade Israel's well-wishers in the United States and Europe to display moral forcefulness, and keep Israel from the downward-spiral course it has set for itself?

The whole piece is here.