Just been reading comments on the BBC News website. The question? "What's the solution to the Palestinian refugee issue?"

Plenty of posts from both sides of the divide. Some biased, some ignorant. And then there is this gem:

...The Palestinians should be given their own nation. It doesn't matter whether this nation is small, undeveloped or poor, as it probably will be, but once a Palestinian state is formed, the plight of the people will improve...

How wonderfully naive.

Wonderful sentiment, but it will probably not solve anything on its own. After all the whole fiasco started when a state was created in a place that was already inhabited. (the fact that in such a state those natives would be second class citizens probably also had an effect).

Most of the violence in the region has a cycle where both sides think the other started it. Violence be gets more violence.

The question for the Palestinians is what is worse: Death or occupation. Some choose the latter. From them some due to ideaology, some due to their living conditions.

As for Arabs integrating the refugee Palestinians, this comment seemed to ignore the irony:

...Israel gave 900,000 Jewish refugees citizenship when they were expelled from the arab states at its formation...

That is actually part of the problem. Israel was created as a religious state where any and all Jews could come and become first class citizens. At the expense of the Palestinians.

[EDIT: Just a side point that the Arab countries were just as wrong for the forced expulsion of jews. They had lived together peacefully for centuries.]

Some of these even live in the West Bank - in settlements too large to move. (Note that I do not make the illegal under international law argument. That is a red herring. International law is something the strong use to enforce their will when it suits them, or ignore it willy nilly if it does not.)

So is there a solution? probably. Is it the two state solution most people see? Probably not. Simply because no sane minded person will give over an advantageous position unless they have to. Israel controls the land and has the might to be the major beneficiary of any deal. Former Prime Minister said it best when he commented that the Palestinians should be put to through hell so that they will accept anything that is offered to them.

What I see as potential solutions (not mentioning how likely as I have no idea):

1. The currently recommended two state solution. No one seems to agree on the details. The Palestinians want more land and a right of return for refugees. The Israeli's want it to be an "entity" and not a real state.
2. Expel all Palestinians. Not gonna happen.
3. Destruction of Israel. Not gonna happen.
4. A unified secular state encompassing both Israeli's and Palestinians, with both of their refugees having an equal right of return. and an equal right to vote.

While the last may sound like an improbable utopia, it has many things in its favour. It will also Never Happen (TM). Why not? Simply put, the Israeli's would pretty quickly become a minority in their own state. The two state solution is beneficial to them precisely because it does not allow this to happen.

Israel may now be the bully and have been so for a period of sixty years, like all true bullies it was bullied before that period (mostly in Europe - the relationship between Jews and Arabs were supposedly historically pleasant). The emotional scars of any potential return to such a situation are not welcome.

What does this all mean then? simply put, peace is a long way away. Potentially never gonna happen.