More than half a million signatures for a two-state solution
Israelis and Palestinians in equal number sign a petition launched by OneVoice movement. It calls on the Israeli and the Palestinian governments to reach a peace deal by 2008 that includes a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

Tel Aviv (AsiaNews/Agencies) – More than half a million Israelis and Palestinians have signed a petition calling on the Israeli and Palestinian governments to reach a peace agreement by the end of next year based on a two-state solution and an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines.

The petition is being organized by a non-partisan organisation called the OneVoice movement, which is planning to hold simultaneous rallies in both Tel Aviv and Jericho next week that will be broadcast around the world in an effort to garner support for the two-state solution.

“Every minute delayed in ending the conflict is a minute gained by forces of militant absolutism committed to erase the possibility of a two-state solution,” said OneVoice founder Daniel Lubetzky.

The organisation, which maintains offices in both Tel Aviv and Ramallah, has enlisted the support of nearly 600,000 Israelis and Palestinians—in about equal numbers—for their petition which calls for a peace agreement to be reached within a year based on a two-state solution with a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.

The group, which was established six years ago, wants to get a million signatures on its petition, which is accessible online, by the end of the year.

Among the personalities serving on the group's honorary board of advisers, there are academics, religious leaders and politicians from the two sides as well as former US diplomats and officials.