Annexation Quote by Christopher Hitchens
““If the Palestinian people really wish to decide that they will battle to the very end to prevent partition or annexation of even an inch of their ancestral soil, then I have to concede that that is their right. I even think that a sixty-year rather botched experiment in marginal quasi-statehood is something that the Jewish people could consider abandoning. It represents barely an instant in our drawn-out and arduous history, and it's already been agreed even by the heirs of Ze'ev Jabotinsky that the whole scheme is unrealizable in 'Judaea and Samaria,' let alone in Gaza or Sinai. But it's flat-out intolerable to be solicited to endorse a side-by-side Palestinian homeland and then to discover that there are sinuous two-faced apologists explaining away the suicide-murder of Jewish civilians in Tel Aviv, a city which would be part of a Jewish state or community under any conceivable 'solution.' There's that word again...””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Lecture at Oxford Union, 2005
The speaker argues for Palestinian self‑determination while questioning the feasibility of a two‑state solution, highlighting historical complexity and moral dilemmas.
In simple terms: Palestinians have a right to decide, but a two‑state plan is unrealistic.
Consider the moral and practical limits of political solutions.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- peace negotiations
- human rights advocacy
- policy analysis
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What alternative frameworks could address both peoples’ rights?
- How do historical narratives shape current policy?
May oversimplify complex geopolitical realities.