During the past few weeks, as the current round of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations continue, the demand by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) recognize Israel as a Jewish state has elicited a variety of controversial comments.
Perhaps, the most surprising reaction was the revival of a formula that the two negotiating partners have consistently ignored — the establishment of a secular democratic state in historic Palestine. Among the advocates of such a solution are Edward Said, Fayez Sayegh, Ibrahim Abu-Lughoud and many other Arab political and intellectual figures.
