As i have noted on these pages previously, Israel has got itself into a difficult position, it will not accept a one-state solution, for fear that Palestinians high birth rates would undermine its desired notion of Israel as an exclusively 'Jewish' state. Furthermore, accepting a two-state solution would require Israel to withdraw from illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, again, Israel would find it difficult to give up this territory it has illegally seized and sought to annex into its borders.

So, the solution is either to withdraw from settlements to the legal pre-1967 borders, or if you favour a peaceful one-state solution Israel must accept it cannot continue as a 'Jewish state' and must uphold the rights of its all population regardless of religion or ethnicity.

If in the coming so-called 'peace talks', Israel refuses to accept either option, and continues slowly expelling Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem, and altering facts on the ground, the state of Israel cannot protest if international condemnation increases. The tide is slowly turning, the world will no longer accept Israel's colonisation and occupation of the Palestinian territories and the creation of Jewish settlements on this occupied land.

Many Israeli's have refused to perform in the settlements of Ariel, as they claim this would amount to 'legitimizing' the occupation and illegal settlement. Likewise, The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) announced divestment from two Israeli companies, Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus, due to their involvement in the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. This comes only a year after the GPFG divested from Elbit Systems Ltd., the Israeli defense firm involved in the construction of the Separation Wall.

Harvard Management Company, which manages the university’s endowment, has also divested the fund from all investments it had in Israel companies, during the second quarter of this year. The divested stocks include TEVA, a generic drug manufacturer, that has greatly benefited from Israel’s strangulation of several Palestinian pharmaceutical companies, Checkpoint Securities, which provided many of the technologies Israel uses humiliate, screen, and search Palestinians at road blocks, and Cellcom, a wireless communications company that provide communication services to the army, among others.

In Dec 2009, The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) issued voluntary guidance to UK supermarkets stating labels should differentiate between "Israeli settlement produce" and "Palestinian produce".

Israel must end the occupation of the Palestinians teritories or get used to facing this rising international isolation and condemnation for the crimes it continues to commit in the Palestinian occupied territories.