Maltese Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo is putting the finishing touches on a Facebook post he is confident will end the conflict between Israel and Palestine once and for all.
As the latest escalation in tensions between the two sides enters its second week, Israel continues to bombard Gaza from air, sea and land, while Hamas fires rockets indiscriminately. But Bartolo, who is known for his lengthy Facebook musings, says his forthcoming post could lead to a diplomatic breakthrough.
“I’m not going to spoil it too much, but the gist is that they should stop fighting and be nice to each other. It doesn’t matter who started it. I will propose a meeting between representatives from both sides that will end with them touching each other’s pinky finger and then kissing it, like we used to do in school,” Bartolo told Bis-Serjetà.
“There will also be a Gandhi quote and some lyrics from John Lennon’s ‘Give Peace A Chance. I estimate the post will end up being about 3,000 words long, not including the Arabic and Hebrew translations.”
Bartolo also reaffirmed his support for the so-called two-state solution, which recognises Palestine as a state based on pre-1967 borders.
“It’s true that Palestine has much less land than back then because of constant annexations and forced evictions to make way for Israeli settlements, but ‘two-state solution’ sure sounds catchy,” he said.
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