BBC News - Palestinians reject Israeli offer on settlement freeze
BBC News reports: "Palestinian officials have rejected an offer by the Israeli government to halt settlement construction if they recognise Israel as a 'Jewish state'."

Comment: So, the Palestinians just won't put anything on the table, will they? Shame. Reports have said that the Palestinians don't want to recognize that Israel is a Jewish state because they are afraid it will undermine their desire for a "right of return" for Palestinian refugees to be included in the final status agreement. The "right of return" is the notion that Palestinians driven from their homes by the creation of Israel should have the right to return to their homes. Yes, it's ridiculous. The Palestinians should understand this idea is a non-starter. After all, why go through all the trouble of negotiating the creation of an independent Palestinian state if the Palestinians want to live in Israel? It's absurd. And, of course, they are willfully overlooking the fact that many Palestinians stayed in Israel over the years. Arab citizens of Israel enjoy a higher standard of living and more rights than Palestinians living in Lebanon but that is an inconvenient truth to acknowledge.