The Palestinians desperately want an independent state and are ready to compromise to obtain that goal. They will then live peacefully alongside Israel in a two-state solution. Unfortunately, this is blocked either by a) misunderstanding on both sides, or b), per the recent words of the Huffington Post, "the hard-line opponents who dominate Israel's ruling coalition." Israel is behaving foolishly, not seeing that -- as former President Bill Clinton recently said -- Israel needs peace in order to survive. One reason, perhaps a leading one, why Israel desperately needs peace is because of Arab demographic growth. Also, the main barrier to peace is the Jewish settlements.