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I'm not a big fan of Amos Oz, but he's hit the right spot in this interview

Acclaimed Israeli writer and activist Amos Oz sees an `uneasy compromise' with Palestinians ahead

Amos Oz, an Israeli author well acquainted with tragedy, believes that the story of Israeli-Palestinian relations is not doomed to be forever written in blood.

"I believe we are on the road of painful, uneasy compromise with the Palestinians," he said in Toronto earlier this month. "The good news is that the vast majority of Israeli Jews and Palestinians know there will be a two-state solution. Even people on both sides who feel that is unjust now know in their heart of hearts it's true."

Oz, a bestselling writer and founder of the Peace Now movement, said that the ongoing violence that has caused the death of more than 4,000 Israelis and Palestinians since the uprising began four years ago, has gained neither side a victory. Both are coming to realize that violence will not lead to a solution.

Oz believes that the controversial partition erected by Israel to block prospective suicide bombers — and blamed by some as a cause of bloodshed — may be part of the solution.

"There is nothing wrong with the wall, but it's being built in the wrong place," he said. "It's not wrong to build a wall between my garden and my neighbour's. Israel's error is building the wall right across the neighbour's garden ... If it separates a Palestinian village from its school, or a Palestinian farmer from his fields, it's immoral and ineffective."

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