The collapse of U.S. efforts to convince Israeli PM Netanyahu to accept "an offer he couldn't refuse" is stirring the international pot. We can't know what will come of various actions (such as, the recognition of a Palestinian state by Argentina and Brazil) and proposals to put matters in the hands of the UN or to impose sanctions on Israel, but at the moment they seem to gathering a bit of steam:"A group of 26 ex-EU leaders has urged the union to impose sanctions on Israel for continuing to build settlements on occupied Palestinian territory." From the BBC.Robert Wright in the NYT: "The United Nations created a Jewish state six decades ago, and it can create a Palestinian state now. It can define the borders, set the timetable and lay down the rules for Palestinian elections" Wright's opening line, "The blogger Andrew Sullivan has called Americas policy toward Israel assisted suicide, gets at a critical element in the current stand-off.And Joseph Becker gets down to the nitty-gritty details in Commonweal.And to add to the ongoing absurdity: "Israel refuses entry to Palestinian firefighters being honored for Carmel fire assistance."Juan Cole weighs in on the subject and notes that Norway has upgraded the Palestinian representative.