"Some more naïve persons claim that Ariel Sharon went through a conversion and hence, announced at the Aqaba Summit that he will dismantle 12 'unauthorized outposts' as per Israeli responsibilities in Phase One of the Roadmap .."

By Brian Wood, For PalestineChronicle.com

The Roadmap, for all its shortcomings, will not succeed. Many will blame Hamas for sabotaging the latest diplomatic initiative from the West, specifically because one who identified with that organization blew himself up in Jerusalem on 11 June, killing 17 Israelis. Going unnoticed will be the Israeli settler council, who, in relation to the evacuation of mostly uninhabited outposts, declared in Ha'aretz, "If we are evacuated, and I assume the army will use force to evacuate us in the end, then we will return the next day to 10 hilltops. We will do everything we can to torpedo, obstruct, and to prolong this step."(1)

Few will also see the 10 separate assassination incidents of Palestinians activists in Gaza and the West Bank between the Aqaba Summit of 4 June and 15 June 2003 that took the lives of 51 Palestinians, 30 of whom were civilians.

Killing is a small portion of the story. In the same period, 47 Palestinian homes were demolished and 89 Palestinians were arrested, many for political reasons. In addition, the Israeli army destroyed hundreds of fruit-bearing trees and dozens of acres of agricultural land. If that wasn't enough, tanks and attack helicopters and armored personnel carriers went into different Palestinians cities every day, firing live rounds in the downtown areas at homes, shops, and the innocent Palestinians who use them.

Imagine if you are parking your car in the lot of a local department store and a tank pulled into the parking area and started randomly firing at you and those around you?

All of this occurred between 4 and 15 June. Everyone from the US to Europe demands that Palestinians cease their attacks. Then the Roadmap will have a chance.

Some more naïve persons claim that Ariel Sharon went through a conversion and hence, announced at the Aqaba Summit that he will dismantle 12 'unauthorized outposts' as per Israeli responsibilities in Phase One of the Roadmap. It is enough to quote Sharon himself, "I haven't undergone any conversion." (2) The outposts that were actually removed were uninhabited. After several weeks, Mitzpeh Yatzir, the first inhabited outpost, was evacuated. Evacuations of other inhabited outposts have thus far been postponed by injunctions of the Israeli Supreme Court. Further, more outposts have been established since the nine were demolished or evacuated. One was re-established the next morning.

On 5 June, the Israeli Ministers of Tourism and Communications led a group of armed settlers to the home of Palestinian Rashad Maqdisyya in East Jerusalem. The armed gang of settlers and Israeli ministers evicted the family at gunpoint. (3) The result: Israel does not fulfill its most basic obligations to the Roadmap and the situation vis-à-vis confiscated Palestinian land and the perpetuation of settlements, called war crimes under international law, continue unabated.

Despite all the physical destruction, central diplomatic developments have been underreported. In these developments lies the core of the deception of the US and how the Bush Administration is holding true to the history of US Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Stabbing it's own initiative in the foot.

According to Israeli daily Ha'aretz

"PM Ariel Sharon has reached a new agreement with the American Administration under which no construction will be permitted in existing settlements "except within the area circumscribed by existing construction." Israel also promised not to build any new settlement and not to expropriate any Palestinian land for construction purposes. In exchange, Washington agreed to remove the settlements from the framework of its roadmap and to conduct separate talks on the issue. The deal was worked out between PM Bureau Chief Dov Weisglass during visit to Washington in early May "in the wake of discussions held in Jerusalem the previous month with White House envoys Elliot Abrams and Steven Hadley" (emphasis added).(4)

It is extremely significant that Israel and the US reached an agreement to remove the settlement issue from the Roadmap. In Phase One of the Roadmap, Israel's main responsibility was to cease all settlement activity, including 'natural growth'. According to international law, settlements are called war crimes. That the issue is up for negotiation shows how deeply embedded the problems of Zionism's interjection into the Arab world goes.

After months of trying and several personalities from the Israeli government flying to Washington, the non-acceptance Israeli view of the Roadmap has won over Washington. The Israeli government and its military, well-funded and stocked by the US taxpayer, will go on killing people, homes, and agricultural lands of Palestinians while Palestinians undergo ceasefire talks among themselves.

Colin Powell is in the region and Condoleeza Rice is soon to come, all for the stated purpose of 'saving the Roadmap.' Their efforts will fail for many reasons, but a central one being that their boss already arranged for the plan's undoing. The Roadmap will be filed with other US initiatives presented and failed.

Given the history of Ariel Sharon and the calculated obstinance of the Israeli government to the Roadmap, it is right only to conclude with Syrian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Butheina Shaaban, "Sharon is determined to defeat the Palestinians, not make peace with them."(5) And George W. Bush is standing at his side.

1. 9 June 2003

2. "Sharon redefines 'occupation'", Gideon Alon, Ha'aretz 28 May 2003

3. "Occupation Chronicle", Palestine Media Center, 05 June 2003

4. "Sharon, US reach deal on building in Territories" Aluf Benn and Nadav Shargai, Ha'aretz, 10 June 2003.

5. "Syria wants regional plan for peace", Ha'aretz, 18 June 2003

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