Continued Israeli settlement in occupied Palestinian land is the single most destructive and dangerous reflection of the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It captures in a single dynamic the predatory nature of Zionist aims, the conquest and settlement of Arab land by Israelis, and the continued dispersal and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. If peace-making is to have any chance of success, Israeli colonization of Arab lands must be halted and then largely reversed under final-status agreements. [Read the full article]

Palestinian children play soccer in the West Bank village of Bil'in, near the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Sefer. (Moti Milrod, Maan Images)

It is hard to tell if US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is being deliberately innocent and juvenile, or, as the highest American foreign policy official, she is genetically incapable of being honest when it comes to Palestinian-Israeli issues.

There is now only one real test of progress, or criterion of political seriousness, in the Arab-Israeli conflict in the short term: Can the United States make Israel stop expanding its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories?

If not, talk of peace is a cruel hoax that will only raise and then dash expectations, leading to unknown consequences when the backlash occurs.

Continued Israeli settlement in occupied Palestinian land is the single most destructive and dangerous reflection of the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It captures in a single dynamic the predatory nature of Zionist aims, the conquest and settlement of Arab land by Israelis, and the continued dispersal and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

If peace-making is to have any chance of success, Israeli colonization of Arab lands must be halted and then largely reversed under final-status agreements.

The Palestinians for their part have to reciprocate, of course, with a move of equal magnitude. But the Palestinians, especially President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement who still head the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, cannot make any meaningful move without Israeli permission.

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They cannot expand, equip or train their police force; they cannot import or export anything; they cannot drill water wells or build roads; they cannot go shopping in Paris; they cannot even hold a meeting of their full Parliament without explicit permission from the Israelis.

The Palestinian-Israeli "peace process" in its current form has lost all seriousness due to the severe imbalance in power between the two sides.

Into this difficult situation steps the American government, vowing admirably, as it did at Annapolis four months ago, to exert vigorous efforts to achieve peace by the end of this year.

Two things have been consistent since then, however: senior American officials travel to Israel regularly to push the peace process forward, and with every such visit the Israeli government announces new settlement expansion plans.

To read the full article please visit The Daily Star.