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been a guiding force behind Israel's efforts to populate the West
Bank since his tenure as agriculture minister in the late 1970s.
Indeed, Sharon has agreed only in principle
to previous calls for settlement freezes in the Tenet and Mitchell
plans.
Critics add that adhering to the "road map" would not require great
political will on Sharon's part. It calls for the dismantling only of
settlement outposts built while he has been in office and for a
freeze to last until Palestinian elections next year.
Others suggest that the road map is toothless. "Is there any way to
see if Israel is violating the freeze, and what kind of punitive action
will the US take if Israel is found in violation?" asks Michael Terazi,
a lawyer with the Negotiation Affairs Department of the Palestinian
Liberation Organization.
There have been scuffles between settlers and soldiers who
dismantled some small outposts recently, but overall, settlements
have averaged a 5.6 percent annual population growth rate since
Sharon took office, says Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.
A report recently Issued by Mahmoud Abbas, a Palestinian leader
also known as Abu Mazen, warns that the establishment of a viable,
independent and democratic Palestinian state by 2005 is seriously
threatened.
The report uses maps to make its point that the construction of
settlements, a massive separation barrier between Israel and the
territories, and roads in and around Jerusalem are strangling the
development of a Palestinian state.
The West Bank will be completely severed into two noncontiguous
parts north and south," the report says. "Palestinians will be
effectively denied the possibility of any form of sovereignty and
control over East Jerusalem."
A one-state future?

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