Dreams of Land Collide as Israeli Settlers Grow. At the epicenter of the consuming rage in the Middle East is the growing number of Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories. By Tim Golden. [New York Times: International]
Another good, well-balanced article (I think I'm getting to like and respect the New York Times). I've always maintained that this policy of not only turning a blind eye to settlements but actively supporting them is a cynical attempt to grab territory in advance of any peace negotiations and then insist that this territory is non-negotiable. Of course, Ariel Sharon himself returned to power by playing the Settlement card back in late 2000 with his high-profile visit trumpeting his support.
This brings up the other issue of timing in all of this. OK, so Ehud Barak's efforts ran out of steam when the peace negotiations faltered, but it surely isn't just a coincidence that Sharon played his Settlement card at a time when Bill Clinton's second term was coming to an end and the likelihood of the next US President being Republican was very high. With the traditional leaning of right-wing Republicans towards uncritical support of Israel, Sharon must have realised that a hard-line Israeli premier would get away with extreme measures. And so it has turned out, at the cost of far too many lives on both sides.
4:59:02 PM 
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