DOES THE road map represent a significant breakthrough for Palestinians, as the mainstream media has suggested?
NO. IT didn’t offer the Palestinians anything that differs substantially from earlier plans presented by the U.S. On the face of it, the so-called road map looks significantly better than its predecessors, particularly Oslo. But I emphasize “on the face of it”–because the terms that seem to have been left out of Oslo deliberately, such as “occupation,” such as “sovereign Palestinian state,” “contiguous Palestinian state,” “end game”–all of the terms that were excised from Oslo are in the road map. It’s a question of interpretation. Like the interpretation that we know Sharon has for the term “state,” versus what Bush means by “state.” Secondly, do the facts on the ground enable the Palestinians to achieve what the road map promises them, such as a contiguous state? When you look at the existing map that reflects the facts on the ground, you find that it is really unsuitable for a “viable state”–another term that is used in the road map. In effect, there are three major bantustans an
