In a speech at the Fourth Annual Walk for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine, at Oak Park, Illinois, EI co-founder Ali Abunimah said: “Today we have a proliferation of fake peace plans, from the Road Map to the Geneva Initiative, which seem to be designed for one purpose: to absolve those who advocate them from the moral responsibility of confronting the reality that they have allowed to develop. Peace plans and endless process have become little more than therapy for guilty consciences.” He also called on those engaged in divestment campaigns not to shy away from their calling, even in the face of unscrupulous pressure. Read more about Time to confront reality: Nakba Day speech in Oak Park 

The official role of Israel as sole protector of the Jewish people through the so-called Israeli right of return (or Aliyah) is increasingly tested. The law of return is an exclusive law benefiting only Jews and allows any Jew to emigrate to Israel. This role of Israel, as sole protector of the Jewish people, is being increasingly tested by a large and growing number of émigrés from Israel to other countries around the world, matched by a diminishing number of new immigrants. Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof argue that this creates serious problems for Israel in seeking to maintain the exclusively Jewish character of the Israeli state. Read more about Voting with their feet 

The disengagement plan is intended to forestall international intervention and Israeli public dissension. As incomplete as Palestinians perceive the roadmap plan to be, this broadly accepted document talks about ending the occupation, establishing a viable Palestinian state, and incorporating an international framework outside the sole purview of the United States. “Sharon will fight with a few more settlers, everyone will say that is wonderful, and the roadmap will be discarded,” predicts Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. In the meantime, the strategic settlement project will grow. Read more about Sharon's minimum solution 

Ariel Sharon travelled to the United States as a hero of peace, as if he had already evacuated Gaza and only the follow-up remained to be worked out. What has completely disappeared from the public agenda is what is happening, meanwhile, in the West Bank. Behind the smoke screen of disengagement, a process of slow and hidden transfer is being carried out in the West Bank today. Tel Aviv University professor Tanya Reinhart looks at recent developments. Read more about Behind the smoke screen of the Gaza pullout 

Even Ariel Sharon himself, the father of the settlements and a fervent proponent of the Greater Land of Israel ideology, has come to understand the need for a Palestinian state in order to relieve Israel of the 4 million Palestinians living in the occupied territories. The problem is not a Palestinian state, but a viable Palestinian state. After Bush declared that “a state of scattered territories will not work,” his agreement to Israel’s annexation of its major settlement blocs leaves one to wonder just where that viable Palestinian state will be. One gets the impression that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is being set up for yet another “generous offer” ala Barak and Camp David II. Read more about Another "generous offer" mythology in the works? 

In early March 2005, the High Court of Australia made a unanimous decision to give refugee protection to a Russian Jewish doctor and his son. The Australian court determined that it could not “offload its responsibilities” to protect them by arguing Israel was a ‘safe third country’ on the basis of the so-called law of return or ‘Aliyah’. The decision has important implications as it directly challenges the notion held by Israel and its supporters that there must exist a ‘Jewish state’ for the exclusive protection of Jews. There are clear and growing signs that many Jews do not see Israel as a “safe haven” and therefore seek refuge elsewhere. Read more about Is Israel a safe haven for Jews? 

Last week’s announcement that Israel is constructing 3500 housing units in E-1, a corridor connecting Jerusalem to the West Bank settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim, seals the fate of the Palestinian state. As a key element of an Israeli “Greater Jerusalem,” the E-1 plan removes any viability from a Palestinian state. It cuts the West Bank in half, allowing Israel to control Palestinian movement from one part of their country to another, while isolating East Jerusalem from the rest of Palestinian territory. Since 40% of the Palestinian economy revolves around Jerusalem, the E-1 plan effectively cuts the economic heart out of any Palestinian state, rendering it nothing more than a set of non-viable Indian reservations. Read more about E-1: The end of a viable Palestinian state