'Colonization of Palestine' blocking peace–Carter

Former president Jimmy Carter has described Israel's "colonization of Palestine" through expanding Jewish settlements as the single greatest obstacle to a resolution of the conflict. Carter, 81, who negotiated the 1978 Camp David peace accord between Israel and Egypt, wrote in the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz on Mar. 17 that Israel's actions doom any Palestinian state to a "dismal" future and will perpetuate violence across the Middle East. "The pre-eminent obstacle to peace is Israel's colonization of Palestine," he wrote. "Israel's occupation of Palestine has obstructed a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land, regardless of whether Palestinians had no formalized government, one headed by Yassir Arafat or Mahmoud Abbas, or with Abbas as president and Hamas controlling the Parliament and cabinet." Carter also questioned Israel's commitment to the US-led "road map" peace process. "Israel has officially rejected its basic premises with patently unacceptable caveats and prerequisites," he said. He said Israel was insincere at peace negotiations during the 1990s when it offered to withdraw only a small proportion of the 225,000 settlers living in the West Bank. "Their best official offer to the Palestinians was to withdraw 20 percent of them, leaving 180,000 [Israelis] in 209 settlements, covering about five percent of the occupied land," he said. "The five percent figure is grossly misleading, with surrounding areas taken or earmarked for expansion, roadways joining settlements with each other and to Jerusalem, and wide arterial swaths providing water, sewage, electricity and communications. This intricate honeycomb divides the entire West Bank into multiple fragments, often uninhabitable or even unreachable. "Especially troublesome is Israel's construction of huge concrete dividing walls in populated areas and high fences in rural areas–located entirely on Palestinian territory and often with deep intrusions to encompass more land and settlements.... "This will never be acceptable either to Palestinians or to the international community, and will inevitably precipitate increased tension and violence within Palestine, and stronger resentment and animosity from the Arab world against America, which will be held accountable for the plight of the Palestinians."