The US and Sharon will dictate future of Palestine from the Whitehouse Lawn - so much for the peace "roadmap".

The New York Times > International > Middle East > Arafat Says U.S. Backing of Sharon Could End Peace Plan

As expected Bush backed Sharon's plan to 'disengage' - which includes keeping the major Jewish settlements in the West Bank. When Bush was asked by the US Press how this was aligned with the peace roadmap, Bush gave his usual intelligent response.

Bush said, the "realities on the ground and in the region have changed greatly" and should be reflected in any final peace deal - i.e. the fact that Israel has large [illegal] groups of settlers in the West Bank means that they should remain.

In almost the same breath he said Palestinian refugees, as part of any final peace deal with the Palestinians, should be settled in a Palestinian state, not in Israel.

Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan in a lightning victory over Arab armies in the 1967 Middle East war.

For several decades, U.S. administrations have operated on the assumption there could be some adjustments in the borders that existed between Israel and the Arabs before the war.

But Sharon eyes more than a small part of the West Bank, hoping to hold on to five large blocs of Jewish settlements there.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm