The planned construction of 277 apartments in the Jewish settlement of Ariel inside the West Bank is the third Israeli land grab project on occupied Palestinian lands to be advanced this week. That these housing schemes go against international law is a given; almost every country in the world agrees on their illegality. Just as serious, moreover, is how this latest construction will further complicate Israeli as well as American attempts to persuade the Palestinians to give up their UN bid for statehood and enter into negotiations instead. Of the countries which find the creation of Israeli settlements unacceptable is the US which calls the new Israeli building "deeply troubling and counterproductive to the resumption of direct negotiations" between the Israelis and Palestinians. How ironic, then, that Washington continues to urge the Palestinians to drop their bid for UN recognition of an independent state next month. Washington wants the Palestinian state to emerge from negotiations it has supervised for decades, not unilateral action, but negotiations have been frozen for most of the past three years and there is no sign the two sides can agree on conditions to resume them. Settlements have been the major reason why the talks are stalled. President Barack Obama's efforts to restart the negotiations have failed miserably. The Palestinians cannot negotiate while settlement construction continues in areas of the West Bank and East Jerusalem that will likely be part of a future Palestinian state. Meanwhile, settlement construction proceeds apace. In addition to Ariel, Israel recently moved ahead with plans to build more than 2,500 new apartments in east Jerusalem and Israeli officials say 2,700 more will be approved soon. Hence, movement in the direction of peace has come to a screeching halt. And consequently, this trio of Israeli settlement projects can only prompt the Palestinians to reassert their intention to pursue UN recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state in September. The Palestinians plan to ask the Security Council to endorse admitting Palestine as a full-fledged state. However, they will need to win approval from the Security Council and a two-thirds majority in the 192- member General Assembly. The latter it can probably exceed; the former looks impossible as the US is expected to veto any such request. The PA could pursue authentic peace talks with Israel and at the same time remain committed to seeking UN recognition of a possible Palestinian state. The two courses of action do not necessarily contradict one another, and one should not be substituted for the other. Israel, however, rejects any such option, ostensibly arguing that the Palestinian drive for UN membership erodes its legitimacy -- and all the while hoping that if enough settlements are built, the day will come when there will be nothing to negotiate about. The apartment complexes Israel is currently building could take years to finish but it is doubtful the Palestinians will wait that long before taking action. The Arab Spring has afforded for many millions in the region the opportunity to set themselves free of autocratic regimes and the inspiring notion of liberation has been literally catching fire throughout much of the Arab world. In the past, Palestinians would have been warned not to antagonise the Americans, but the pro- democracy uprisings have swept away such restraint. Indeed, Palestinians should no longer wait for a paralysed peace process which will somehow bestow independence on their territories. As for Israel, it must understand these current revolts against authoritarian rule came after decades of tolerance by Arab peoples who could ultimately wait no longer. This would apply to Palestinians who more than any other Arab people, seek their freedom, are most entitled to independence and who, after 63 years of occupation, are convinced their time has come.
