Sharon's Protective Wall Distorts Original Intention

From Ha'aretz, the Israeli paper:

The vocabulary of Hebrew is expanding as successive Israeli governments try to cloud their intentions regarding construction in the West Bank - or, more accurately, their evasion of their obligations. The word mifredet (separator), for instance, will now describe the wall to be built the length of Route 60, which is the main transportation artery for Jerusalem's northern neighborhoods, and the expressions "fingernails" and "fingers" will from now on be the metaphors for a system of creeping construction of the fence around Ariel. Under cover of these `clean' expressions, a plan for the de facto annexation of some 150 square kilometers in the heart of the northern West Bank - including Ariel, Immanuel, Karnei Shomron, Kedumim and other settlements - is being implemented.

This plan does not accord with Israel's promises to the American administration, which state that the fence in the Ariel area will remain open on the western side, thereby preventing even the appearance of annexation. But this is not only a gross breach of promise, which joins the failure to fulfill other road map commitments such as dismantling illegal settlement outposts or halting construction in the settlements. The constant, creeping annexation by Israel of land in the West Bank under the pretext of building the separation fence also constitutes a unilateral determination of the border, which contradicts the goal of reaching an agreement by mutual consent.