It is impossible to announce the beginning of a new settlement at the end of Annapolis and say you truly desire peace. The good intentions of Israel, as it has pronounced them with regards to peace, are simply lies. Just because Israel’s decision to build more homes on occupied land comes on the heels of the Annapolis summit does not make the move any more appalling. Building more settlements on Palestinian land is against the law, pure and simple, regardless of Annapolis. Every time a settlement, building or even an apartment is built where it should not be in the occupied territories, it eats up that much more Palestinian land which was ultimately to be part of the Palestinian state.

If Israel goes ahead with building Har Homa, the settlement will never be demolished. In the past 10 years, nearly 3,500 demolition orders for settlements have been issued but just over 100 have been carried out, the Peace Now group says, citing government figures. According to Peace Now, only 107 of 3,449 settlements over the past decade have been dismantled in the same period — just three percent. It is helpful that the United States has voiced a rare criticism of Israel for this decision. Condoleezza Rice’s comments on this new group of settlements — that they will not help build confidence when it is needed most — coming as it does after Annapolis and on the eve of the beginning of negotiations, is welcome. So, too, is the criticism of the project by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. But of, course, words are not enough and, in the case of Israel, have never been. The US, as the sponsor of Annapolis and the road map which explicitly forbids the building or extension of Jewish settlements, and the United Nations, which is part of the Quartet backing the road map and Annapolis, must see to it that the 300 new houses planned for Har Homa, a settlement in East Jerusalem — designated as the future Palestinian capital — are not built. The Israeli argument is that the houses are part of plans drawn up seven years ago and it too can be easily shot down. If Tel Aviv is really interested in a peace settlement, then it should do away with the plans altogether. Since Israel was able to evacuate angry Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip three years ago, it should not be too difficult to put a halt to a settlement which is still on the drawing board.

Another complicating factor is the Hamas faction which has dismissed the process begun in Annapolis, saying it will not achieve the state the Palestinians want. Hamas will pounce on the Har Homa issue in order to support its case. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are due to meet on Wednesday for the first time since Annapolis. Har Homa will undoubtedly be high on the agenda and could conceivably stall the meetings from the very first day. Already, there are hugely difficult issues that need to be resolved, more settlements just add one more problem on an already long and crowded list. If the US administration genuinely hopes the Middle East peace talks will conclude before President Bush leaves office, than it will have to deal with Har Homa quickly and forcefully.