Madam, - The Middle East peace process faces its greatest crisis following President Bush's decision to back Ariel Sharon's so-called "disengagement" plan. Mr Sharon, with US support, intends to expand Israel at the expense of Palestine. The annexation by Israel of Palestinian land will effectively turn the proposed Palestinian state into a glorified bantustan, and it will reward Israel for breaking international law.
Under international law it is illegal for a country to colonise land it captured from another country. Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: "The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies." Israel is clearly in breach of this international convention, as its policy of settlements involves the transfer of its own civilian population into the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel built these Jewish settlements in Palestine with the sole aim of effectively annexing the land they stand on to Israel.
In endorsing Ariel Sharon's controversial plan to annex Palestinian territory in the West Bank to Israel, on the grounds that this reflects "realities on the ground" - i.e., Israel's illegal settlements - President Bush is rewarding Israel for breaking international law. This sets a dangerous precedent.
Under Mr Sharon's US-backed proposals, the Palestinians will be left, not with a viable independent state, but with nothing more than a glorified bantustan surrounded on all sides by the Israel apartheid wall. The right of return for Palestinian refugees whose homes were in what is now Israel will also be denied.
This is totally unacceptable. It is for representatives of the Palestinian people, not the United States, to establish the borders of a Palestinian state, and to work out what right of return Palestinian refugees will have as part of a final peace deal with Israel.
The only long-term solution to the conflict in the Middle East is the foundation of a sovereign, independent, democratic Palestinian state covering all of the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital. A viable Palestinian state is the best guarantee of peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. Ireland must now use its Presidency of the EU, which is part of the road map quartet, to ensure that Ariel Sharon's plans to thwart the establishment of such a state do not succeed. - Yours, etc.,
MARTIN GLEESON, Illaunree Drive, Coolough Road, Galway.
A chara, - By endorsing the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank President Bush is effectively reversing decades of previous American policy, and leaving the potential for the possible expansion of these huge settlements to impose new "realities" in this area. The right of return for all Palestinian refugees expelled from their homes in the late 1940s has also been denied. Both of these Israeli-American declarations have been made without Palestinian consultation.
By endorsing Israel's "might is right" approach to the Palestinian problem, Mr Bush can no longer be seen as an honest broker in the dispute. The prospects for a "viable Palestinian state" have been practically ended in a matter of days. Edward Said probably would not have wanted to live to witness such an event. - Is mise,
ERIC CREAN, Shandon Gardens, Phibsborough, Dublin 7.