'œAriel Sharon is either the bravest man in the Middle East, or the most foolish,' said Wesley Pruden in The Washington Times. In a region where keeping one's word is considered 'œan exercise for fools,' Sharon has unilaterally ended Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip, giving new life to the so-called 'œroad map to peace' proposed back in 2003. But for the Gaza withdrawal to be a true step forward, the Palestinians must 'œresist their usual impulse to snatch defeat from the jaws of opportunity.' Unless the Palestinians send a clear message in next year's elections that they want peaceful co-existence with Israel, the road map will remain just another one of the dusty 'œclichés that litter the usual diplomatic conversations.'
The road map is doomed, all right, said Marwan Bishara in The Nation, but it's not the Palestinians' fault. Sharon's sole purpose in leaving Gaza was to make Israel's borders easier to defend, while distracting attention from Israel's major obligation under the road map: leaving the West Bank. With the Palestinians 'œpreoccupied with rebuilding their shattered lives' in Gaza, look for Sharon to 'œaccelerate the de facto annexation' of settlements on the West Bank. That won't do, said Daoud Kuttab in The Washington Post. For the Palestinians to have any chance of having a state, Israel must surrender the West Bank; tiny, impoverished Gaza cannot a nation make. But Sharon refuses to discuss the West Bank, insisting only that the next move is the Palestinians'. Most Palestinians are convinced what this really means is that 'œthe road map will be put in a deep freeze.' If that happens, a return to violence 'œwill be only a matter of time.'
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