About the Annapolis Conference

On November 27, 2007, amidst great fanfare (accompanied by a "lowering of expectations"), the United States and Israel - with the Palestinians, the Europeans, the Russians and the UN pulled in by the ears - announced the beginning a Great New Peace Process, crowned "Annapolis" after the military base where it was held.

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), together with our critical Israeli, Palestinian and international partners, were chastised by our liberal colleagues not to "denigrate" this wonderful new initiative, not be defeatists, not to be so cynical. Anyone who has spent time in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories knows that a viable two-state solution is long gone, that Israel's "facts on the ground" have become irreversible in light of the US and other government's unwillingness to force a meaningful Israel withdrawal, that Annapolis - like the peace processes that preceded it - would be nothing more than an attempt to finesse apartheid, a Palestinian bantustan controlled by Israel, in the guise of a "two-state solution" as embodied in the Road Map initiative.

We have decided not to be cynical but to let the facts speak for themselves. The Annapolis Monitor is just that: a monitor of everything Israel does on the ground, with American consent, to eliminate a genuine two-state solution and transform its occupation into a permanent political fact. Don't believe us, just look at the facts. When you come around to the view that Israel will never allow the establishment of a Palestinian state, and that governments will not do anything significant to end the occupation, then join with us to create an international movement to force them to do so - just as we did with apartheid South Africa.

Our job as civil society - the people - is to be the watchdog, the monitors, ensuring that governments do not succeed in making occupation and apartheid palatable by presenting them as "just solutions" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Annapolis Monitor is part of that effort to maintain honesty and accountability in the political process.

- Jeff Halper,
Coordinator ICAHD