MER - Washington - 12/15/97:
    Even CNN, the exceedingly pro-Israeli TV empire, has finally succumbed and used the word.
    The network of Larry King, co-chairman of Israel's "Jerusalem 2000" celebrations; and the network whose senior White House correspondent, Wolf Blitzer, formerly was editor of the Israeli lobby's newsletter and then correspondent of the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post; has finally let the word be said on air.
    The brutal truth is that this modern-day American-guided "peace process" has always from the start been about putting the Palestinians on "reservations", one way or another.
    The debate has in reality been about what kind of fig leaves and what kinds of incentives and rewards to provide the Palestinian regime willing to work with the Israelis in this endeavor, about how to best choreograph a Palestinian surrender and "final settlement" agreement so they could stand a chance of taking hold while the majority of Palestinians remained disenfranchised in exile and the rest continued to live in the newly repackaged occupation.
    Whether Labor or Likud, whether Rabin or Peres or Bibi, it's always been clear to experts that what the Israelis and their American benefactor have in mind is that most of the land and the resources, and nearly all of the control and the power, would remain in Israeli hands -- no matter what was said in public, no matter how many ceremonies and handshakes were played out for the TV cameras.
    The following report was broadcast on CNN a few weeks ago by correspondent Walter Rogers:

   Rafah, Gaza: This angry confrontation between Israelis soldiers and Palestinians shows just how much the Peace Process has deteriorating under Prime Minister Netanyahu. First came tear gas, then the Israelis opened fire with live ammunition on unarmed Palestinians who feared more Israelis land confiscation. And as Palestinians split, Israeli soldiers shot and wounded at least 6 civilians.  Doctors later confirmed they removed M-16 cartridges, not rubber bullets, from the wounded.
   Ariel Sharon: "Think about complete Israeli security control." Israel's second powerful politician, Ariel Sharon, signals there will be even more land confiscations...as part of a "final settlement" with the Palestinians.
   Touring the West Bank, Sharon said Israel now wants the Oslo Peace Agreement adjusted with less land to the Palestinians. And Sharon made it clear that Israel will dictate what the Palestinians finally get.
   "The Palestinians, they have to believe that if Israel says that it is going to do something...Israel is going to do that."
   The Netanyahu government is leaking maps of final settlement and confining Palestinians to three reservations -- two on the West Bank and one in Gaza. Israel plans to keep all the Jordan River valley and large security zones surrounding the Palestinian enclaves.
   "Israel will be sitting on the Jordan River forever, and Israel will be holding this security zone and other security zones forever."
   Sharon clearly plans a hard peace for Palestinians...  The hawkish Sharon and the right-wing, not Israeli doves, are running the show now.
   Sharon makes it clear that the West Bank security zones are for more than just Israeli military security.  He wants the Israeli not the Palestinian flag to fly here.  And after a final peace settlement with the Palestinians, Sharon is clearly enthusiastic about building more new Jewish settlements...