As tragic and maddening as these realities may be, this is the likely outcome of today's situation based on the historical past and the overall power balance including at the crucial public opinion level where Sharon and Peres are now once again masterfully pursuing their propaganda offensive in the US. They have of course the considerable help in the US of the very extensive apparatus of the extended Israeli/Jewish lobby; as well as many in the major media they can call on -- CNN and PBS now the chosen propaganda vehicles with key personalities including Wolf Blitzer, Larry King, Charlie Rose, Lester Crystal (PBS), Mort Zuckerman, et. al., all ready and willing to join in.

[The Times of London, 1 May]: PALESTINIAN officials leading the uprising against Israel have vowed to sabotage a proposed ceasefire and resumption of the peace talks.

The rejection of the initiative proposed by Egypt and Jordan has come even from members of the Fatah faction of Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian leader.

Last night the prospects for peace seemed to be even slimmer as at least eight Palestinians were reported to have been killed, four in a bomb blast in the West Bank that levelled a building, two in an explosion in Gaza, one in an explosion inside an Israeli settlement and another in a clash with Israeli forces.

In the West Bank town of Ramallah, a huge blast flattened a two-story building, killing at least four Palestinians and injuring five others. Palestinian rescue workers said that four people were trapped under the rubble. Palestinians blamed Israel for the blast, caused, they said, by a bomb placed under a flight of stairs. One of the dead was Hassan el-Qady, whom Israel suspected of shooting dead a 16-year-old Israeli boy who had been lured to the Ramallah area by a 26-year-old Palestinian woman in an exchange of e-mail messages. An eight-year-old boy and his six-year-old sister were said to have been among those killed.

Even before last night's explosions, Fatah leaders had rejected moves towards peace. Marwan Barghouti, head of Fatah in the West Bank, said: "The only ceasefire agreement that the Palestinians will accept is one that leads to an end to the (Israeli) occupation within the shortest period of time."

Mr Barghouti, a strong supporter of the intifada, said that the uprising would continue until Israeli troops withdrew from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "Intifada should not be stopped until Israel flees as it did from Lebanon, within a few hours," he said, referring to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon last May, ending two decades of occupation.

The proposed ceasefire was made public after a meeting on Sunday in Cairo between Shimon Peres, the Israeli Foreign Minister, and Egyptian officials. Mr Peres arrived in the United States yesterday at the start of a four-day visit. He was scheduled to meet Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and hold meetings in Washington tomorrow and Thursday with Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, and President Bush.

Under the plan there would be a truce of one month and possibly longer during which both Israelis and Palestinians would end their attacks. Israel would also pull back its troops to positions that they held before the intifada erupted last September. If peace holds, then Israel and Palestinians would move towards negotiations. Israel is also to take steps to ease the economic blockade against Palestinian areas before the ceasefire takes effect.

However, the chances of any truce being accepted on the ground appear to be slim. Even moderate Palestinians, such as Nabil Shaath, the Planning Minister, said that a ceasefire would not work unless Israel offered Palestinians a viable, independent state. He said that Mr Arafat "is incapable of stopping the uprising against the Israeli occupation before he has a peace agreement he can present to his people".