There was a dispatch by Tim Butcher from Nablus in the Daily Telegraph, headlined "West Bank 'could soon fall to Hamas'." Butcher was quoting a Palestinian official who, of course, was just echoing the common wisdom. The reporter, alas, wrote with persuasive authority that "The West Bank is the last piece of Palestinian territory nominally held under the control of Fatah and Mr. Abbas, its leader." The crucial word in this sentence is "nominally." I know there's also a "could" in the headline. And that does not mean definitively "would." But it certainly does not equate to "would not." In any case, were Fatah's rule to be assured, given its past history of mobilizing intifada bloodshed, does not quite insure neighborly neighbors. Now, really, does it? This war between Jew and Arab, Israeli and Palestinian has been going on for a very long time, in fact, about a full century. Given the absence of a settlement, Israel must arrange for its own modalities and say finally "this" and "that" is a fact. It could have been otherwise. But the recalcitrance of the Arabs of Palestine guaranteed that it would not. Which brings me to my subject. I have sat on this article by my friend Steven Erlanger for exactly two weeks, thinking whether I should try to contextualize his Times report, published in the International Herald Tribune, with the headline, "New West Bank road sets Arabs apart" and a second head carried over the jump, "New Israeli highway has Palestinian lanes." Once again, the specter of apartheid, and leveled by Steve Erlanger, no less. Oh, my! For years the Palestinians have complained that there was no direct highway from Ramallah and further north (Nablus, Jenin) in the West Bank to Bethlehem, Hebron and further south. Now they will have it, and Israelis will not be able to use their road. This is actually a concession by Israel that the West Bank will, when an agreement is signed and delivered, be nearly entirely under Palestinian sovereignty. What the Palestinians won't be able to use (unless they have special permits which, in fact, are widely available) is enter Greater Jerusalem from this road. There are others from which they can and, besides, special accommodations are always made for religious purposes.) Greater Jerusalem is still a vague concept and a vaguer reality. But its outlines are clear. There are some contiguous Jewish neighborhoods east of the city proper, big neighborhoods. There is no way these will be forfeited from Israeli under any agreement. Basta! Finito! Gemacht! Dayenu! Yes, this is another price the Palestinians will pay for having hijacked the peace process for so many years. These are now facts on the ground, and President Bush's roadmap letter recognizes this. Whatever Israeli government sits in Jerusalem will not act as if it is otherwise. It is preposterous to think of this highway as a demonic act against the Palestinians. It may, in fact, hasten an agreement. The more the Palestinians tarry the less they will get. It is good that in designing its north-south highway in the territories Israel did not hold out the illusion that somehow there will be a Palestinian state where there won't be. When and if there will be a negotiated peace there will also be two highways systems, however close. That's that. By the way, on the very day the IHT published Erlanger's article, there was a shooting in Jerusalem initiated by a young Arab man seizing an Israeli guard's gun. This is no big news in an area that is accustomed to such disturbances, violent and frequent. But it shows that peace is still far away.