With the predictability of a train heading towards its terminus, the Middle East peace talks appear to be nearing their end. An independent Palestinian state seems as distant today as it was at the beginning of the US-brokered negotiations last year. If anything, it is further away than ever, given the feverish pace of Israeli construction in the occupied West Bank.

By continuing to create these ‘facts on the ground’, Israel has virtually guaranteed that no viable Palestinian state can possibly emerge. Already pockmarked with settlements and towns, criss-crossed with roads only Israelis can use, sealed in by a huge wall, and home to scores of military bases, the West Bank can no longer realistically be the basis for a free and independent state.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry has heroically tried to put a gloss over these realities in his tireless efforts to push the two sides into agreeing to a deal. There has been talk of ‘land swaps’ in which the Palestinians would be compensated with land in Israel, but if Bibi Netanyahu’s government insists on building on occupied territory, can it really be counted on to hand over Israeli land?

The truth is that ever since Israel seized the West Bank and Jerusalem in 1967, it has shown no desire to pull back to its borders. For years, it has used the pretext of security to hang on to the occupied territories, as if a fledgling Palestinian state could ever be a threat to its heavily militarised Zionist neighbour. The Syrian Golan Heights, too, remain under Israeli control for the same reason.

Although US is the broker in these talks, it is not an honest one. Domestic US politics dictate that very little pressure be applied on Tel Aviv, with the Palestinians being squeezed to make more and more concessions. Working through the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), the American-Israeli lobbying powerhouse, Netanyahu has ensured that the vast majority of American legislators support his rigid position. Kerry thus has a weak hand in this game of high-stakes poker, specially when Barack Obama appears to be a distant spectator.

The extent to which the American mainstream media is hostage to the Israeli position dawned on me while reading a recent article in the New York Times about the talks. The correspondent used the awkward phrase “what the Palestinians consider to be resistance to the Israeli presence in the West Bank”. Excuse me? The whole world sees and admires Palestinian opposition to repressive Israeli policies for what it is: heroic resistance to an illegal land-grab.

If a respected liberal newspaper like the New York Times can resort to such editorial ploys to airbrush reality, think how much further the right-wing media like Fox News would go in rubbishing the Palestinian cause. Over the years, many Americans have come to swallow the consensus developed by Aipac, politicians unwilling to annoy the powerful pro-Israeli lobby, and the mainstream media. In this view of the Middle East, Israel is the only reliable American ally. A democracy in a sea of dictatorships, it must be supported at all cost.

Even when a principled politician like Jimmy Carter was running for the US Presidency back in 1976, he felt the need to appease the pro-Israel lobby by declaring: “Our support for Israel is not a strategic necessity, but a moral imperative.” To his credit, he saw Israel in its true colours subsequently, and became a vocal critic of its occupation, thus making himself very unpopular in pro-Israeli circles.

It is clear that given Israel’s foot-dragging over any ‘land for peace’ formula, and American reluctance to put any pressure on its ally, a two-state solution will not emerge in the foreseeable future. The Palestinians are hampered by the lukewarm support they receive from other Arab states. Egypt, under army rule, is positively hostile, and has blocked the tunnels that were Gaza’s lifeline.

But despite this lack of support, the issue continues to radicalise young Muslims around the world. Extremists project the injustice being done in Palestine to recruit young Muslims from London to Lahore. American generals have testified before Congress that this single issue has damaged America’s image in the Muslim world more than any other.

Privately, many Europeans and Americans have told me they are appalled by Israeli behaviour towards Palestinians. But by and large, politicians tend to tread warily for fear of stepping on pro-Israeli toes. Currently, the pro-Palestinian BDS — Boycotts, Divestment, Sanctions — movement is gaining momentum. It is exerting pressure on Israel by selling shares in Israeli companies, boycotting Israeli goods, specially if they are manufactured in the occupied West Bank, and refusing to invite Israeli artists and academics.

But while praiseworthy, these earnest efforts are unlikely to be enough to budge Israel. It now wants peace on its terms, and keep the land it holds at the same time. And with open-ended American support, it seems to hold all the cards. The turmoil in much of the Arab world has not helped the Palestinian cause.

More and more, observers and Palestinians themselves are now contemplating the ‘one-state’ solution. This would entail Palestinians becoming citizens of Israel. But if this happens, they will never be equal citizens.