Secretary Clinton delivered a speech at the Brookings Institution in December 2010 in which she said, "We do not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity."  In her recent interview with Christine Amanpour, she said, "I think it is absolutely clear to say, number one, that it's been American policy for many years that settlements were illegitimate." So America's position has progressed from considering "continued settlement activity" as illegitimate to considering the settlements themselves as illegitimate.  Is this a change in US policy?  Time will tell.One must ask whether there is a distinction to be made between settlements and settlement activity and between illegal and illegitimate.The Oslo Accords were silent on the settlements other than to say they were a final status issue. No mention was made of "settlement activity."The Roadmap  provides, "GOI immediately dismantles settlement outposts erected...(Read Full Post)