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Ever since the Annapolis summit last November brokered by the USA, there have been a lot of activities taking place in the Middle East with several US dignitaries dashing in to relax the tensions and mediate a truce, if possible permanently between the Israelis and the Palestinians. US Vice-President Dick Cheney is touring the region, though on Iraq and Afghanistan issues, while Rice mad another trip recently meeting the leaders of the region.
After the recent Israeli closure of borders forcing the Palestinians to cross over to Egypt for essential daily needs, the Palestinians have been put into severe hardships and Palestine has been under virtual siege for quite some time now. That ghastly action of Israel was followed by its air-cum-ground attacks on the Hamas people threatening again and again, their very existence. Mediated by USA and Egypt some sort of withdrawal agenda was forced on Israel. Egypt has now stepped up truce efforts -- amid Israeli leaders' insistence they would not negotiate with Hamas.
With Egyptian mediation for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas government in Palestine making some progress, Israeli violence has declined some what over the past week, but not entirely stopped. Israel and the Palestinian Authority on 14 March resumed high-level talks after a two-week hiatus amid mounting US criticism of settlement construction. US displeasure with the continued Jewish settlement activity in the occupied West Bank was stressed during the three-hour talks, an official close to the Israeli delegation said. But Israeli is bent on expanding its settlements on Palestinian territories. "It's not helpful to the process - but what we need to keep focused on... is moving forward the political process as well as moving forward that roadmap implementation process," US state department spokesman Sean McCormack said. More over, thay have committed themsleves to any real truce with Palesltinians.
AGREED TO DISAGREE, AGAIN?
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, busy with her shuttle diplomatic efforts, has again held talks with her Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni amid fresh diplomatic moves to advance the Mid-East peace process. Ms Rice's meeting with Tzipi Livni came after Israel approved a plan to expand a West Bank settlement, which the US called "not helpful".
On the eve of the talks, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni admitted during a US visit that settlement construction was unhelpful to the peace process. A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Mark Regev said there was "no need for negotiations" on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Regev appeared to rebuff the idea of halting Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, saying it would be irresponsible "not to defend ourselves against ... hard-core terrorists" there. He said Israel would not agree to the reopening of border crossings with the Gaza Strip if Hamas has any role "whatsoever" in their functioning.
The meeting, to discuss possible implementation of the stalled 2003 peace road map in line with Annapolis initiative, was the first at senior level since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended talks on March 2 to protest an Israeli blitz on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Abbas hesitantly agreed to resume the talks with Israelis. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak did not attend, as expected, but sent an aide to the talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and US Lt. Gen. William Fraser, who was appointed in January to oversee compliance with the road map.
Both Israel and Hamas try to stick to their known positions. Hamas rightly set out its conditions on March 12 for a ceasefire with Israel, calling for an end to all acts of Israeli "aggression" in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and the reopening of Gaza border crossings. Importantly, Hamas is demanding a say in the future functioning of the crossings, a condition rejected by Israel. Hamas's terms mirrored proposals raised by Egyptian mediators trying to piece together a truce deal, which would also end Gaza rocket attacks on Israel from Hamas and other Palestinian groups.
Israel is not living up to its commitments to do what it can to facilitate the lives of the Palestinians in the West Bank Israeli warplanes targeted a rocket-launcher site in the northern of the Gaza Strip yesterday, but there was no immediate reports of casualties. Latest strikes, which effectively ended a tacit five-day truce around the coastal strip,
Hamas officials have insisted in talks with Egypt it had a key role in any re-operation of Rafah but did not oppose joint administration of the facility with Fatah loyalists Israel said current proposals giving Abbas formal authority over the crossings were unacceptable because Hamas would have effective control behind the scenes. Israel has refused to let Hamas real control of the crossings. The Palestinians also faced criticism at the meeting, with Israel saying they were not doing enough to prevent "terrorism". An US side, however, diplomatically described the current talks as "cordial but frank." The final outcome could be different from what has happened before.
ISRAELI SETTLEMNTS
However, it is a known fact that Israel treats the Palestinians as prisoners and slaves locked up in jail and therefore, Israelis control the crossings and deny the Palestinians easy access to world outside even for making essential purchases for people. Israel always creates obstructions in any peace move by the Arabs. Israel time and again tightens its Gaza border restrictions, worsening humanitarian conditions, after the Hamas takeover nine months ago. Israel is under international pressure not to cause the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million inhabitants more hardship. A reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt could be a key to improving conditions for ordinary Palestinians
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and about 400,000 Jews have settled in the area, including East Jerusalem and the process is continuing. Settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. Although the heavy fighting seen in recent weeks has now diminished, there are fears that Israel's decision to re-start construction at Givat Zeev in the West Bank could derail the peace process again. The Givat Zeev project was first signed off in 1999, but stopped two years later after Palestinian laborers refused to go on.
The primary reason for Israeli attacks on Palestinians has been to expand the territory and build new settlements in the occupied areas. Last year after Israel announced plans to build hundreds of new homes in and around East Jerusalem on land it occupied in 1967 in total violation of the peace process. The future of Jerusalem, which Israel claims as its capital, has not been accepted internationally, is one of the most divisive issues facing peace negotiators. Israel says the construction is within areas it intends to keep in any future peace deal with the Palestinians. It defends its construction of the West Bank barriers that the International Court of Justice has termed illegal.
It seems, a ceasefire could foster progress in U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas last June, after the later won the polls "There must be a commitment by Israel to end all acts of aggression against our people, assassinations, killings and raids, and lift the Gaza siege and reopen the crossings," Ismail Haniyeh, the elected premier, but ousted by Abbas on the advice of the USA-Israel combine, and now the leader of Hamas's administration in the Gaza Strip, said in a speech. A ceasefire, he said, should be "reciprocal, comprehensive and simultaneous," apply both to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and be approved by other Palestinian factions. "We will not abandon you, our people in the West Bank," Haniyeh said. "Aggression against you is aggression against us."
OIC Secretary General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has rightly told the Islamic summit that Israelis responsible for attacks on Palestinians should be tried for war crimes. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has said Israel must stop using disproportionate and excessive force' against Palestinians. Meanwhile, a Hamas leader and envoys from the Fatah-dominated PLO plan separate visits to Yemen to discuss Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's reconciliation initiative as well.
US STRATEGISTS
Neocons in Washington insist that USA go for regime changes in Middle East, until every Arab nation becomes favorable to both USA and Israel and the latter is treat as the leader of the region, because it has nuclear and conventional weapons and the US support. Far from learning from their mistakes, these men appear to be stuck in a time warp of bad ideas. They seem convinced that Israeli settlement expansion in Palestinian territory can continue unchecked whatever the world may say; that resistance movements such as Hamas and Hezbollah can be destroyed by brute force, sanctions and boycotts; that Iran poses an "˜existential threat', not just to Israel but to the whole world, and that it must at all costs be stopped, if necessary by force; that Israel has no need to return the Golan Heights to Syria; that deterrence is the key to Israel's security and that the United States will, for all time, guarantee Israel's "qualitative military edge" over the whole Arab world. USA has to revise its own policy in this respect.
Critics suggest that Olmert and Barak quit and let new leaders take over to seize the opportunity for peace. Both have failed as Prime Ministers: Olmert for his lamentable, ill-conceived and destructive war in Lebanon in 2006, and Barak for his stubborn inability to seize the chance of peace with the Palestinians and Syria in 2000 -- when, as a newly-elected Prime Minister, the chance was there to be seized. But the new leaders cannot be ideologically and temperamentally different from those who ruled Israel all these years. When the premier proposes a concrete step, the opposition blocks it, and it has been going on now for decades.
SOME OBSERVATIONS
The 2002 Arab peace plan, re-launched again in 2005-- offering Israel peace and normal relations with all 22 Arab states if it withdraws to its 1967 borders "“ still remains on the table. Syria's President Bashar al-Asad has signaled repeatedly that he is ready for unconditional peace talks with Israel. Hamas in Gaza has offered Israel a hudna or cease-fire, of ten, twenty and even fifty years' duration. Indeed, most Arabs now seem eager to put an end to their conflict with Israel, once and for all, in order to get on with enjoying their bonanza of oil wealth, which offers them a unique chance to transform, develop and modernize their societies. But in their hurry they should never allow two Palestine states, one each for Fatah and Hamas to come into existence, which would be disastrous for both.
But the moment seems to be ripe to push hard diplomatically towards more serious negotiations, on the basis of a new, more credible, settlement. Palestinian unity could be a model for other nations fighting for re-independence from the oppressors, like Kashmir from India. Arabs should have a holistic approach to Palestine issue and discuss the freedom struggles launched by at least by Muslims all over the world. That would add more strength to issue, rather than discussing Palestine in isolation. Kosovo's independence has been unnecessarily exaggerated by Arab states saying that Palestine is more important and urgent than Kosovo. That is not correct to draw conclusions like that. In stead, they should pursue their peaceful negations with the concerned quarters to speed up the establishment of Palestine.
In a major departure from its earlier stand, Hamas has also now adopted a conciliatory attitude to Fatah faction that controls the West Bank and included it in any Gaza truce. The cancellation of talks with Israel by President Abbas seems to have endeared him to Hamas, but Abbas must cultivate that warmth further. A Hamas-Fatah national unity government back is inevitable for normal negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Abbas should reinstate Ismail Haniyeh government, which he fired after Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip last year and appointed a new Western-backed cabinet in the West Bank, as a positive gesture to forge cooperation. The positive sign is the Israeli government and the two main Palestinian Islamist resistance groups have all indicated their willingness to engage in Egyptian-led indirect talks to bring about a lull in the fighting. Whether this is called a "cease-fire", a "truce" or "a calm atmosphere" that Egypt requested as a prelude to a wider deal, is mere word-craft. Fatah has to fully cooperate with Hamas.
The stake-holders and mediators should have a few priorities and the highest priority of all concerned external parties -- the Americans, Arabs, Europeans, Russians and the UN to push both sides to an agreement that achieves a few things immediately.
Israel must reopen all closed border points to allow the Palestinian Gazans to live a normal life and restart their economy. And, the PLO has to be reestablished with new vigor and revived objectives set by its founder Arafat.
Both Hamas and Fatah must now whole-heartedly seek an Arab-mediated attempt to revive the unity government between Fatah and Hamas in Palestine, based this time on a clearer agreement for a national internal security force. They must promote a long-term cease-fire and makes it an open-ended truce while encouraging exchanges of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners. Such a unity government would be in a stronger negotiating position with Israel, which cannot be persuaded for any fruitful peaceful settlement from a weak position. Israel's policy so far has been to inflict enough pain on the enemy.
From a strong position alone the Hamas-Fatah can negotiate for peace with Israel, according the Arab Plan and that alone would open the door to a negotiated agreement to stop the mutual pain. Israel knows this is how history and nationalism have worked. A negotiated long-term truce between Hamas and Israel would represent a historic breakthrough that could open the way for future negotiations to a permanent resolution of the conflict. A truce would mark a historic and permanent shift in the negotiating balance between Palestinians and Israelis.
Meanwhile, no one prevents the Palestinian leaders from naming their country as Palestine for now, pending the inauguration of the State and its provisional constitution, in stead of let it be known as Palestinian Territories. A provisional map showing the actual areas that form the future Palestine state could be published for discussion in UN. Fatah and Hamas should pay proper attention to this at the earliest. Hamas should have full control over its own borders with its neighbors.
Th
DR.ABDUL RUFF Colachal
Analyst, Researcher & Commentator
Delhi
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