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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region Interview International Economy Opinion Culture Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Maddening times
By Salama Ahmed Salama
The curtain fell on the UN Millennium Summit as Barak delivered his repetitive speech on the peace process, asserting that he had gone the extra mile and made all the possible concessions for peace. It was now Arafat's turn, he claimed, to show equal flexibility, since only tiny details needed to be settled before the peace long aspired to could be achieved at last.
When US efforts to seize the "last chance" and organise a third meeting on the sidelines of the UN summit failed, President Clinton exclaimed that the Middle East crisis was enough to drive anyone out of their mind. Eight years down the road, the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations can certainly drive anybody out of their wits. All the parties are moving, yet all are standing still, without inching one step forwards.
Still, the negotiations are due to continue, and their outcome is a guaranteed fiasco. While contacts were made in the corridors and auditoriums of the UN, and statements were delivered from its podium, the resolutions adopted by the United Nations, covering a range of relevant topics from the future of Jerusalem to the repatriation of refugees, have never served as the terms of reference for the negotiations. New terms of reference seem to have emerged which have nothing to do with Madrid or Oslo, but are simply designed to satisfy Clinton's desire to forge a peace agreement before his term comes to an end. Before returning to Israel, Barak met with Clinton and immediately declared that negotiations would resume. The news was taken as proof that the Palestinian Central Council would renege on its decision, taken in Sharm Al-Sheikh some eight months ago, to declare the establishment of the state on 13 September.
With negotiations said to be resuming in a few days, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa summarised the situation by describing the efforts made so far as ineffective -- merely building blocks on which negotiations for the settlement of the most controversial issues could be based. Among such issues are the future of Jerusalem, the refugees, withdrawal from occupied land, security and international peace-keeping forces. The problem, he said, was not only that of sovereignty over Jerusalem or Al-Aqsa, which received the lion's share of attention, leading many to understand that an agreement on those issues was enough to achieve peace. The paramount importance of Jerusalem does not render other items on the peace agenda any less important.
In the maze of contradictions, speculations and conflicting statements made by President Clinton, Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Barak, Moussa's statement may mean that, in the last round of negotiations, an agreement is no more likely than it ever was. The truth is coming to light at last as Barak asserts his inflexibility. Moussa sees the remaining five weeks in Clinton's presidency as insufficient to the elaboration of a framework agreement. The Palestinians could well be driven mad by the peace process. Barak, too, could well disappear at any moment if elections are called in response to domestic developments. There are already signs that the "doves" in his coalition are about to turn into hawks -- or crows. Belying the logical assumption that success at one stage encourages a process to continue, the failure of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations is the only impetus for negotiations to move on.
