25 - 31 January 2001
Issue No.518
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 25 - 31 January 2001 Issue No.518 |
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No uncertain terms
On Sunday, the day Palestinian-Israeli talks opened in Taba, Israeli occupation forces shot dead a 14-year-old boy. He thus joined the grim list of over 400 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops since the Al-Aqsa Intifada started in September. Palestinian negotiators sat down at the table in Taba nonetheless, saying that they wanted to put an end to the Israeli killings and achieve a just, permanent peace.On Tuesday, two Israelis were killed in the West Bank by suspected Palestinian militants. Israel's first reaction was to suspend the peace talks and issue strong warnings that they would take even harsher security measures to punish the Palestinians.
Israel's moves confirm the fact that a genuine peace remains out of the question. Successive Israeli governments have refused to admit that they are an occupying force, and that the Palestinians are simply practising their legitimate right to resist occupation and state-sponsored brutality. By suspending the talks, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is sending a message to the Arabs that he is no different from his expected successor, Ariel Sharon. Barak has lost the last vestiges of his credibility not only among the Arabs, but even among Israel's so-called peace camp, which is now threatening that it will not vote for either of the two candidates on 6 February: its members will hand in blank ballots in protest.
The proposals Barak's government has made to the Palestinians cannot form the basis for a permanent peace in the framework of a two-state solution. Barak continues to reject any form of Palestinian sovereignty over occupied East Jerusalem: the most he has accepted is joint administration of the disputed city, under Israel's sovereignty. He also refuses to recognise the right of return of over four million Palestinian refugees, whom Israeli troops forced out of Palestine at gunpoint.
With less than two weeks to go before the Israeli elections, there is no hope that an agreement will be reached. The only party to blame for this failure is Barak. Sharon's accession to power will only make matters worse. The only way out of this dilemma is for the international community to tell Israel, in easily comprehensible terms, that occupation and peace are mutually exclusive.
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