Hollow greetings

The greeting sent by US President Bush to the Palestinians on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, in which he reaffirmed Washington's commitment to a Palestinian state, is at once more and less than it may seem.

As the note was being prepared in Washington Palestinians were steadying themselves for yet another Eid spent under siege and facing Israel's military aggression. Only a few days before the note was received the Palestinian Authority was notified by the Quartet that the proposed "roadmap" for a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict would be further postponed until Israeli Prime Minister elect Ariel Sharon has formed a government.

Not that the Palestinians have that much to hope for once Sharon has patched together a coalition. In a recent statement Israel's prime minister made it clear that any new government would continue, and perhaps even escalate, the policies adopted by the previous administration. This means more extra-judicial killings, more house demolitions, more sieges.

On the first day of Eid Israel's army was going on with its business as usual, attacking Palestinian freedom fighters and abducting and torturing their wives. About this the American president had nothing to say.

Hardly surprising given that Bush has had nothing to say about what the Israeli military occupation has been doing to the Palestinians for a long time now. And, as virtually everyone in the Middle East knows, unless Washington abandons its apathy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict the situation will continue to move from bad to worse no matter how many promises Washington makes about a future Palestinian state.