No evasions
There is no room for the usual Israeli manoeuvering if the roadmap is to succeed, writes Ibrahim Nafie
Events are swiftly moving towards the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations now that Israel has formally approved, albeit with many reservations, the roadmap hammered together by representatives from the US, Russia, the EU and the UN. Shortly after the vote of the Israeli cabinet in favour of the plan the White House announced that US President George Bush will visit the region and hold two summits.
The first, convened in Sharm El-Sheikh, will bring him together with President Mubarak, King Mohamed VI of Morocco, chair of the Jerusalem Committee, King Abdullah of Jordan, Bahraini King Hammed Bin Eissa, chair of the current session of the Arab summit and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdel-Aziz, author of the peace initiative adopted in the Arab summit in Beirut in March 2002. From Sharm El-Sheikh Bush will head to Aqaba, where he will meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss implementation of the roadmap.
The Palestinians approved the roadmap without reservations during Colin Powell's latest visit to the region. Not so Israel, which announced that it had hundreds of changes -- later condensed into 14 points -- that it wanted to introduce into the plan. Foremost among these is the demand that the Palestinians renounce in advance the right of return.
During the intervening weeks the US clearly had to resort to some arm twisting to secure the approval of the Sharon government, evidence of which could be seen in the Israeli prime minister's caution to his cabinet that failure to approve the roadmap would precipitate a clash with Washington. After a stormy six-hour meeting the Israeli cabinet finally voted in favour, with 12 members for, seven against and four abstentions.
Israeli approval of the roadmap is the first time that an Israeli government has formally committed itself to the creation of a Palestinian state. Sharon, the most notorious of Israeli generals to have committed crimes against the Palestinian people, was forced to defend the roadmap against the ultra-right members of his cabinet who reject negotiation on principle and demand the perpetuation of occupation by force of arms. There he was, following the vote, declaring "it is time we share this piece of land with the Palestinians," and "Israel cannot keep three and a half million Palestinians under occupation forever." Not that Sharon has suddenly turned into a man of peace; he has always been and remains a supremely calculating politician.
That Israel has now approved the plan has encouraged the various Palestinian factions to give negotiations a chance. Certainly, some Palestinian parties believe that the Sharon government's vote in favour was only to placate the US and that it will seize any opportunity to undermine it later on. Because of this likelihood Palestinian organisations responded to Abu Mazen's invitation to explore an arrangement whereby all acts of armed resistance would be called to a halt for a set period of time. Without a doubt such an arrangement will work to deprive the Sharon government of any pretexts for evading its commitments under the roadmap.
The coming days hold a major opportunity for all sides, including the US. Bush's efforts to get the roadmap rolling should do much not only to rollback the deteriorating political situation in the region but also to salvage America's tattered image among the Arab peoples. The US- led occupation of Iraq, coming on top of Washington's long-standing support of a government that has perpetuated its occupation of Palestinian territory through the most brutal means, has fuelled the popular anger upon which terrorism feeds, as the bombings in Riyadh and Casablanca palpably demonstrated.
Arab public opinion has variously accused Washington of complicity with Israeli violence and of helplessness in the face of Israeli intransigence. Some point to the immense quantities of financial and military aid Washington provides the Hebrew state and to its constant readiness to protect Israel in international forums, regardless of how grossly that state violates principles of international legitimacy. Others point to the meeting of ideological minds between the neo- conservative camp in the US administration and the Likud government and to the importance to the Bush administration of securing the Jewish vote in the forthcoming US presidential elections.
Whatever the case, Arab opinion holds Washington responsible for failing to restrain the Sharon government. A recent case in point is Sharon's threat not to meet with international officials who want to meet with President Yasser Arafat, a threat he put into effect with the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, and repeated with the French Foreign Minister Dominque De Villepin who went ahead and met with Arafat anyway.
As it proceeds to push for the implementation of the roadmap Washington should take a firm stand against the blatant ploys exhibited by the Israeli government. The summits in Sharm El-Sheikh and Aqaba offer the prospect of a practical mechanism for setting into motion a negotiating process that will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005, in accordance with the vision outlined by President Bush last June. If the Arabs are to make the most of this opportunity they must work closely to coordinate their positions around a set of commonly held principles. Certainly, Colonel Gaddafi's decision not to withdraw from the Arab League, announced his week, has contributed to generating the appropriate climate for this task. Now, hopefully, Arab leaders will refrain from the tendency to play to the gallery that has been so detrimental to Arab causes and that has often served as a cover for the failure to capitalise on available opportunities.
Foremost among the principles the Arabs should stress is that the Palestinian cause resides at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict and that a solution to that cause holds the key to resolving the larger conflict, indeed to the security and stability of the region as a whole. In light of this, the Arabs must do their utmost to ensure the successful implementation of the roadmap drawn up by the Quartet. For its part, the Quartet must abide by the assurances it gave to the Arabs and on the basis of which the Palestinian government approved the roadmap, which is that it is non-negotiable and must be implemented as stands. To back down on this principle in favour of Israel will gravely undermine the position of Abu Mazen, who has succeeded in overcoming the qualms of the Palestinian factions that had cautioned him against accepting the plan precisely because of their suspicions of the intentions of the Sharon government and their fears that Washington would indulge Sharon's desire to alter the plan.
A recent opinion poll conducted by Bir Zeit University showed that 71 per cent of Palestinians favoured a halt in resistance operations in exchange for international guarantees for an equitable peace process. To back down on the principle of non- negotiability of the roadmap at this stage would deliver a stunning blow to Palestinian public opinion, undermine the credibility of the Abu Mazen government and enhance the influence of those Palestinian organisations that advocate armed resistance.
The Arabs must also affirm the status of Yasser Arafat, the symbol of the Palestinian cause and the legitimately elected president of the Palestinian people. Arafat holds the key to the success or failure of Abu Mazen's efforts. He has it in his power to take the necessary decisions on behalf of the Palestinian cause, as he has done on many previous occasions. Let us not forget that it was he who accepted the idea of two states living side by side, thereby recognising Israel while calling for the creation of a Palestinian state within the pre-June 1967 borders. The Arabs thus should work to persuade the US to work with Arafat and to take on board European positions towards this historic leader.
Finally, the Arabs must stress that the roadmap must be implemented on a reciprocal basis. To expect the Palestinians to fulfil their obligations first would only give Israel the leeway to wriggle out of its end of the bargain, thereby undermining the foundations of the entire process.
The Sharm El-Sheikh and Aqaba summits will give the starting signal to a plan that will usher in a phase of negotiations that should lead to a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The importance of this to the vital interests of great powers in the region and to international peace and stability cannot be overstated. In addition the roadmap, drafted by the Quartet, offers an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the positive side of globalisation. This collective endeavour will exclude or sideline Washington's tendency towards unilateral decision-taking hat has caused it such inordinate problems in the Middle East and has alienated significant segments of popular and official opinion the world over. Thus, the success of Bush's forthcoming visit to the region is not only in the interests of all countries in the region, it is in the interest of the US, of, indeed, the entire world.
