Square one

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How many times in the course of Palestinian struggle has someone announced despondently that we are back to square one? That same phrase has haunted us over and over again. Three months have passed since the Sharm El- Sheikh summit. Three months have passed since the Palestinian factions agreed to a period of calm lasting till the end of the year. During this time Israel has done nothing to bring us closer to a final settlement, aside from engaging in all manner of controversy over the withdrawal from Gaza.

To make things worse Ariel Sharon has been engaged, once more, in his old habit of discrediting Palestinian leaders. He wants President Mahmoud Abbas to disarm the Palestinian factions, a step Abbas cannot, and should not, consider. Instead of implementing Israeli commitments Sharon appears obsessed with convincing the world that the Palestinians are not serious about peace.

Sharon is attempting to buy time for his government to complete the construction of the separation wall in the West Bank and Jerusalem. He wants to use the rest of the year consolidating the status quo in the occupied territories. He is using the period of calm declared by the Palestinians to enlarge major settlements in the West Bank and alter the status of Jerusalem, which he sees as the eternal capital of Israel. Getting out of Gaza is hardly a sacrifice. The strip has always been a heavy security and economic burden for Israel.

The Palestinians must watch Sharon's moves carefully. They must not become engrossed in internal divisions and the squabbles related to municipal and legislative elections. The Palestinians do not yet have a country. They have no borders, no currency, no capital and no sovereignty.

Differences between Fatah and Hamas over municipal elections cannot be allowed to spin out of control. The Palestinians must keep their eyes open. Palestinian envoys, for instance, must remember they are emissaries of a cause, not a state. They need to do more than attend cocktail parties and give television interviews. Now is a crucial time for the Palestinian struggle and for Palestinian diplomacy.