The search for nothing

Doaa El-Bey could not find the slightest glimmer of hope in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations

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Arab believers as well as the disbelievers of the peace negotiations appeared downcast this week. They all seem to agree that the talks will fail to deliver any rights for the Palestinians.

In the independent Jordanian political daily Addustour, Yasser Al-Zaatra shed light on the new wave of rising pessimism among Palestinian officials about the outcome of the peace negotiations. Staunch believers in peace like Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister Salam Fayyad openly complained that the US was not putting enough pressure on Israel to execute its part of the roadmap. Even US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared during her latest visit that the peace negotiations have not witnessed tangible progress.

Al-Zaatra questioned why the tone of pessimism was rising just now when the US is still reiterating its commitment to peace and the Palestinians have no other option. It is obvious that Israel declined to accept Abbas's request to have part of East Jerusalem become the capital of the future Palestinian state. However, it is difficult for Abbas to give up that request after he gave up the right of return of Palestinian refugees (with the exception of the return of 50,000 refugees over a 10-year period in order to reunite Palestinian families), and accepted the presence of big settlement blocks built on the best and most fertile lands of the West Bank in exchange for patches of barren land in Al- Naqab desert.

In short, as Al-Zaatra summed up his argument, "the increased optimism will not change our conviction of the urgency of a peace deal as it is the only option before Abbas, Bush and [Ehud] Olmert -- the three lame ducks behind it," he wrote. "But signing a peace deal is one thing and implementing it in an atmosphere of rejection in the region is a completely different matter."

In the Palestinian political daily Al-Quds, Walid Salem, a member of the Palestinian National Council, wrote that the frustration that Abbas showed after his last visit to Washington indicated that reaching a comprehensive Palestinian-Israeli agreement was not possible. "Now he declares that a framework for agreement will be reached by the end of the year, something he disagreed with before."

Salem reminded readers of previous promises to establish a Palestinian state by 2005, then by 2009. Today, the establishment of the state is due by the end of 2008 in the framework of Annapolis.

Now that it is clear that 2008 will not witness a comprehensive Palestinian-Israeli agreement, the other scenario would be the conclusion of a framework for an agreement to be followed by a comprehensive agreement next year that would be implemented starting from 2010. It would not be clear how long it would take to be fully implemented.

However, Salem believed that reaching an agreement in 2009 would be as unlikely as reaching it in 2008. On the contrary, it could be more difficult as the passing of time makes reaching a settlement even more difficult given that the ceiling of concessions that Israel is willing to make drops rapidly by the year.

Thus, it is worth wondering why under these circumstances Abbas accepted a framework for agreement instead of a full accord. Is it because he is afraid that a rebirth of Syrian- Israeli talks would replace Palestinian-Israeli negotiations or is he trying to buy time until after the US elections in the hope that the next president would be more willing to work for a better settlement of the Palestinian issue?

In drawing the best case scenario under the current situation, Salem wrote that there was a possibility of reaching a Palestinian-Israeli framework for an agreement this year, but a lesser possibility to reopen the Syrian-Israeli file in order to neutralise or contain some parties ahead of a very likely air strike against Iran. "The present atmosphere is that of war. The negotiations track is merely external cosmetics that aim to prepare the ground for the air strike against Iran," he wrote.

Ezzeddin Darwish covered US efforts to root peace in the region but described such attempts as "far from benign" since it merely aims to support Israel, waste time and impede peace.

In the Syrian political daily Tishreen, Darwish described US officials not only as liars when they talk about peace, but emphasised that the Palestinians and other Arabs know that they are liars as well.

As proof of his argument, he reminded readers about President Bush's declaration that he opposed the building of Israeli settlements although he gave former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon the green light to erect more such outposts. In addition, Bush also said that the roadmap was the basis for peace although he accepted 14 Israeli reservations concerning the plan. Bush promised he would establish a Palestinian state by the end of his first term in office but now, as he is about to finish his second term, there is no sign of any breakthrough that would lead to a Palestinian state.

"Rice is in the region on her second visit this month and her 15th visit in less than two years. The declared objective of the visits is to boost Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, whereas the real objective is to gain the confidence of Israelis and the Zionist lobby during the year of the US presidential elections."

Rawya Rashad Al-Shawa suggested that the Palestinian issue should be referred to the UN anew. She wrote in Al-Qudsthat a delegation headed by Abbas should return the Palestinian issue to the UN in an open session attended by members of the international community. The delegation should request that the UN work to protect the legal rights of Palestinians and implement all past resolutions, starting from Resolution 181 to 242 and 338.

"It is clear from the political regional and international situation that the Palestinian issue will reach a stage in which there will be no right of return and no united Palestinian state, but a fragmented state divided by Israeli settlements. When we approach that phase, the Palestinian file should be returned to the UN," Al-Shawa wrote.