Lifeless water
After three consecutive, carefully organised summits, beginning with Sharm El-Sheikh to Aqaba to the Dead Sea, talk has been non-stop about US President George W Bush's brainchild, the roadmap. Yet despite the convergence of opinion that the plan represents a means to reach a just solution to the Palestinian- Israeli conflict not one step has been taken towards furthering peace in the region. Israel has been the sole beneficiary of the promises and illusions spun by the roadmap. It has attacked the Palestinian factions, and used talk of the roadmap as a screen behind which to implement its plans.
The World Economic Forum conference was purposely rescheduled to delude the region into thinking that an era of peace was about to begin once the war on Iraq was over, and that a new epoch of construction, trade, democracy and prosperity will start once the roadmap is implemented. Washington's much trailed promotion of a new free trade area is apparently going to turn desert sand into gold, and misery into bliss. Israel was busy manipulating the situation in an attempt to restore diplomatic relations with Egypt and Jordan. And while everyone was exchanging smiles, was equally busy with its siege, bloodletting and murder of Hamas officials.
Sharon has not for a second halted his attempts to sabotage efforts undertaken to reach a truce. Sharon has clearly received a green light from the US to pursue the leaders of Hamas and liquidate its ranks: US Secretary of State Colin Powell, on his way to the Dead Sea conference, described Hamas as "the enemy of peace". His subsequent censure of Israel on the eve of the conference was, as a consequence, hollow.
The Palestinian factions are correct in suspecting Israeli intentions which seek to embroil Abu Mazen in a power struggle. And the US, curiously, ignores this situation while at the same time encouraging Egypt to continue mediating for a dialogue among the factions to end the violence. Washington is trying to entangle Egypt in the internal Palestinian security situation while at the same time vehemently refusing any international peace-keeping forces to monitor the Palestinian-Israeli situation.
US encouragement of Sharon's policies towards the Palestinian factions will only result in weakening Abu Mazen and continuing the cycle of violence and counter- violence. If Hamas pursues operations to avenge the killing of its military leader, no one would blame it.
With Israel working to vandalise the roadmap any praise for the Dead Sea meeting places the carriage before the horse. And if the Free Trade Agreement which Jordan signed with the US is beneficial for the former, we should remember that it is based on some form of partnership with Israel. Jordanian exports to the US must contain a specific percentage of Israeli components to gain entry to the American market, a stipulation that is enough to indicate that any talk of creating a free trade area with the US is premature.
Israel has yet to present any evidence of its willingness to achieve a real peace. It continues to occupy Syrian and Lebanese land. Against which backdrop it would be unwise to revive forgotten projects and bottle them in new containers. The water of the Dead Sea famously supports no life and the Arabs have consumed enough bitter water already.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 26 June - 2 July 2003 (Issue No. 644)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/644/op4.htm