Unfair pressure, unrealistic hopes

June 15, 2008

Unfair pressure, unrealistic hopes


US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is back in the Middle East in what is described a a fresh bid to inject impetus into sluggish Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. It is her sixth visit to the region after last year's Annapolis conference where President George W Bush pledged that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement would be in place before he leaves office in January 2009.
Her latest trip comes amid fears of a massive Israeli invasion of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip amid talks of a truce under Egyptian mediation and renewed contacts between Hamas and the mainstream Fatah faction led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on ending the split in the Palestinian ranks.
Obviously, Rice is under pressure from the White House to produce some concrete sign of progress in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations that have made little headway.
All that the Israelis and Palestinian negotiators have done so far is to meet in the presence of US mediators. The realisation of the Bush pledge to see an agreement before he quits office seems highly unlikely. The best Bush could hope for is perhaps a declaration of intentions by the two sides that would have little realistic meaning except as a document to help the outgoing US president to triumphantly wave as one of his "great achievements" in the Middle East. Even that might not be possible, given the worsening scene in Palestine. Add to that the growing political crisis in Israel involving corruption charges against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that is threatening the survival of his fragile coalition.
That Israel found it fit to announce plans to build more settlements in Arab East Jerusalem on the eve of Rice's latest visit highlights that it attaches little importance to any of its obligations in order to create the right atmosphere for negotiations.
Still, Bush says said he is confident the two sides can resolve their conflict by the end of the year.
"I firmly believe that, with leadership and courage, a peace agreement is possible this year," Bush said in Paris on Friday.
Well, the source of such confidence seems to be a conviction that it is only a matter of time before Israel and the US would be successful in pressuring the Palestinians into signing major compromises that would make their cause devoid of substance.
Rice is on her 17th visit to the region in less than two years and she could perhaps fly here for another 17 times before leaving office, but no real progress could be made towards peace in Palestine based on Palestinian compromises of Palestinian rights.