Peace
And Democracy
Must Go Hand In Hand
By Ramzy Baroud
11 November, 2007
Countercurrents.org
After years of marked absence,
the Bush administration has finally decided to upgrade its involvement
in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The announcement of a Middle East
peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland has raised red flags for anyone
who has learned from past experience how unbalanced and insincere peace
efforts actually can lead to further violence. And it requires little
cynicism to ponder how genuine these current efforts are.
It has been suggested that
President Bush — whose actions have thus defined his legacy as
that of a war president — wishes to leave on a more positive note.
We heard the same argument in mid 2000 when President Bill Clinton facilitated
ill-prepared talks, the failure of which sparked tension and violence,
which were of course blamed solely on Palestinians.
Others argue that the conference
is motivated not by a desire for lasting peace, but by the wish to further
isolate Hamas – the party that was democratically elected by a
decisive majority in the Occupied Territories’ legislative elections
in January 2006.
Regardless of the fact that
the transparency of the elections was praised by international monitors
such as Jimmy Carter, the democratically elected winner was completely
shunned by the US and Israel. Instead they cautioned Fatah, President
Abbas political party, against joining a proposed coalition government
with a party they deemed as terrorist. All attempts at forging national
unity among the conflicting factions were destined to failure, since
such attempts were met by joint US-Israeli resolve to topple Hamas.
As the division between Fatah
and Hamas grew, the Bush administration began hinting at the possibility
of hosting a peace conference. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who
had previously insisted on the ‘unilateral’ paradigm –
predicated on the assumption that Israel has no peace partner amongst
Palestinians – now agreed to take part in the event. President
Abbas, widely perceived with contempt by many Palestinians and Arabs,
understood that his participation could help provide him with greater
political validity. Hamas, of course, was notably not invited.
In the build-up to the conference,
Olmert and Abbas have been holding regular meetings. Statements and
declarations made by both leaders and their advisors indicate that Israel
is striving to lower expectations, while Abbas hopes to turn the conference
into a platform for serious negotiations. Their last meeting took place
in Jerusalem on Friday, October 26, the purpose of which was reportedly
to resolve issues over a joint statement. Nabil Abu Rdeneh, Abbas’
spokesman told reporters, “Today we expect the Israelis to stop
putting obstacles preventing us from reaching a joint statement for
the fall summit.”
Olmert, with little popularity
amongst the Israelis and a weakening mandate in the country’s
parliament, is repeatedly attempting to water down expectations. He
even claims to be unsure as to whether the conference will take place
at all, reportedly telling journalists on Thursday, October 25, "If
all goes well, hopefully, we will meet in Annapolis. [But] Annapolis
is not made to be the event for the declaration of peace."
This overt lowering of expectations
suggests that the Bush administration knows well that the conference
will not deliver peace; neither Abbas nor Olmert seem equipped for such
a task. Moreover, the administration has displayed virtually no signs
of being an honest broker; its unreserved and unconditional backing
of Israel is stronger than ever. The conference will likely be a media
spectacle in which participants will reaffirm their commitment to peace,
Israel’s security, condemnation of Palestinian terrorism and so
forth.
What is truly dangerous is
the fact that a peace conference which delivers nothing but empty promises
is likely to actually precipitate violence. Palestinians, humiliated
and besieged, might exhibit their anger in a myriad of ways, for which
they will only receive further condemnation.
Following Israel’s
recent declaration of Gaza as a hostile entity, and the more recent
decision to gradually cut electricity supplies to parts of the Gaza
Strip, the situation in the impoverished strip is growing more desperate
everyday. A peace conference with no political horizon – one that
was repeatedly promised by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice –
will add more fuel to the already volatile political landscape in Palestine
and Israel. Considering the violence that followed the failed Camp David
talks of July 2000, similar scenarios are most palpable. In order for
a peace conference to bring a true, lasting and just peace between Palestinians
and Israelis, democracy and the collective choices of the Palestinian
people must be respected.
The Palestinian delegation
needs to represent all Palestinians and must carry a clear mandate to
negotiate. Israel meanwhile needs to be willing to engage in serious
negotiations, not to win time for its unilateral projects in the West
Bank, but to discuss final status issues without delay, notwithstanding
the status of Jerusalem and refugees. International law must be respected
by both parties, and by the US hosts as a mutual frame of reference,
according to which a conflict resolution can be tailored.
Without these conditions,
the Maryland conference, and any other, will most likely fail, a failure
that could tragically drag the entire region deeper into the dark abyss
of military occupation, state violence and, indeed, terrorism.
Ramzy Baroud
(www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com.
His work has been published in many newspapers and journals worldwide.
His latest book is The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a
People's Struggle (Pluto Press, London).
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