Play It Again
Bush And Blair
By Sam Bahour
and Michael Dahan
15 November, 2004
Countercurrents.org
President
Yasir Arafat's coffin had barely touched the ground of his temporary
tomb in Ramallah when United States President George Bush and UK Prime
Minister Tony Blair jointly made yet another statement on Middle East
Peace. Setting aside the fact that the timing of the statement was disrespectful
and showed ignorance of the Islamic custom of observing three days of
mourning to respect the dead, Bush and Blair, seemingly jovial over
Arafat's passing, offered yet another non-starter for moving the region
from its never-ending peace process to a "lasting peace."
It is said that
one can fool some of the people, some of the time, but not all the people,
all of the time. President Bush and Prime Minister Blair can't possibly
believe Palestinians will fall for the same tricks that have been thrown
at them for years now. The substance of the most recent Bush-Blair statement
on November 12 is nothing more that an unmasked and feeble attempt to
fool all of the Palestinians, yet again.
Oslo
First, it was the
Oslo Peace Accords in 1993. The world's superpower not only made a public
statement at the time, but the US was an actual signatory witness --
as was the Russian Federation -- to the infamous historic peace agreement,
spearheaded by the late President Arafat and the late Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin. That agreement was highly detailed and offered
a set of dates, including one that stipulated that a Palestinian State
was to be realized on May 5, 1999. Before the ink on the Oslo agreement
was dry, Israel, with US backing, made it publicly clear that no dates
in the agreement were to be considered sacred. The result was a failed
process that has led us to the catastrophic reality in which we find
ourselves today.
Bush's Vision
Next came President
Bush's much applauded policy speech on June 24, 2002. This "vision,"
as it was termed, finally stated US acceptance of the creation of the
state of Palestine, albeit provisional. This policy statement came at
the heels of the most bloodiest and destructive Israeli military invasions
of Palestinian cities. It was as if the US felt a need to take world
attention off Israeli war crimes being committed in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip and instead, issue an upbeat red herring.
The situation on
the ground became worse.
Roadmap
Then, almost a year
later, on April 30 2003, the US revealed the newest initiative from
the Quartet - the US, UN, Russia and EU, - "A Performance-Based
Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
Conflict." The US made a quantum leap from articulating a "vision"
to proposing a "solution." The Roadmap promised that the "Parties
reach final and comprehensive permanent status agreement that ends the
Israel-Palestinian conflict in 2005...and fulfills the vision of two
states, Israel and sovereign, independent, democratic and viable Palestine,
living side-by-side in peace and security." The Palestinians under
the leadership of Yasir Arafat immediately accepted the Roadmap. The
Israelis on the other hand, after slowly mulling over the issue, stipulated
their acceptance with 14 reservations, each reservation nullifying the
Roadmap's substance.
Meanwhile, the situation
on the ground steadily became worse.
Israel Reigns
in US
Israelis felt international
pressure building after, in essence, shunning the US's Roadmap effort
to find an exit for their strategic ally's continued violations of international
and humanitarian laws. Israel's Prime Minister jumped into action. On
a visit to the US on April 14, 2004, Israeli Prime Minister Sharon stuck
the goal he could only dream of. In an exchange of letters with President
Bush, Sharon wrote, "The vision that you articulated in your 24
June 2002 address constitutes one of the most significant contributions
toward ensuring a bright future for the Middle East. Accordingly, the
State of Israel has accepted the Roadmap, as adopted by our government."
The trick phrase being "as adopted by our government," which,
as stated above, was so riddled with reservations that in effect it
was essentially a rejection of the Roadmap initiative.
In place of the
Roadmap, Sharon continued in his letter, "I attach, for your review,
the main principles of the Disengagement Plan. This initiative, which
we are not undertaking under the roadmap, represents an independent
Israeli plan, yet is not inconsistent with the roadmap." The arrogance
of throwing President Bush's Roadmap in his face, then shove Israel's
own unilateral disengagement plan down Bush's throat, all while sitting
in the Whitehouse, was Ariel Sharon at his best.
In a reply letter
to Israeli Prime Minister Sharon on the same day, President Bush confirmed
beyond any reasonable doubt that he, and the US, were no longer passive
supporters of Israel's actions, but rather a full-pledged partner in
Ariel Sharon's ethnic cleansing plan for Palestinians. President Bush
accepted Sharon's infamous and failed strategy to declare former Palestinian
President Yasir Arafat "irrelevant" and issued in his letter
a declaration that was patently illegal.
Bush wrote, "The
United States is strongly committed to Israel's security and well- being
as a Jewish state. It seems clear that an agreed, just, fair and realistic
framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of
any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment
of a Palestinian state, and the settling of Palestinian refugees there,
rather than in Israel." He continued, "...it is unrealistic
to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full
and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949..."
Playing global judge
and jury, President Bush single-handedly declared for the first time
ever a formal US position that prejudices a just solution and attempts
to strip Palestinians of their legal and inalienable rights.
All the while, the
situation on the ground became increasingly worse.
Same Old Lies
Now, as if lessons
of history refuse to be acknowledged by the US and UK, Bush and Blair
played diplomatic ping pong at the Whitehouse, expressing their unbreakable
love for Israel, while Palestinians and Israelis continue dying, daily.
After living thirty- six years under an illegal Israeli military occupation,
the Palestinians watched the events of the last 4 years while withstanding
the brunt of the Israeli military. The number of Palestinians and Israelis
killed since September 29, 2000 is the equivalent of over 375,000 Americans
dying if the same events were taking place in the US.
To add insult to
injury, this week President Bush and Prime Minister Blair have basically
regurgitated the same empty statements as in the past, only this time
they choose to do so on the day President Arafat was laid to rest. It
is clear that Bush and Blair have no intention to give the needed time
for the Palestinians to regroup and institutionalize their decision
making process.
Additionally, these
two leaders conveniently ignored the July 9, 2004 International Court
of Justice ruling and subsequent General Assembly Resolution, which
clearly state that Israel's construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory is a blatant violation of international and humanitarian laws
and must be removed. Bush and Blair did not even hint that a new Berlin
Wall -- one made possible by their generous financial and political
support - now exists on top of Palestinian lands.
All of this, and
Bush and Blair have the audacity to call for rule of law to be applied
by Palestinians before next steps of a peace process can take place.
Their hypocrisy would be laughable if real people, Palestinians and
Israelis, were not paying the price with their lives for the US and
UK's stubborn refusal to apply international law to this five-decade
conflict. Palestinians will do their best to apply rule of law to their
dealings while living under Israeli military occupation, but not because
Bush or Blair called for it, but rather because it is their peoples
will to do so.
Unless international
and humanitarian law becomes the key reference point for resolving the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it will not really matter who the Palestinians
elect to succeed Yasir Arafat. When the global community, in particular
the European Union and UN Security Council member China, stop supporting
US's desire to find a political cover for what has become the latest
exercise in modern ethnic cleansing, we will be one step closer to peace
in the Middle East.
In the meantime,
the next logical step is for the UN to immediately deploy a peacekeeping
force to stop the bloodshed, to allow the upcoming elections in the
Palestinian Authority to take place, and to allow the Palestinian people
to consolidate their newly elected leadership. Our families' futures
depend on it.
---
Sam Bahour
is a Palestinian-American businessman living in the Occupied Palestinian
City of Al-Bireh/Ramallah and can be reached at [email protected].
He runs a mailing list at http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/epalestine
Dr. Michael Dahan
is an Israeli-American political scientist living in Jerusalem and teaching
at an Israeli University. He can be reached at [email protected]
(permission granted
to reprint)