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Israel
stomps all over Quartet's road map
By Mustapha Karkouti, Gulf News, London
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It is historically and commonly known that the
United States is the world power which Israel listens to most, and it is
increasingly felt among the Quartet's members that the U.S. is the only
power that can save the so-called "road map" if, and when, the
administration so wishes.
The Quartet, composed of the United Nations, the U.S., the European Union
and Russia, has produced - on the request of President George Walker Bush
- a road map to politically solve the Palestine question in stages, built
on a performance and trust basis, to avoid the fate of previous peace
plans and ensure its success.
For the U.S. to seriously show that it really cares, Bush's government
should make its position absolutely clear on the moves ahead in the next
few days, or weeks to push forward and announce the desperately awaited
declaration of the final agreement on the road map.
On the request of the administration, the rest of the Quartet members have
delayed the declaration made on December 20. This has come about as a
result of Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon's demand to postpone the
declaration till after the Israeli general elections.
Now that these elections are done with, Israel is making new demands
which, if accepted by the Bush administration as many believe, will kill
the road map once and for all. A senior Israeli official, Dov Weisglass,
has been to Washington to discuss these demands. He has already met U.S.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
Israel's leading newspaper Haaretz reported last week that Sharon is
seeking "more than 100 changes to the road map." Sharon
appointed an inter-ministerial team, headed by his bureau chief attorney
Weisglass, to draft the Israeli response to the road map. The team
includes representatives from the Israeli army, Shin Bet security
services, defence and foreign ministries.
In his opening remarks to the London meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison
Committee on Human-itarian Aid to the Palestinians last week, UN Special
Coordinator to the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen expressed his and the
other Quartet's members impatience and frustration.
Progress toward that solution hinges on actions that Israel must take in
the coming days, Roed-Larsen suggested. "For Israel," the UN
envoy said, "progress depends on whether a new government is formed
that embraces President Bush's June 24 speech and the only realistic and
viable plan for its implementation - the road map."
In his June 24 speech, the U.S. President envisioned a two-state solution,
a secured Israel and democratic and independent Palestine living side by
side. The road map was meant to translate this vision into a joint plan by
the Quartet.
This plan makes demands of both Israel and the Palestinians and includes
three stages: a ceasefire and establishment of Palestinian institutions,
declaration of a state with provisional borders by the end of this year,
and a permanent agreement between Israel and Palestine by 2005.
Though Sharon has accepted the principles of the Bush speech, he is now
asking to make "corrections" to the road map, and has instructed
the newly formed Israeli body to draft his version of the peace plan. The
U.S. has so far rejected demands by the EU, UN and Arab states to declare
the road map.
The new demands of the Israelis centred on an unfounded accusation that
the road map's authors tilted toward the Palestinians. In fact, this is an
accusation of the American position as well as that of the others, since
the U.S. is the key partner of the Quartet and its senior officials have
been actively involved in shaping the final resolution of the road map.
The new Israeli demands are a receipe for disaster since they aim to
change not only the framework of the road map, but also the substance and
basis of any credible peace agreement.
For example, under a plan presented by Israel's Foreign Minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu, the Jewish state wants the Palestinians to state explicitly,
even before any form of negotiations, that they give up the Right of
Return of Palestinian refugees. He said the refugee problem has to be
resolved, but the road map "must make clear that no refugee is
returned to Israel proper," i.e. to 1948 borders.
The Israeli "corrections" cover many other areas and issues,
including security, Palestine National Authority reforms, Palestinian
sovereignty, a time-table for implementing the road map, the language and
phraseology of the plan.
The Israelis want to erase any reference to the Saudi peace initiative,
adopted by Beirut's Arab League summit in March 2002, which is mentioned
in the introduction to the road map as one of the international documents
supporting the peace agreement with Israel.
The Israelis want the declaration postponed till after the completion of
the reform process and a change of the Palestinian leadership in order to
deprive Palestinian President Yasser Arafat international legitimacy.
Sharon and Netanyahu demand that the question of Palestinian sovereignty
should be made clear, limited and demilitarised, and completely under
Israeli control: from air, land and sea.
Palestinians, according to this demand, would be absolutely forbidden to
form alliances with other states considered as Israel's enemies.
These are only a few in the long list of Israeli "corrections"
presented to the U.S. administration. And now it is up to this
administration to decide whether Israel is playing another tactical game
to postpone, yet again, a desperately needed resolution to end Palestinian
suffering and Israel's agony. A U.S. "kiss of life" is the only
thing that can save the road map.
The writer is the former president, Foreign Press Association in London.
The writer can be contacted at mkarkouti@gulfnews.com