November 27, 2007
Mideast Summit: 'We Are Ready'
UPDATED.
Reading a joint statement issued by the international participants of the Annapolis conference on Israeli-Palestinian relations, President Bush heralded what is widely seen as a last-ditch attempt to broker a lasting peace between the two Mideast parties.
"We express our determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples; to usher in a new era of peace, based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition; to propagate a culture of peace and nonviolence; to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis," Bush said before representatives of the U.N., EU, G-8 and nearly every major Arab League nation. "In furtherance of the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, we agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty, resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception."
Seated on stage to the president's side were Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the two leaders who will do the heavy lifting in the negotiations. The joint statement was, as expected, a declaration of support from the world community of the two-state solution advocated by both parties as well as the United States. The statement also included a recommitment to the 2003 road map established by the Quartet -- the U.S., EU, U.N. and Russia -- shepherding the peace process.
But Bush also clarified the role the U.S. will play during the coming stretch of talks. While Washington won't exactly be in the thick of negotiations, it will be overseeing and assessing Israel's and the PLO's progress on the road map requirements. Exactly how much of a taskmaster the U.S. is in the process will probably be determined by the depth of involvement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the mastermind behind the new push for a two-state solution.
After years of bitterly disappointing reconciliation attempts, all parties were careful not to overstate expectations. Bush, facing deep skepticism because of his hands-off approach to the conflict recently, departed from the optimistic tone of years past.
"Achieving this goal is not going to be easy. If it were easy, it would have happened a long time ago," the president told the audience of dignitaries, many of whom are still at odds on how to solve the Mideast problem. "To achieve freedom and peace, both Israelis and Palestinians will have to make tough choices. Both sides are sober about the work ahead."
Indeed, sobriety and determination in the face of no other options were the themes of the day. While the splintering of the Palestinians into Hamas-run Gaza and the Fatah-controlled West Bank is a significant obstacle, the separation has freed Olmert to make more good-faith gestures toward Abbas' Fatah administration than was previously possible. Last week, for example, Olmert released 440 prisoners and promised not to build new settlements in the occupied territories after the two leaders met.
While they have not produced any new agreements, Olmert and Abbas have engaged in a relative blizzard of diplomacy this year, with Rice shuttling back and forth more times than in previous years as well. The two have shown an ease and willingness to negotiate with each other, leading those Mideast observers not already convinced that today's effort comes too late to conclude that now's as good a time as any.
Starting on Dec. 12, a "steering committee" of the leading Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will convene regularly to lay out diplomatic tracks for their teams, Bush said. Abbas and Olmert are to meet once every two weeks.
After Bush finished addressing the conference, it was Abbas' and Olmert's turn. While both stressed the importance of cooperation in the months ahead, their statements also betrayed the issues that divide them and that threaten to ultimately doom the renewed peace process.
Abbas called for a "reciprocal strategic willingness that would basically lead to ending the occupation of all Palestinian-occupied territories in 1967, including East Jerusalem as well as the Syrian Golan and what remains occupied from Lebanese territories." Putting the Golan Heights on the table helped lure Syria, which is hostile to Israel and the U.S., to Annapolis. While painful, splitting up the capital of Jerusalem between Israel and an independent Palestine and forcing Israeli settlers to move out of the pre-1967 borders are generally viewed as necessary conditions for a Palestinian truce.
Regional hostility toward Israel is possibly the largest obstacle of all, which is why the Bush administration was so keen to have as many Arab nations attend as possible. While former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon came to adopt a sort of realist approach, by erecting walls to physically separate Israelis from Palestinians, Olmert has gone several steps further by acknowledging more freely the suffering of his neighbors. Today, though, he was careful to also express the reservations of his people.
"I had many good reasons not to come here to this meeting. Memory of failures in the near and distant past weighs heavy upon us -- the dreadful terrorism perpetrated by Palestinian terrorist organizations has affected thousands of Israeli citizens, has destroyed families and has tried to disrupt the lives of the citizens of Israel," the former mayor of Jerusalem said. "But I came here despite the concerns and the doubts and the hesitations to say to you... the time has come. We no longer and you no longer have the privilege of adhering to dreams which are dissevered from the suffering of our peoples, the hardships they suffer daily and the burden of living under ongoing uncertainty, which offers no hope of change or a better future."
Though both Olmert and Bush repeatedly called for an end to terrorism, they are likely to be criticized following today's conference for appearing to appease terrorists. Some converts to the two-state solution may have gotten there out of resignation to the belief that the suicide bombs and rocket attacks against Israel simply won't stop until the Palestinians feel they've gotten their way.
"I see this summit as a continuation of one-sided concessions," said former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as more than 20,000 Israelis, according to AP, protested at the Western Wall. Meanwhile in Gaza, Hamas supporters rallied in the streets, waving banners calling Abbas a traitor.
History suggests that completing the road map by the end of 2008 is asking the impossible. At the same time, Abbas' precarious position as leader of just 60 percent of his people means the world community has a limited amount of time to convince Gazans that their only way to sovereignty and prosperity is to cast their lot with him instead of Hamas.
One way to unite Palestinians would be to start producing actual agreements, a task almost entirely in the two parties' hands. "America will do everything in our power to support their quest for peace," Bush said. "But we cannot achieve it for them."
Posted at 3:03 PM
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Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Fatah, Hamas, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Palestinians, President Bush, Saudi Arabia, Syria
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