A unique window, but bypass the taboos

by Michel Rocard

Brussels - Are Israelis and Palestinians really ready to strike a peace

agreement? Events have certainly moved at a brisk pace in recent months,

with one obstacle after another to a lasting deal seeming to fall. Yasser

Arafat's death was followed by the choice of his successor in a direct

election with universal suffrage, which was accompanied by Israel's

decision - one unique in the world - to help, not hinder, the democratic

process in territories it occupies. As a result, no one doubts Palestinian

President Mahmoud Abbas' legitimacy.

Moreover, with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's announcement of his

intention to withdraw Israel's army unilaterally from Gaza, the occupation

itself is once again an open question, offering opportunities for further

progress. Indeed, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's support for the Gaza

withdrawal has helped open the door to real negotiations.

Such an impressive sequence of events has not been seen for a long time in

the Middle East. As a result, many - in and outside the region - are

optimistic again. Even Sharon ventures a few favorable comments, and

American diplomats express visible sighs of relief that progress toward

peace can at last be made.

I can attest to the gathering momentum toward peace, having just returned

from Palestine, where I led a nearly five-week mission of European Union

observers, the largest ever put in place by the EU. The mission was

260-strong on the day of the election and the counting of the vote, while

40 of us were there for the entire five-week period.My testimony about the election is categorical: the circumstances were

difficult, but the voting was unconstrained and cheating was absent. Given

the conditions, the 60 percent voter turnout was astonishing. There can be

no doubt that Abbas was democratically elected. Nor is there any doubt that

the Palestinian people made a choice for democracy, which entails a choice

for a negotiated peace with Israel.

But this leaves out the terrorists, who have not made that choice. They are

not numerous, but they are very dangerous. Only genuine progress toward a

just peace settlement will neutralize them as a political force.

There is no question that current conditions present a unique window of

opportunity. But we must keep in mind the major difficulties that can limit

our ability to seize this opportunity, and the international community must

make these difficulties very clear to both parties.

The first difficulty is that, although Sharon evidently intends to go

through with his military withdrawal from Gaza, he is vague about what he

wants to achieve in future negotiations. Indeed, he has never made the

slightest allusion to the idea of including the West Bank and Jerusalem in

such negotiations. But, for the Palestinians, there can be no negotiations

that do not include both issues.

The second difficulty concerns the fact that Sharon has always appeared to

believe that it is within the means of the Palestinian Authority to

eradicate all terrorism arising from inside the Palestinian territories and

aimed at Israel. However, external observers know that this is not the

case, even if Abbas can succeed in reducing the level and number of attacks.

In order for the Palestinian people as a whole to cease to glorify, support

and shelter terrorists, they need to discover real hope for a new life for

themselves. That, in turn, depends on an economic recovery in the Occupied

Territories and a belief that concrete steps toward a negotiated political

solution are being taken.

The creation of such hope now depends exclusively on Israel, which must act

immediately to give a boost to the many Palestinians who yearn for peace

rather than continue focusing on a total disappearance of terrorism. Delay

on this front will only delay the disappearance of the terrorists.

The third difficulty concerns the fact that, on both sides, most religious

authorities, rabbis and imams alike, have maintained a hard-line stance.

They continue to preach that the respective "taboos" of their communities,

the very issues that block all efforts to make peace - in particular the

status of Jerusalem and the "right of return" to Israel for Palestinian

refugees - are non-negotiable. To make these religious authorities

acknowledge their responsibility is a duty that all of international civil

society, including religious leaders, must embrace.

None of these efforts are undoable. All will be demanding. But a chance to

achieve real, lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians has clearly

arrived. We must seize this moment.

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* Michel Rocard, a former French prime minister, is a member of the

European parliament. This commentary was published in collaboration with

Project Syndicate

Source: The Daily Star, February 3, 2004

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