'Will Sharon be able to reciprocate?'

by Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh

The main reason that people think peace is possible now between Palestinians and Israelis, after a long period of violence and bloodshed, is, it would seem, the advent of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to power in Palestine, in the aftermath of the demise of Yasser Arafat who was seen by many as an obstacle to peace.

Arafat, many would argue, was circuitous and elusive; Abbas is transparent and straightforward. With peace in mind, Abbas says and does what should be said and done, to get things moving. He has clearly, unequivocally and unwaveringly rejected armed resistance as a means to achieving peace, and is intent upon putting the Palestinian house in order.

Furthermore, he means what he says and is sincere in his desire to reach a settlement with the Israelis. Indeed, the man is a breath of fresh air, coming as he does after a long stalemate and a pointless discourse, both Israeli and Palestinian, which reigned longer than it should have. In short, he is a man with whom both the Americans and the Israelis can do business.

The question, however, is, will they? As for the Americans, their position does not really matter much - even though we wish to think otherwise at times - for it is (especially at this moment in time) an echo of the Israeli position. Even when Americans disagree with Israel, Israel does not listen and does what it wants to do (and gets away with it) anyway. It is only when Israel is willing that the Americans can act as a catalyst. What counts then is the Israeli position.

Will Israel, then, do business with Abbas? Israel, represented by its prime minister, says it wants to. But does it mean what it says? Will it do what it takes to achieve peace?

For one thing, it is already putting a lot of conditions to the resumption of serious talks with the Palestinians: elimination of Palestinian "terror", not just a truce; reformation of Palestinian institutions, and many other difficult (if not impossible) demands - demands which no Palestinian (Abbas or no Abbas) is able to fulfil.

In fact, while Abbas is ready for peace, Israel is not even ready to talk about peace. What its prime minister said a couple of days ago in his annual meeting with the foreign press is revealing. He said the two parties are not in the roadmap phase, they are in the pre-roadmap period - by which he meant he was not committed to anything (even though he expects Abbas to be committed!).

In the same infamous meeting with the press, during which he tried to muster all the charm he could, Sharon said even more dangerous things. Two I will note here. One is that President George Bush promised him that no Palestinian refugees will return to the "land of Israel". So, there goes the right of return - a crucial issue for the Palestinians. Another is that he has also been promised that the large settlements in the West Bank will become part of Israel. Which means there is not much withdrawal from the West Bank. In fact, the sinister intention behind Sharon's so-called disengagement plan from Gaza is now crystal clear: he is not evacuating the settlers, he is relocating them to the West Bank.

Well, what can one say? First of all, the Israeli prime minister is as circuitous and elusive as Arafat. Second, this is the talk of a man who is not serious and sincere about peace. More importantly, by saying what he is saying and doing what he is doing he only is not helping Abbas but repulsing him and causing him to fail.

Abbas is already having a difficult time reining in militant Palestinian groups, successfully negotiating a truce, one that prevents them from attacking Israel. The point here is, aren't the Palestinian militants, whom Sharon calls extremists and "terrorists" more reasonable than Sharon?

Advocates of peace in the Middle East are hoping, despite all I have pointed out, that Sharon will wake up (and if he does not, Israel at least will) and do what it takes for peace to happen; at least match Abbas' transparency, straightforwardness and sincerity.

Abbas has taken a crucial, refreshing and new step towards peace. Will Sharon be able to reciprocate? That is the question.

This article was published in the Friday-Saturday, February 18-19, 2005 edition of the Jordan Times. It is used here with permission.