Sharon's unilateralism

Hassan A. Barari

from: the Jordan Times (used w/permission)

In what sounds like political expediency, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pledged that Israel would unilaterally disengage from the Palestinians, redeploy the Israeli army to new lines, and relocate some settlements. To please the United States, he has paid lip service to the roadmap plan.

Those were the main points included in Sharon's speech at Herzliya security conference last Thursday. What he failed to state clearly, however, was that this plan is a de facto annexation of around 50 per cent of the occupied West Bank. Although the speech was wrapped in an ideological tone aimed at uniting the Israeli society behind the notion of a Jewish democratic Israel, it offers no solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. His ultimatum, that Israel will take unilateral steps if the Palestinians do not live up to their commitments as stated in the roadmap, is outrageous. One remembers very well how much Sharon tried to duck out of it and, in the end, failed to get the plan ratified by his own government without adding 14 reservations.

The plan, if it is ever implemented, will determine the political borders of Israel as seen by Sharon. Therefore, his emphasis that the lines of unilateral disengagement will not be political but security based is meant to placate the United States, that initially expressed its reservation only to back down later. The CIA report stating that a peace settlement is unlikely before 2020 is an indication of a trend in the United States which would follow the Israeli thinking that these unilateral steps are warranted.

Nonetheless, it is ridiculous to expect the Palestinians to come to terms with such a threat. From a Palestinian standpoint, this plan is simply a non-starter. There is barely a Palestinian who does not view it as a colonial scheme based on Israeli maximum interests in the West Bank and Gaza. The main problem remains, however, the continuation of the Israeli colonial and apartheid security fence. It is on this that the Palestinians should focus their attention. Certainly the Palestinians would be na