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MIDEAST: All Not Quite Aboard for Annapolis
Analysis by Peter Hirschberg
JERUSALEM, Nov 12, 2007 (IPS) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has again paid a visit to the Middle
East, held meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas, spoken about the seriousness of the two sides in
their efforts to revive the peace process, but has again left the region without
issuing invitations to a planned U.S.-led peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland.
Listening to the main players, they all sound as though they have had a
meeting to coordinate their positions and have decided on a unified line to
feed the public. Over the last week, Olmert, Abbas and Rice have all said that
they want to reach a Middle East peace agreement before President George
Bush finishes his term in early 2009.
Olmert was first to talk about the "Bush" deadline. "If we act decisively
together, we and the Palestinians, there is a chance for us to reach real
achievements, maybe even before the end of President Bush's term," he said
recently at a think-tank forum in Jerusalem.
"There is no intention to drag out the negotiations without end. There is no
reason to again hit the foot-dragging that characterised our talks in the
past," he added.
Then came Rice, on her eighth visit to the region this year, who said the
Annapolis conference in the U.S. would be a "launching pad" for talks
between the Israelis and the Palestinians that would lead to the creation of a
Palestinian state. These negotiations, she hoped, "could achieve their goals in
the time remaining in the Bush administration."
Finally, it was Abbas' turn to echo the chorus line: "All the parties agree and
are determined to reach an agreement before the end of Bush's term in
office, and we are determined that this serves as our deadline and we are
working towards that," he said.
Setting deadlines for peace in the Middle East has never been a problem. It's
meeting them that the sides have always found tough. And the fact that Rice
left without issuing invitations to the summit, or setting a definite date - it
now seems almost inevitable that it will be pushed back to December and
won't be held in November as had initially been hoped - is a reflection of
how far apart the two sides still are on drafting a joint statement that
outlines a solution to the conflict, and which is to be presented at Annapolis.
The Palestinians want the statement of principles to deal with all the thorny
issues at the heart of the conflict - the borders of a future Palestinian state,
the fate of Jerusalem, as well as that of Palestinian refugees - and to set a
clear timetable for negotiations after the Annapolis summit.
Israel, by contrast, wants a more loosely worded document that will be based
on the 2003 road map peace plan that has never been implemented.
According to Israeli officials, Palestinian negotiators have in recent days
agreed to a formula whereby any future deal will be contingent on the
implementation of the first stage of the road map, which has the backing of
the Quartet - the U.S., Russia, United Nations and European Union. This,
they say, could now lead to the formulation of the long-awaited statement of
principles for Annapolis.
According to the first stage of the road map, the Palestinians have to
undertake a series of security measures, including disarming militant groups.
The Israelis are obliged to freeze all construction in settlements in the West
Bank, to evacuate the dozens of illegal settlement outposts that dot the
territories and to withdraw from all major Palestinian cities.
Speaking in Ramallah on Sunday, at a ceremony marking the third
anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death, Abbas hailed the Annapolis summit as "a
historic opportunity to open a new page in the history of the Middle East
based on the establishment of our independent Palestinian state with East
Jerusalem as its capital."
The Palestinian leader said his people were also seeking the "return of Arab
land" captured by Israel during the 1967 Mideast War, as well as peace for "us
and the Israelis and the peoples of this region."
But for all the talk of peace, there has been no Palestinian confirmation of the
agreement cited by Israeli officials over implementation of the first stage of
the road map. In fact, not only did Palestinian officials say over the weekend
that there were still difficulties holding up the negotiations over a joint
document, Abbas phoned Rice to complain that Israel was retreating from
understandings that had already been achieved.
When Rice departed the region, she insisted that while there was still "very
difficult work" to be done, the peace summit would be held "before the end
of the year."
If that's correct, she will have already made bookings for her ninth, and most
likely tenth, visit to the region this year. And she will know that she will have
some serious head-banging to do if that summit is going to be held in 2007.
(END)
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