As a matter of fact, Sharon's unilateral withdrawal plan from the Gaza Strip includes nothing that the Palestinians do not accept or will not accept. Instead of evacuating some Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the idea of giving land from southern Israel back to Palestinians, was brought to the agenda during the Clinton era and that was nicely accepted by the Palestinians. Then, there was a statement by [President] Yasser Arafat during the Muqata siege related to the return of refugees, saying: "We understand Israel's determination to protect the identity of the Jewish state. We do not demand the return [of refugees] to spoil this balance anyway." In fact, the Abu Mazen-Beilin Plan, the Oslo Agreements or the Road Map do not stipulate the return of all Palestinian refugees to Israel. Instead, a formula had been suggested to settle some refugees, not selected ones in a limited way, in the Palestinian state to be established or to pay them compensation.
The 'new realities' that Bush mentions, determine not the content but the timing of the Sharon plan. There is nothing new in Sharon's plan. The only new thing is the interest that the U.S. president shows a leader who has a soiled political legitimacy and is mired in one scandal after another in his own country. What is new is the American will to run world politics single-handedly. This will not only leave the Palestinians out but will also make all the other third parties that will want to see peace in the Middle East - the European Union, United Nations and Russia - estranged by giving the guarantee that 'no plans other than the Road Map will be imposed on Israel.'
For Palestine, Washington's statements have two killer dimensions: The U.S. has adopted a 'Palestine policy' not taking the Palestinians as addressees by returning to the pre-1987 period. It also means that [Prime Minister] Ahmed Quriea's government, that was formed under the direction of the U.S. not Arafat, is not recognized in Washington. Moreover, the U.S. has made the Palestinians lose all their bargaining trump cards in the political process by imposing on them all compromises that would barely be made in the final negotiations.
Even more so, it is obvious that the Washington statements are just 'statements,' and Israel will neither start demolishing the infrastructures of some West Bank settlements nor withdraw from the Gaza Strip by summer 2005.
16.04.2004
