Palestine: Peace and Democracy must go Hand in Hand

By Ramzy Baroud

After years of marked absence, the Bush administration has finally decided
to upgrade its involvement in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The
announcement of a Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland has
raised red flags for anyone who has learned from past experience how
unbalanced and insincere peace efforts actually can lead to further
violence. And it requires little cynicism to ponder how genuine these
current efforts are.

It has been suggested that President Bush — whose actions have thus defined
his legacy as that of a war president — wishes to leave on a more positive
note. We heard the same argument in mid 2000 when President Bill Clinton
facilitated ill-prepared talks, the failure of which sparked tension and
violence, which were of course blamed solely on Palestinians.

Others argue that the conference is motivated not by a desire for lasting
peace, but by the wish to further isolate Hamas – the party that was
democratically elected by a decisive majority in the Occupied Territories’
legislative elections in January 2006.

Regardless of the fact that the transparency of the elections was praised by
international monitors such as Jimmy Carter, the democratically elected
winner was completely shunned by the US and Israel. Instead they cautioned
Fatah, President Abbas political party, against joining a proposed coalition
government with a party they deemed as terrorist. All attempts at forging
national unity among the conflicting factions were destined to failure,
since such attempts were met by joint US-Israeli resolve to topple Hamas.

As the division between Fatah and Hamas grew, the Bush administration began
hinting at the possibility of hosting a peace conference. Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert, who had previously insisted on the ‘unilateral’
paradigm – predicated on the assumption that Israel has no peace partner
amongst Palestinians – now agreed to take part in the event. President
Abbas, widely perceived with contempt by many Palestinians and Arabs,
understood that his participation could help provide him with greater
political validity. Hamas, of course, was notably not invited.

In the build-up to the conference, Olmert and Abbas have been holding
regular meetings. Statements and declarations made by both leaders and their
advisors indicate that Israel is striving to lower expectations, while Abbas
hopes to turn the conference into a platform for serious negotiations. Their
last meeting took place in Jerusalem on Friday, October 26, the purpose of
which was reportedly to resolve issues over a joint statement. Nabil Abu
Rdeneh, Abbas’ spokesman told reporters, “Today we expect the Israelis to
stop putting obstacles preventing us from reaching a joint statement for the
fall summit.”

Olmert, with little popularity amongst the Israelis and a weakening mandate
in the country’s parliament, is repeatedly attempting to water down
expectations. He even claims to be unsure as to whether the conference will
take place at all, reportedly telling journalists on Thursday, October 25,
“If all goes well, hopefully, we will meet in Annapolis. [But] Annapolis is
not made to be the event for the declaration of peace.”

This overt lowering of expectations suggests that the Bush administration
knows well that the conference will not deliver peace; neither Abbas nor
Olmert seem equipped for such a task. Moreover, the administration has
displayed virtually no signs of being an honest broker; its unreserved and
unconditional backing of Israel is stronger than ever. The conference will
likely be a media spectacle in which participants will reaffirm their
commitment to peace, Israel’s security, condemnation of Palestinian
terrorism and so forth.

What is truly dangerous is the fact that a peace conference which delivers
nothing but empty promises is likely to actually precipitate violence.
Palestinians, humiliated and besieged, might exhibit their anger in a myriad
of ways, for which they will only receive further condemnation.

Following Israel’s recent declaration of Gaza as a hostile entity, and the
more recent decision to gradually cut electricity supplies to parts of the
Gaza Strip, the situation in the impoverished strip is growing more
desperate everyday. A peace conference with no political horizon – one that
was repeatedly promised by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice – will add
more fuel to the already volatile political landscape in Palestine and
Israel. Considering the violence that followed the failed Camp David talks
of July 2000, similar scenarios are most palpable. In order for a peace
conference to bring a true, lasting and just peace between Palestinians and
Israelis, democracy and the collective choices of the Palestinian people
must be respected.

The Palestinian delegation needs to represent all Palestinians and must
carry a clear mandate to negotiate. Israel meanwhile needs to be willing to
engage in serious negotiations, not to win time for its unilateral projects
in the West Bank, but to discuss final status issues without delay,
notwithstanding the status of Jerusalem and refugees. International law must
be respected by both parties, and by the US hosts as a mutual frame of
reference, according to which a conflict resolution can be tailored.

Without these conditions, the Maryland conference, and any other, will most
likely fail, a failure that could tragically drag the entire region deeper
into the dark abyss of military occupation, state violence and, indeed,
terrorism.

-Ramzy Baroud (http://www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author and editor of
PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers and
journals worldwide. His latest book is The Second Palestinian Intifada: A
Chronicle of a People’s Struggle (Pluto Press, London).