Only four days after the Aqaba summit, in which Palestinian, Israeli, and US leaders assertively declared their commitment to the ‘roadmap,’ the situation on the ground seems intoxicated with more uncertainty and, to a certain extent, fear of what may lie ahead. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas appears to be determined to resurrect dialogue with Hamas, who vowed Friday not to discuss a ceasefire after Abbas “…equated Palestinian resistance with terrorism.” Having publicly praised Mr. Abbas for the past four days, the US administration has raised all expectations of what he may deliver, without taking into consideration the real difficulties on the ground. Ultimately, this resulted in a new wave of inter-Palestinian frustration which, if not dealt with swiftly and conclusively, could have tragic results on the Palestinians. Yet in order to ease tensions and create a new opportunity for peace, the US must understand that failure to address the real causes of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will only fuel more escalation. Thus, attempting to bypass and downplay Palestinian anger at Sharon’s apparent lack of commitment at Aqaba to ending the occupation will not achieve any results; without directly addressing this lack of Israeli commitment to a real peace, there will only be room for further conflict. At the same time, Sharon’s declared commitment to dismantle only illegal “outposts” in the occupied Palestinian territories is by no means sufficient to paving the way for peace. Most of the locations that Sharon has vowed to dismantle do not even comprise a fraction of illegal Jewish settlements built on privately-owned Palestinian land. Israel’s efforts should now be focused on actually doing something to end the occupation and dismantle all illegal Jewish settlements, according to international law, and not on trying to find the most deceptive way to gain maximum credit for minimum effort. No one expects the road ahead to be easy, but there are basic expectations that must be met in order to end the current atmosphere of fear and anger, revenge and distrust, and most essentially to finally end the Palestinian people’s deprivation of basic human rights. Read More...
By: Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Date: 27/05/2013
By: Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Date: 20/05/2013
By: Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Date: 13/05/2013
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