Abir Dandis, the mother of the two girls who were murdered in the Negev town of Al-Fura’a last week, couldn't find a police officer to listen to her warnings, neither in Arad nor in Ma’ale Adumim. Both police stations operate in areas where Israel wants to gather the Bedouin into permanent communities, against their will, in order to clear more land for Jewish communities. The dismissive treatment Dandis received shows how the Bedouin are considered simply to be lawbreakers by their very nature. But as a resident of the West Bank asking for help for her daughters, whose father was Israeli, Dandis faced the legal-bureaucratic maze created by the Oslo Accords.

The Palestinian police is not allowed to arrest Israeli civilians. It must hand suspects over to the Israel Police. The Palestinian police complain that in cases of Israelis suspected of committing crimes against Palestinian residents, the Israel Police tend not to investigate or prosecute them.

In addition, the town of Al-Azaria, where Dandis lives, is in Area B, under Palestinian civilian authority and Israeli security authority. According to the testimony of Palestinian residents, neither the IDF nor the Israel Police has any interest in internal Palestinian crime even though they have both the authority and the obligation to act in Area B.

The Palestinian police are limited in what it can do in Area B. Bringing in reinforcements or carrying weapons in emergency situations requires coordination with, and obtaining permission from, the IDF. If Dandis fears that the man who murdered her daughters is going to attack her as well, she has plenty of reason to fear that she will not receive appropriate, immediate police protection from either the Israelis or the Palestinians.

Dandis told Jack Khoury of Haaretz that the Ma’ale Adumim police referred her to the Palestinian Civil Affairs Coordination and Liaison Committee. Theoretically, this committee (which is subordinate to the Civil Affairs Ministry) is the logical place to go for such matters. Its parallel agency in Israel is the Civilian Liaison Committee (which is part of the Coordination and Liaison Administration - a part of the Civil Administration under the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories).

In their meetings, they are supposed to discuss matters such as settlers’ complaints about the high volume of the loudspeakers at mosques or Palestinians’ complaints about attacks by settlers. But the Palestinians see the Liaison Committee as a place to submit requests for permission to travel to Israel, and get the impression that its clerks do not have much power when faced with their Israeli counterparts. In any case, the coordination process is cumbersome and long.

The Palestinian police has a family welfare unit, and activists in Palestinian women’s organizations say that in recent years, its performance has improved. But, as stated, it has no authority over Israeli civilians and residents. Several non-governmental women’s groups also operate in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, and women in similar situations approach them for help. The manager of one such organization told Haaretz that Dandis also fell victim to this confusing duplication of procedures and laws. Had Dandis approached her, she said, she would have referred her to Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which has expertise in navigating Israel’s laws and authorities.

John Kerry revealed his long-awaited plan for peace in the Middle East on Sunday, hinging on a $4bn (£2.6bn) investment in the Palestinian private sector.

The US secretary of state, speaking at the World Economic Forum on the Jordanian shores of the Dead Sea, told an audience including Israeli president Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that an independent Palestinian economy is essential to achieving a sustainable peace.

Speaking under the conference banner "Breaking the Impasse", Kerry announced a plan that he promised would be "bigger, bolder and more ambitious" than anything since the Oslo accords, more than 20 years ago.

Tony Blair is to lead a group of private sector leaders in devising a plan to release the Palestinian economy from its dependence on international donors. The initial findings of Blair's taskforce, Kerry boasted, were "stunning", predicting a 50% increase in Palestinian GDP over three years, a cut of two-thirds in unemployment rates and almost double the Palestinian median wage. Currently, 40% of the Palestinian economy is supplied by donor aid.

Kerry assured Abbas that the economic plan was not a substitute for a political solution, which remains the US's "top priority".

Peres, who had taken the stage just minutes before, also issued a personal plea to his Palestinian counterpart to return to the negotiations.

"Let me say to my dear friend President Abbas," Peres said, "Should we really dance around the table? Lets sit together. You'll be surprised how much can be achieved in open, direct and organised meetings."

Thick locks hug the front gates of shuttered shops, now covered in graffiti and dust from lack of use. Only a handful of customers pass along the dimly lit road, sometimes stopping to check the ripeness of fruits and vegetables, or ordering meat in near-empty butcher shops.

“All the shops are closed. I’m the only one open. This used to be the best place,” said 64-year-old Mustafa Sunocret, selling vegetables out of a small storefront in the marketplace near his family’s home in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Amidst the brightly coloured scarves, clothes and carpets, ceramic pottery and religious souvenirs filling the shops of Jerusalem’s historic Old City, Palestinian merchants are struggling to keep their businesses alive.

Faced with worsening health problems, Sunocret told IPS that he cannot work outside of the Old City, even as the cost of maintaining his shop, with high electricity, water and municipal tax bills to pay, weighs on him.

“I only have this shop,” he said. “There is no other work. I’m tired.”

Abed Ajloni, the owner of an antiques shop in the Old City, owes the Jerusalem municipality 250,000 Israeli shekels (68,300 U.S. dollars) in taxes. He told IPS that almost every day, the city’s tax collectors come into the Old City, accompanied by Israeli police and soldiers, to pressure people there to pay.

“It feels like they’re coming again to occupy the city, with the soldiers and police,” Ajloni, who has owned the same shop for 35 years, told IPS. “But where can I go? What can I do? All my life I was in this place.”

He added, “Does Jerusalem belong to us, or to someone else? Who’s responsible for Jerusalem? Who?”

Illegal annexation

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, including the Old City, in 1967. In July 1980, it passed a law stating that “Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel”. But Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem and subsequent application of Israeli laws over the entire city remain unrecognised by the international community.

Under international law, East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory – along with the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syrian Golan Heights – and Palestinian residents of the city are protected under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Jerusalem has historically been the economic, political and cultural centre of life for the entire Palestinian population. But after decades languishing under destructive Israeli policies meant to isolate the city from the rest of the Occupied Territories and a lack of municipal services and investment, East Jerusalem has slipped into a state of poverty and neglect.

“After some 45 years of occupation, Arab Jerusalemites suffer from political and cultural schizophrenia, simultaneously connected with and isolated from their two hinterlands: Ramallah and the West Bank to their east, West Jerusalem and Israel to the west,” the International Crisis Group recently wrote.

Israeli restrictions on planning and building, home demolitions, lack of investment in education and jobs, construction of an eight-foot-high separation barrier between and around Palestinian neighbourhoods and the creation of a permit system to enter Jerusalem have all contributed to the city’s isolation.

Formal Palestinian political groups have also been banned from the city, and between 2001-2009, Israel closed an estimated 26 organisations, including the former Palestinian Liberation Organisation headquarters in Jerusalem, the Orient House and the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce.

Extreme poverty

Israel’s policies have also led to higher prices for basic goods and services and forced many Palestinian business owners to close shop and move to Ramallah or other Palestinian neighbourhoods on the other side of the wall. Many Palestinian Jerusalemites also prefer to do their shopping in the West Bank, or in West Jerusalem, where prices are lower.

While Palestinians constitute 39 percent of the city’s population today, almost 80 percent of East Jerusalem residents, including 85 percent of children, live below the poverty line.

“How could you develop [an] economy if you don’t control your resources? How could you develop [an] economy if you don’t have any control of your borders?” said Zakaria Odeh, director of the Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem, of “this kind of fragmentation, checkpoints, closure”.

“Without freedom of movement of goods and human beings, how could you develop an economy?” he asked.

“You can’t talk about independent economy in Jerusalem or the West Bank or in all of Palestine without a political solution. We don’t have a Palestinian economy; we have economic activities. That’s all we have,” Odeh told IPS.

Israel’s separation barrier alone, according to a new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD), has caused a direct loss of over one billion dollars to Palestinians in Jerusalem, and continues to incur 200 million dollars per year in lost opportunities.

Israel’s severing and control over the Jerusalem-Jericho road – the historical trade route that connected Jerusalem to the rest of the West Bank and Middle East – has also contributed to the city’s economic downturn.

Separation of Jerusalem from West Bank

Before the First Intifada (Arabic for “uprising”) began in the late 1980s, East Jerusalem contributed approximately 14 to 15 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the Occupied Palestinian territories (OPT). By 2000, that number had dropped to less than eight percent; in 2010, the East Jerusalem economy, compared to the rest of the OPT, was estimated at only seven percent.

“Economic separation resulted in the contraction in the relative size of the East Jerusalem economy, its detachment from the remaining OPT and the gradual redirection of East Jerusalem employment towards the Israeli labour market,” the U.N. report found.

Decades ago, Israel adopted a policy to maintain a so-called “demographic balance” in Jerusalem and attempt to limit Palestinian residents of the city to 26.5 percent or less of the total population.

To maintain this composition, Israel built numerous Jewish-Israeli settlements inside and in a ring around Jerusalem and changed the municipal boundaries to encompass Jewish neighbourhoods while excluding Palestinian ones.

It is now estimated that 90,000 Palestinians holding Jerusalem residency rights live on the other side of the separation barrier and must cross through Israeli checkpoints in order to reach Jerusalem for school, medical treatment, work, and other services.

“Israel is using all kinds of tools to push the Palestinians to leave; sometimes they are visible, and sometimes invisible tools,” explained Ziad al-Hammouri, director of the Jerusalem Centre for Social and Economic Rights (JCSER).

Al-Hammouri told IPS that at least 25 percent of the 1,000 Palestinian shops in the Old City were closed in recent years as a result of high municipal taxes and a lack of customers. “Taxation is an invisible tool…as dangerous as revoking ID cards and demolishing houses,” he said. “Israel will use this as pressure and as a tool in the future to confiscate these shops and properties.”

To advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, President Bush needs the support and involvement of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis last week cautiously expressed interest in attending a regional peace conference Mr. Bush had proposed for the fall, provided the meeting tackles the core issues dividing Israel and the Palestinians.

The Saudis haven't done Mr. Bush any favors. A dialogue that would bring them to the table would have to include the status of Jerusalem and the future of Palestinian refugees, and the Israelis are resisting a discussion of either at this time.

Mr. Bush's commitment to reviving the peace process is on the line now.

He and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was traveling in the region last week, can try to persuade Israel to engage on these fundamental questions, or they can initiate pre-conference sessions to hammer out compromises on other issues that would serve as a prelude to a substantive meeting in the fall.

That's a tall order for a president who has neither demonstrated the diplomatic acumen nor invested the political capital to restart peace talks. Israel is hesitant to take on these tough issues while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is reasserting his authority after a spring of internecine Palestinian warfare.

Fighting between the nationalist, secular Palestinian movement headed by Mr. Abbas and the Islamic militant group Hamas led to the dissolution of the elected Hamas-led government in June, and to a geographic split. Mr. Abbas has re-formed the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, which has won the backing of the international community though it remains a work in progress, and called for new elections. Meanwhile, the Hamas leadership and a million Palestinians remain isolated and confined to the Gaza Strip.

Mr. Bush would have to move forcefully and decisively to change the present stalemate, a formidable task with only 18 months left in office. In the absence of rigorous, tough diplomacy, which has been sorely lacking on this most intractable front, a peace conference would seem little more than a superficial gesture.

Then again, Mr. Bush and his chief diplomat could surprise everyone by initiating and overseeing back-channel negotiations as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Mr. Abbas work out accommodations on immediate concerns, such as checkpoints and Palestinian prisoners, which they discussed when they met in Jericho on Monday.

If Mr. Bush wants to be remembered for something other than the dissolution of Iraq, an independent Palestinian state and a secure Israel would be a worthy challenge for a lame-duck president. He has nothing to lose.

A dormant land-for-peace initiative making headlines in Jerusalem and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last week was notable not for its contents. It was notable because it wasn't roundly rejected by Israel, as it had been five years ago when Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah first made the proposal at a meeting of Arab leaders. Key aspects of the initiative clearly conflict with Israel's interests - its survival, many would say. But Abdullah, who is now king, has revived the plan, signaling his willingness to help facilitate a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It provides an opening for renewed talks that Israel shouldn't let pass.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert characterized the peace initiative as a "positive approach" and acknowledged as "significant" comments made at the Arab summit in Riyadh, a gathering of Israel's staunchest enemies. But he was as firm in his opposition to a tenet of the plan: the right of return for Palestinians who were forced from their homes in 1948 at Israel's founding.

The main thrust of the Saudi proposal is full recognition of Israel by the Arab world in exchange for Israel's withdrawal from West Bank lands it occupied after the 1967 war. Israel wants to maintain several large West Bank settlements outside Jerusalem as part of any peace deal. That would seem to make the Saudi proposal a non-starter, but to think of it that way would be to miss the opportunity it presents.

Neither Israelis nor Palestinians are going to get everything they want in a negotiated settlement. The Saudi initiative should serve as an invitation to dialogue and lead to informal talks among a select group that could lay the groundwork for a more in-depth discussion. Some trust and goodwill need to be established after a half-century of wars and hatred.

As well, newly agreed-to talks between Mr. Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas should focus on common ground. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who helped bring about this pairing during her visit to the region last week, appears sincerely committed to trying to revitalize the peace process after years of neglect. As part of that effort, she must press Arab leaders to stop the flow of money to the military wings of Hamas and Hezbollah.

If talks between Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas progress, they may put the needed pressure on Mr. Abbas' ruling partners, Hamas, to recognize Israel and renounce terror. Without that, there will be no reason for Israel to address the substantive issues dividing the two sides and thwarting the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In concluding their summit, Arab leaders issued a warning about "a dangerous and destructive arms race" in the region, a reference to Iran's nuclear ambitions. The Islamic republic's rising power is also a grave concern of Israel. That's a compelling reason for Arabs and Israelis to resolve the Palestinian problem, and a compelling reason for peace.

Israel's recent hunt for Palestinian bomb-makers and gunmen in Nablus shut down the West Bank city, forcing thousands into their homes under a military-imposed curfew. Reports of barricaded streets and armored convoys vividly convey Israel's hegemony in this conflict. They also reinforce the impotency of Palestinian leaders whose warring philosophies have compromised their ability to advocate for their people.

But most of all they underscore the Bush administration's apparent lack of interest in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice can't effect change simply by convening meetings with Mideast leaders, as was evidenced by her most recent trip to the region. She arrived soon after Saudi Arabia brokered a cease-fire between Palestinian factions. Saudi Arabia also received a commitment from Palestinian political leaders to form a unity government. But a new government won't move the process forward unless the militant group Hamas recognizes Israel and renounces terrorism - its leaders have done neither - and the administration has refused to intervene without that commitment.

A negotiated settlement would require such recognition. But the administration's uncompromising stand, its lack of imagination and its absence of diplomacy are exacerbating the situation and making the prospect of a settlement that much more remote.

That said, the intransigence of the elected Hamas government - and its exiled leaders in Damascus - has cost Palestinians plenty. The loss of millions in international aid has devastated the economy, and a U.N. World Food Program report due out within days shows that nearly half of the Palestinian population is "food insecure," or unable to ensure that their families have enough to eat. Many workers go unpaid, and idleness breeds violence.

Israel complicates the situation with its military crackdowns, such as the raids in Nablus, and expansion of West Bank settlements. It also refuses to remove illegal settler outposts where about 2,000 Israelis live.

President Bush was the first American president to publicly endorse an independent Palestine as part of a two-state solution. Ms. Rice continues to maintain that it is a top priority. But this is the classic case of actions - or should we say inactions? - speaking louder than words.

Common to most journalists who have reported from the Holy Land is the interview with a displaced Palestinian whose family home or land has been seized and settled by Israelis. The Palestinians can often produce a rusty key from their ancestral home or a yellowed deed to their family land to prove their rightful ownership. When Israel is pressed about the issue, the government says only state or purchased land has been settled.

But an Israeli peace group has challenged the veracity of the government's claims and the legality of its destructive settlement policy. A new report underscores the imperative for Israel to cease settlement expansion until a peace agreement with Palestinians is reached.

The Peace Now report, released last month, contends that 39 percent of West Bank land held by Israeli settlers is privately owned. It is based on leaked documents from Israel's Civil Administration, which oversees land matters in the disputed West Bank territory and Israel's 162 settlements. A government spokesman says some of the leaked data are from an internal government review of West Bank land ownership, but the complexity of such transactions precludes an easy assessment.

The report's inventory, if true, could have serious implications for any peace settlement with the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert indicated as recently as last week that he is willing to return large portions of the West Bank as part of any future peace deal.

But while the Peace Now report appears to verify long-standing Palestinian claims of disenfranchisement, its findings pose no threat to Israel's interests because there are no current peace negotiations.

Palestinians, along with the United Nations, have long charged that Israel's occupation of West Bank land after the 1967 war violated international law. The Peace Now report also shows how the seizure of Palestinian land violates Israeli law.

That, as well as the key points in the Peace Now report, should resonate with many Israelis who view the religious settlement movement as a drain on government funds and an impediment to peace. Some Israelis may view the report as a strong indictment of Israel's West Bank settlement policy and further proof of the need to revamp it for the sake of the country's security. They wouldn't be wrong.

But for many Palestinians, the Peace Now report only reaffirms their claim to the land, eliciting a collective, "I told you so."