Amid the flammable “calm” of the past ten days, and during Sharon’s alleged ceasefire period (in which 26 Palestinians were killed), the fundamental principles of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have been pushed aside, and replaced by mere methods of crisis management and damage control.

With familiar American style ‘magic diplomacy’, Mr. George Tenet, CIA director, is calling on Palestinians “…to arrest militants and end incitements to violence” and urging Israel “…to stop attacks on Palestinians and withdraw to positions held before the Intifada (i.e. before September 28th, 2000). To both sides, Tenet is calling for renewed security co-operation and joint patrols.

No mention of illegal Jewish settlements, no mention of the strangulating Israeli siege against the entire Palestinian population, and, above all, no mention of the actual cause of the conflict, Israeli occupation. A truce, it seems, however superficial, fragile and short-sighted, is the concern of the Central “Intelligence” Agency’s director.

Predictably, Monday night’s meeting between Palestinian and Israeli security chiefs has failed, adding more pessimism to the already gloomy prospects of true calm in the region. Tenet, on his part, will have to come up with more creative ideas!

Yet, another plan for truce is doomed to failure, as long it falls short of addressing the real causes of conflict. Both Israel and the US must finally come to terms with the fact that a lasting peace will only be achieved by a complete and unconditional