– The Arafat Legacy

Back to square one?
Khaleej Times

THE Middle East peace process risks getting grounded unless global movers and shakers intervene soon. The disastrous failure of the Abbas-Sharon summit in Jerusalem on Tuesday threatens to derail the peace process plunging the Palestinians and Israelis yet again into the daily routine of bloody chaos.

The world had pinned great hopes on the unprecedented talks between Abu Mazen and Sharon. Ahead of the Jerusalem summit, US secretary of state Rice had met both Abbas and Sharon urging them to take bold steps for peace. There was hope of making progress towards peace and resolution of conflict after Israel’s exit from Gaza in August.
 

Not only those hopes have been dashed now but the Gaza withdrawal plan itself appears to be in jeopardy. Instead of discussing the post withdrawal measures and other items on the agenda with Abu Mazen, the Israeli leader opted to humiliate the Palestinian leader by lecturing him at great length on his responsibilities and "failure to deal with Palestinian militants".

The Israeli leader’s behaviour towards Abu Mazen was so unacceptably rude that it has invited angry reactions from Israeli opposition Labour party and top guns of Israeli media. In an editorial yesterday, daily Maariv commented, "he (Sharon) pounded on the table, reprimanded, explained matters to Abu Mazen like a division commander talking to a young company commander." Expressing concern that Sharon, instead of strengthening him, is undermining Abu Mazen’s position, the daily noted: "A sour taste of failure hovered in the air. An atmosphere of missed opportunity."

This indeed was a missed opportunity. But we have been here before. There is a definite method in the madness. This is how the Israeli leader treated Abu Mazen’s predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat. Sharon remained adamant until the death of the legendary leader that he would not talk with Arafat unless he reined in Palestinian armed groups.

And now by refusing to cooperate with Abu Mazen, the Israeli leader has reminded the Palestinians, Israelis, and the world that the more things change, the more they remain the same for men like Ariel Sharon.

Yet, this should not be so. The Palestinian-Israeli peace process should not be held hostage to whims and fancies of individuals. After making dramatic progress on peace front in the past several months, the Israelis and Palestinians should not be allowed to drift back to their old positions — and conflict.

The US, which has sought to play the role of honest broker and is keen on helping the two sides resolve the conflict, must assert itself and lean on the Israeli leader to make use of this opportunity for peace. Abbas has kept his side of the bargain by reining in Palestinian fighters. He has persuaded them to stop all revenge attacks on Israel during the ceasefire that came into being in February. Now it is time for Israeli leader to deliver.

The US and West have to assert themselves before Sharon totally wrecks the carefully built peace process. If Sharon can’t do business with Abu Mazen, he will have to deal with Palestinian hardliners.