There is an old cliché about the Middle East
peace process: if it is not moving forward, it is moving backward.
Nothing demonstrates the inherent truth of this cliché more than the
past two years. In the absence of a peace process, Palestinians and
Israelis have become mired in a cycle of unrelenting violence. Trust
in the other side has evaporated, as has hope for the future.
Israelis live in fear, while Palestinians can barely live at
all.
For two years, the Palestinian leadership
has called for a return to dialogue. We have embraced every serious
effort to do so including the Mitchell Plan of May 2001, which laid
out steps to end violence and renew negotiations; the Arab League
Summit resolution of March 2002, which called for full normalisation
of relations with Israel by the Arab world in exchange for Israeli
withdrawal from lands occupied in 1967; and efforts by the Quartet
(the UN, Russia, the US and the European Union) to develop a road
map to a Palestinian state.
Tragically, the current Israeli government
is not only satisfied with the absence of a peace process - it
depends on such an absence for its survival. Israel's leaders, and
their US supporters, have invented an impressive array of excuses
why peace talks cannot resume. First, Ariel Sharon demands a period
of "total calm" - then the prime minister shatters the calm by
killing Palestinian civilians, demolishing Palestinian homes and
stealing more Palestinian land. Then he demands that we must change
our democratically elected leadership - only to have Israel roll
tanks into our cities, impose curfews and effectively prevent
elections and parliamentary meetings. The Quartet road map has been
shelved at Israel's request because of pending elections:
apparently, Israelis cannot vote and negotiate at the same time.
This week, Palestinians were due in London
to discuss Palestinian political and financial reform. Despite
Israel's alleged support for such reform, Israel has blocked the
Palestinian delegation from the London talks in what must rank high
in the list of the world's pettiest political gestures. Whatever
Israel's excuse du jour for avoiding
dialogue, Palestinians know that the real reason is that Israel's
current leaders do not want to start a process that will inevitably
end where they do not want to go: Israeli withdrawal from the
occupied Palestinian territories and the establishment of a
sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian state.
There is no legitimate excuse for continuing
to avoid a political dialogue. Israel insists that the violence must
stop before negotiations, but simultaneously invites violence
through collective punishment, assassinations and the daily abuse of
Palestinian civilians. Israel does nothing to address the underlying
cause of the violence - Israel's 35-year-old occupation of
Palestinian territory and a near total belief among Palestinians
that they will never live in freedom.
To address these Palestinian concerns
successfully, and thereby simultaneously address Israel's security
concerns, three things are needed: Palestinian institutions that are
allowed to function and be reformed to meet the needs of the
Palestinian people; a halt to the expansion of Israel's illegal
settlements; and perhaps most importantly, international monitors to
ensure compliance with obligations and help correct the imbalance of
power between a strong Israel and the much weaker Palestinians.
With respect to Palestinian reforms, the
Palestinians have made substantial progress, only to be denied by Mr
Sharon the opportunity to further their reform efforts at a London
conference this week. In the public finance sector, the Palestinians
have reorganised commercial and investment operations and submitted
a 2003 budget emphasising transparency and accountability. Drafting
of the Palestinian constitution continues. Plans for new elections
were under way, until Israel's policy of imprisoning Palestinians in
their towns and homes made the idea of a free election an
impossibility.
With respect to Israel's insatiable appetite
for Palestinian land, at no point have Israelis so much as taken a
breather from their land-grabbing programme. Do they expect
Palestinians to watch calmly as their olive groves are stolen, their
meagre water resources depleted, their homes demolished? As long as
Israel continues to build settlements, the Palestinian leadership
cannot credibly convince the Palestinian people that the future will
be better than the already unbearable present.
Finally, our conflict has deteriorated to a
level where we cannot rely on mutual goodwill. Objective and
empowered third party monitors are needed to help ensure that each
side is abiding by its agreements and co-operating in good faith.
The international community must recognise that the two parties are
not equals - one side is the occupier, the other side the occupied -
and we need the help of third parties to correct that imbalance.
If reform is allowed to succeed, Israeli
settlement activity ended, and third party monitors put in place,
there will be a dramatic change in the perspective of both
Palestinians and Israelis. With this help, we can finish the process
of building a better world for Palestinian and Israeli children.
The writer is the
chief Palestinian negotiator, and was due to attend talks in London
this week
