Is Palestinian/Israeli Peace For Real This Time? By Andrew L. Jaffee, 5/30/2003	Home   Search   Forum   Terms

I've gotten my hopes up for Palestinian/Israeli peace too many times, only to have those hopes crushed. Is it different this time around? Maybe it's too early to tell. But there are some very interesting things going on now.

Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Ariel Sharon shocked hawkish members of his Likud party on Tuesday by using the "O" word:

To keep 3.5 million people under occupation is bad for us and them. This can't continue endlessly. Do you want to stay forever in Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem? That is not right.

You have to admit, it took guts for him to say that--especially for an ex-general known for his toughness. Even though he back-peddled a bit later and "clarified" his statement, I believe he was sending a direct message to Israel's extreme right: "I'm going to try to make peace and be flexible even though some of you would never want to give up the West Bank and Gaza." I'm beginning to have more faith in Sharon. Maybe he has a bit of Rabin in him after all. In other words, he's been through a lot, but he knows deep down that the Palestinians deserve a homeland and that there must be peace. (Maybe I'm going soft?).

The Jordan Times reported on Sharon's statement. I was surprised to read that they would even mention the fact that

...the Israeli right... believes Israel has a legitimate claim to the West Bank and Gaza for religious and security reasons.

In an even more surprising move:

the Jordanian ambassador to the United States, Karim Kawar, called on Abu Mazen to "wage a war within against [the militant Palestinian group] Hamas and against Jihad al-Islami [Islamic Jihad]".

Sharon and Palestinian Authority PM Mahmoud Abbas met today and both sides were optimistic after the meeting. And the summit with Bush, Abbas, and Sharon is still on for next week. Great. Let's see what happens.

One major roadblock I see is Abbas' insistence that he can negotiate with Hamas. Hamas "rejects any negotiated settlement with Israel that does not end the state's existence." Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian terrorists are incorrigibles. They need to be blown away. The Palestinian Authority would be smart to start taking out the terrorists among them now, and cooperate with Israeli security services to do it.

The other major roadblock is poor, old Yasser Arafat. He has proved his intentions many times over. He rejected Israel's generous offer to end the conflict in 2000. His Palestinian Authority never lived up to its Oslo commitments. He has demanded that he retain control over Palestinian security forces. Just this week, Arafat forced postponement of an Abbas/Sharon meeting because he demanded having the last word over the peace process.

He wants veto power. Arafat will never let go. He even admitted last year to trying to smuggle weapons into the territories. He needs to be permanently exiled physically or at least permanently sidelined politically.