WORLD AUGUST 31, 2009
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President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are reportedly planning to meet next month on the sidelines of a UN conference in New York. An international Arab-Israeli peace summit might follow, which Israeli diplomats have already nicknamed “Obamapolis” after the most recent failed attempt to re-launch negotiations, the Annapolis Summit. The disappointment and skepticism felt by most observers is not unreasonable; in what has become almost an annual ritual, peace talks are “relaunched” with much fanfare and enthusiasm, only to yield little in the way of substantive progress.
On the most basic level, this September meeting is indeed an “important step” for the peace process. If there’s no talking, there can be no progress. And even though real progress toward the coveted “final status agreement” seems unlikely--both American and Israeli officials understand that differences in position between the two sides are probably too wide to bridge at this point in time--talks can still be valuable, at least for reducing tensions and avoiding misunderstandings.
But perhaps more importantly, the agreement of all sides to meet signals an end to the antagonism and bluster that have characterized U.S.-Israel relations since the beginning of Obama’s term. Netanyahu has essentially agreed to some form of a of settlement freeze. Obama’s peace envoy, George Mitchell, has accepted the de-facto reality under which Jerusalem can’t be part of any freeze agreement. (The Americans seem satisfied with these quiet “understandings” regarding Jerusalem.) And Abbas has accepted the invitation to New York, even though he insisted just days ago that no negotiations would take place until there was “a halt to all forms of settlement activity without exception in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied territories." On Wednesday, his spokespeople tried to justify the New York “meeting” as somehow different from “negotiations,” insisting that there had been no change of heart on the part of the Palestinian leader. Netanyahu, though, was quick to seize the moment and commend Abbas on this move, saying, “I have said that we must convene and sit down without any preconditions. This is the simplest and most convenient thing for resuming the process.” No one is actually worried that, when the time comes and Abbas is called for talks, he will actually refuse to attend.
And while Abbas will be talking, his second in command will be doing the more important work. Earlier this week, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced his intention to “establish a de facto state apparatus within the next two years.” On the face of it, his plan sounds quite detached from reality, eliciting guffaws from Israeli politicians such as Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, who said that "[t]here is no place for unilateral actions.” The plan ignores “a central component of the framework in which Fayyad himself is permitted to function, and from which he derives his own authority,” warned Alan Baker, a former legal adviser to Israel’s foreign ministry.
However, other Israeli officials with whom I spoke were less apprehensive about Fayyad’s announcement. His general approach, they said, should be supported, as Fayyad is the one Palestinian leader who understands that Palestinian efforts are necessary before the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. That approach has been key in making Fayyad the darling of American officials in recent years, focusing on building infrastructure and governance rather than on resistance and intransigence. It also makes him the most valuable partner in Lieutenant General Keith Dayton’s efforts to help the Palestinian Authority establish a reliable security force.
Dayton’s process shows many signs of success, but it is also a momentum-based scheme. Reform of Palestinian forces and other institutions will only continue if they are building toward something--real improvement in Palestinian lives, and, ideally, from a Palestinian point of view, the establishment of a state. Hence, Fayyad felt it was necessary to lay out the goal toward which he’s working. He has always downplayed (though not publicly) the importance of symbolic battles against “settlements” and “occupation,” understanding that these are more likely to be resolved with the establishment of credible Palestinian governance.
Thus, despite the cynicism and low expectations greeting the announcement of new peace talks, this week’s news seems to signify a positive development: that the moment of unrealistic dreams--a total freeze, final agreements, and prompt establishment of a Palestinian state--has passed. Based on the details of the understanding reached by Netanyahu and Mitchell, it seems that we’re finally returning to the better approach of gradual progress, rather than attempting to achieve too much in one decisive stroke. And if that is the outcome of many months of U.S.-Israeli bickering and tension--the outcome of a period in which all parties have learned the limitations and tested the red lines of the others--it was worth it.
Shmuel Rosner, a columnist and editor based in Tel Aviv, blogs daily at Rosner’s Domain.
4 comments
Is there hope? Not with reports like these: from AP "Hamas leader denies Nazi genocide of Jews" By DIAA HADID (AP) – 5 hours ago "GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A Hamas spiritual leader on Monday called teaching Palestinian children about the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews a "war crime," rejecting a reported U.N. proposal to include the Holocaust in Gaza's school curriculum. A senior Israeli official said such statements should make the West think twice about ending its boycott of Hamas, in place since the group seized Gaza by force in 2007. Hamas spiritual leader Younis al-Astal lashed out after hearing that the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, the main U.N. body aiding Palestinian refugees, planned to introduce lessons about the Holocaust to Gaza students. Adding the Holocaust to the curriculum would amount to "marketing a lie and spreading it," al-Astal wrote in a statement. "I do not exaggerate when I say this issue is a war crime, because of how it serves the Zionist colonizers and deals with their hypocrisy and lies," he wrote. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri also objected to including what he referred to as the "so-called Holocaust" in the lesson plan. "We think it's more important to teach Palestinians the crimes of the Israeli occupation," he said. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said countries contemplating ending their boycott of Hamas must "seriously reconsider" after the Hamas statements, which he described as "obscene." Many Palestinians are reluctant to acknowledge Jewish suffering, fearing it might diminish their own. Attitudes toward the Holocaust range from outright denial to challenging its scope. Still, Hamas has been making overtures to the West, hoping to end a stifling blockade of Gaza. The statements about the Holocaust by senior Hamas officials could undermine the group's attempt to present itself as pragmatic. The U.S. and Europe list Hamas as a terror group, but there have been growing calls, particularly in Europe, to talk to the militants. Hamas control of Gaza is seen as a key obstacle to any Mideast peace deal. UNRWA provides education, health care and welfare services to more than half of Gaza's 1.4 million people. Spokesman Chris Gunness said a final decision has not been made about the Holocaust course for Gaza schools. "While the Holocaust is currently not included on the basis of age appropriateness, all elements (of the curriculum) remain under review and under evolution," he said. The U.N. runs 221 schools in Gaza for more than 200,000 students and is the largest independent agency in the territory, controlled by Hamas since a violent takeover in 2007. The West Bank, the other territory that is supposed to comprise a future Palestinian state, is controlled by Hamas' Western-backed rivals of the Fatah movement, led by President Mahmoud Abbas. Three teachers at U.N. schools said that according to the new program, basic information about the Holocaust was expected to be taught to eighth grade students as part of human rights classes. Two of the teachers said they were told about the lesson plan by colleagues involved in the new syllabus. Another teacher said he attended a recent meeting with education officials where he was told to try to teach the new syllabus without offending parents' sensibilities. All three said they had not received the syllabus for the human rights classes yet, even though the school year began in late August. They requested anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to reporters. Israeli officials said the statements place Hamas in a pariah club of Holocaust deniers that includes Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Some 6 million Jews were killed in the Nazi campaign to wipe out European Jewry, and the urgent need to find a sanctuary for hundreds of thousands of survivors contributed to the creation of Israel after World War II. Many Palestinians are reluctant to acknowledge the full extent of the Holocaust because they feel it provided legitimacy for Israel's establishment. A majority of Gaza's 1.4 million people are descendants of Palestinians who fled or were driven out of their homes during the 1948 Mideast war over Israel's creation. Hamas' founding charter calls for Israel's destruction, though senior Hamas officials have recently said they would accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel as an interim stage to full Islamic control of the region. Hamas is frequently at loggerheads with the U.N. refugee agency, which it considers the only serious challenge to its control of Gaza. Over the summer, Hamas accused the U.N. of spreading "immorality" in summer camps for children, because it offered activities such as folk dancing and crafts. With additional reporting by Rizek Abdul Jawad in Gaza City" http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gP18Sz9kbBNmoP6KOj2xZ4...
- jacksondyer
August 31, 2009 at 5:04pm
Here is a link that works for the article above: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gP18Sz9kbBNmoP6KOj2xZ4dJzlbAD9ADUDGG0
- jacksondyer
August 31, 2009 at 5:06pm
Good point, Jackson; probably none of the parties involved here have realized that Hamas hates Israel.
- frippo
August 31, 2009 at 10:10pm
Unrelated to this topic but prompted by trying to find this article again, I see that the old problem persists that the titles change on the home page, making it difficult to relocate an article the next day.
- frippo
September 1, 2009 at 8:14pm