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| Sunday, 20 February 2005 |
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Middle East moving towards peace Globescan by M. P. Muttiah The Israeli cabinet is meeting today to grant its approval to Gaza Disengagement Implementation Bill, that had been passed by the Knesset last week. The Israeli Parliament had also approved $870 million in compensation to Jewish settlers who are to be evacuated from Gaza Strip.
The chief of staff of the Iraeli Army, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, will be replaced this summer, as his relations with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other political leaders, strained. Israel also released 20 Palestinians, who were among the 39 exiled to Europe and Gaza Strip, as part of a deal to end the stand off in Bethlehem's Nativity Church in May 2002, and permitted to return once the Palestinians receive security control of Bethlehem. These are the signs of new development after Sharm el-Sheik meeting of Palestinians and Israelis on February 8. At the Egyptian resort Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, jointly agreed, in the presence of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian king Abdullah II, to cease all acts of violence against Israelis and Palestinians everywhere. Both, Abbas and Sharon, in their separate statements, stressed the opportunity for peace and tranquillity, with a new beginning, to ``disengage themselves from the path of blood", as Sharon put it, to ``start on a new path". Abbas said: ``The calm which will prevail in our lands, commencing from today is the beginning of a new era," and vowed to spare no effort ``to protect this emerging opportunity for peace." However, a Hamas spokesman in Beirut said, the ceasefire did not commit the Palestinian resistance, as it was not fully negotiated with his group, and all Palestinian prisoners were not released. Another spokesman from Gaza, Mushir al-Masri, said that PA chairman's statement expressed only the position of the Palestinian Authority and did not reveal the point of view of other factions. He emphasised that nothing new had emerged from the Summit and the Israeli position had not changed. This was the second time an Israeli Prime Minister and a Palestinian Authority Chairman had met at Sharm el-Sheik. In October, 2000, Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak and PA Chairman, Yasser Arafat, were hosted to a meeting by Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak. The first Sharm meeting held after three weeks following the second Intifada, that began on September 29, 2000, when the then Israeli opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, visited the Temple Mount, with hundreds of armed men. Except for the Fact Finding Commission, that visited, on the above incident, nothing else that was agreed upon was ever honoured. No sooner had the leaders returned from Sharam, the terror continued with renewed vengeance. The mass Palestinian protest triggered by the visit of Ariel Sharon, led to four years of protests, violence, deaths and misery. As the Intifada entered its fifth year, more than 3,579 Palestinians, 1,042 Israelis were killed, with tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced or their homes destroyed. The demise of Arafat, entirely changed the Palestinian scenario. Mahmoud Abbas was elected chairman at the December elections, with a mandate to restore peace and he made several efforts towards the objective. The difference between Arafat and Abbas is evident from the similarities and differences of two Sharm Summits. The most decisive similarity was that the measures proposed to end hostilities and violence then, and the most crucial one that was discussed on February 8. The first Sharm Summit was one of negotiations. Leaders were, at the request of President Bill Clinton, but they could not agree on much, and only endorsed a declaration issued by Clinton. The preparation for the second Sharm was much more intensive between both sides. Israel assured the Palestinians that it would take steps to release the prisoners, transfer five West Bank cities to Palestinian Authority, and stop its hunt for extremists. And the Palestinians assured the Israelis that they would declare a unilateral truce. The success of Sharm was indeed one which was well prepared. This was not a negotiation conference, but a 45-minute meeting between rivals, statement of political intent and the summation on a number of issues and problems that were previously discussed by both Israeli and Palestinian representatives. Mahmoud Abbas, who was one of the architects of the Oslo Accord of September 13, 1993, and as Arafat's Prime Minister, met Sharon in 2003 at the Summit that initiated the Road Map, had well used his experience to draft the present statements. The most important statement made at the Summit referred to the cessation of violence. It was the first time that the leaders of the two sides, Sharon and Abbas, clearly and firmly declared to cease hostilities and violence. Ariel Sharon, noted that the example of the release of prisoners, was an issue of supreme importance for the Palestinians. Both sides announced the Israeli readiness for withdrawals from West Bank cities, relaxing the freedom of movement in the territories and allowing to resume construction of a deep-water port in Gaza. The security issues were linked to a relatively clear political track-the disengagement plan, that would lead to the implementation of the political Road Map, which was emphasised by all at the Summit. The disengagement plan would no longer be unilateral, but achieved in coordination over an agreement between Israel and the PA. The success of Sharm summit has already started bearing fruit. Israel announced that it would release 500 prisoners, as a goodwill gesture. It has taken additional steps to ease travel restrictions on Palestinians. About 1,000 Palestinians and several hundred businessmen would be allowed to enter Israel daily. Before Intifada, 150,000 Palestinians travelled across to Israel daily. Arrangements are being made to hold follow-up meetings between Sharon and Abbas within a week or two. Syria's Ambassador to the United States said that his country backed Mahmoud Abbas' efforts to improve relations with Israel and hoped developments there would lead to peace in the Mideast. It is the hope of the world that these fresh initiatives would restore peace to both Palestinians and Israelis in the near future. |
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