Developments create cautious optimism about prospects for Middle East peace

Developments create cautious optimism about prospects for Middle East peace

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News Staff

The prospects for peace in the Middle East are “quite promising,” according to Edward Djerejian, director of Rice’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and former U.S. ambassador to Syria and Israel. “There is a real hope for muscular, sober diplomacy that requires American leadership to make it happen,” he said.

Speaking April 11 at a lecture sponsored by Rice’s Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance in conjunction with Houston’s “Coexistence” exhibit, Djerejian cited two significant developments in the Middle East and the Muslim world that merited his hopefulness.

First, Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in one of the freest democratic elections held in the Arab world. “This is a very important symbol because Palestinians, having lived side by side with their enemy — Israel, have learned something about democracy, given Israel’s democratic system,” Djerejian said.

Second, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called for disengagement from the Gaza Strip and from four Israeli settlements in the northwestern part of the West Bank.

“These two factors are replete with great promise if they are linked to the final-status peace negotiations,” Djerejian said.
Another encouraging sign is the fact that both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders have expressed a willingness to implement to final-status negotiations their obligations under phase one of the Road Map to Peace in the Middle East. “Although these obligations are unilateral in nature, neither side can successfully implement their commitments without adequate support and coordination from the international community, especially the United States,” Djerejian noted.

He advocated that the Bush administration not only guide the parties toward the implementation of their commitments, but also assist them in turning unilateral action into a comprehensive multilateral action plan that leads to the renewal of bilateral Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. “This would put the unilateral evacuation of settlements in the context of a bilateral process as well as recreate a political horizon.”

Without a clear political horizon, both the Israeli and Arab parties are less likely to follow through on negotiations. Abbas needs to be able to justify sacrifices and hard decisions so that Palestinians can have an independent and sovereign state, and Sharon needs to do the same for Israelis to have a democratic and Jewish state.

President George W. Bush referenced that critical political horizon during a “very important” speech in June 2002, Djerejian said, noting that Bush was the first American president to state a U.S. commitment to an independent state of Palestine living in peace and security with Israel.

A Baker Institute policy report titled “Creating a Road Map Implementation Process Under U.S. Leadership” that was issued earlier this year included recommendations that served as a “street map” to the Road Map. The report was presented to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Council and others in the Bush administration as well as to Sharon and Abbas and their government advisers. Some of the actions currently under way were recommended in the report.

“It is important to define the strategic direction of the Road Map implementation process by encouraging both sides to reach a complete and comprehensive cessation of violence as a necessary framework for political action,” Djerejian said.

Shortly after Abbas was inaugurated, he placed police on the streets of Gaza and the West Bank to crack down on radical groups and confiscate weapons. This demonstration of authority prompted Sharon to take reciprocal measures — another sign of progress along the Road Map.

“We also need to encourage Israel to implement the understandings reached regarding unilateral disengagement and a comprehensive settlement freeze,” Djerejian said. This will eventually entail Israeli security forces removing settlements and settlers from Gaza. Describing this as “an extremely sensitive issue” and “perhaps the most delicate phase of unilateral withdrawal from Gaza,” Djerejian said Sharon is taking major political risks in carrying out this step, “but it is absolutely essential.”

Also critical is the rehabilitation of Palestine’s economy. Provisions must be made for jobs so that the Palestinians are able to feed their children and send them to schools in a safe environment. “When basic family instincts are deprived, that feeds the ability of the Islamic radical groups to exploit the situation for their own ends,” Djerejian warned.

He emphasized that the U.S. has a huge responsibility to provide leadership. “But the U.S. cannot and must not be the substitute for political will and practical actions of and by the Israelis and Palestinians,” Djerejian said. “However, we remain the important catalyst and honest broker between the two.”

The former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs noted that Israel trusts only the U.S. to play this role. “We are the only power that has the political weight and authority to lead the international effort to go all the way to the Road Map and the end game,” Djerejian said. “Let us never forget for there to be true peace between Israel and all of its immediate neighbors, it has to be a comprehensive peace. It cannot be an unfinished peace. It has to involve the Palestinians, the Syrians and the Lebanese.”

He concluded that without a comprehensive agreement there will be no real peace and security in the Middle East.