A Moment to Be Seized

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1097872,00.html

A moment to be seized

Leader
Tuesday December 2, 2003
The Guardian

It is evident that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will not be resolved
until current rather than former leaders in both governments can bring
themselves to agree. Similarly, the public statement of support for
yesterday's unofficial Geneva accord, signed by dozens of retired or
out-of-office political luminaries, including the likes of Boutros
Boutros-Ghali, Jacques Delors and Mikhail Gorbachev, while welcome, is
hardly tide-turning. The role of Nobel prizewinner Jimmy Carter in Geneva
again confirms his reputation as a truly international statesman. But if the
outside world is to have a positive, practical influence on events, it will
require more in the way of concerted, focused efforts by present-day
leaderships, principally in the US but also in the EU and Arab League.
That said, the Geneva accord marks a hopeful moment. It comprises a
comprehensive blueprint for an overall, lasting two-state solution, building
in part on the efforts of Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's predecessor,
Ehud Barak, and Bill Clinton. In some ways, it is notably radical, for
example in its prescriptions concerning contentious issues like the return
of Palestinians to what is now Israel and future arrangements in Jerusalem.
In a climate of continuing, low-level violence, mutual distrust and
polarisation, its ambitiously holistic approach is unlikely to replace the
step-by-step process adopted during the Oslo accords and by the officially
endorsed "road map", at least in the short term. Neither Mr Sharon nor, more
ambiguously, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat appear ready to embrace it.
Indeed, Mr Sharon's government professes to see the whole Geneva effort as
an unwelcome, even subversive exercise. Yet both sides should pause and
consider.

The Geneva accord's most important use could be as a catalyst, as a tool for
changing perceptions. Already, its constructive influence is discernible. As
ordinary people become more familiar with the plan, they have become more
supportive, as a new Ha'aretz poll suggests (although many remain
mistrustful). The accord has also inspired, or provoked, a spate of other
unofficial peace proposals, ranging from the bilateral People's Voice
petition to initiatives emanating from within Israel's opposition Labour
party, Mr Sharon's coalition and the rightwing settler movement.

In recent months, amid many terrible and tragic events, amid political
infighting and loss of control in the Palestinian camp, and amid
intensifying fears in Israel and beyond about the rise of a "new"
anti-semitism, there has been reason to despair that any acceptable way
forward will be found. Positions have grown entrenched, as symbolised by
Israel's security fence. Official peacemaking ground to a halt, with the
Americans distracted. The road map was increasingly dismissed as dead. Yet
the Geneva accord and the other plans, even if they progress no further in
purely substantive terms, have shown that despite this pervasive gloom, a
large constituency for peace does still exist on both sides of the divide.
The question is how best to tap into it.

The possible connection between this hopeful upsurge in peacemaking efforts
and the relative lull in violence is also worth careful consideration. There
have been no suicide bombings or targeted assassinations for almost two
months, although the timing of an Israeli operation in Ramallah yesterday
was distinctly unhelpful. Meanwhile, there has been a marked acceleration in
official, behind-the-scenes contacts, not least in London last week. Egypt
is again trying to induce hardline Palestinian factions to agree to a
ceasefire. The US envoy, William Burns, is back on the job at last. Even Mr
Sharon is once more talking about talks - and "painful concessions". It is
just possible that mindsets are changing. This is a moment to be seized, not
squandered.



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