Sharon And Bush Facing A Test

Maher Othman     Al-Hayat     2003/07/25

No doubt that the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is facing a harsh test. If he fails, his status will definitely weaken, and his political future will be jeopardized. This was never a secret, and was quite the contrary openly said by one of his closest persons, Minister of Information Nabil Amro. This harsh test is that he has to convince U.S. President Bush and his administration to see that the Palestinians' demands are met, especially since they are supposed to be part of the Israeli commitments stipulated in the Roadmap, and steps vital to achieving a peaceful settlement. These demands include the release of the detainees, freezing settlement building in the Palestinian territories, withdrawal from the West Bank and lifting the siege on the cities and on President Yasser Arafat, and stop the building of the racist separation wall, which the Sharon government claims is "a security wall," while it is in fact a savage means to deprive the Palestinians of large portions of their fertile land.

Abbas can point to the three-month ceasefire announced by the Palestinian factions, and which could be extended if Israel pledges to take positive steps such as releasing the detainees indiscriminately and without delay, and executing its commitments as per the first stage of the map.

But so far, Sharon's government doesn't seem to want Abbas to succeed, nor does it seem to want to implement its part of the Roadmap. Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom dismissed the dispute between the U.S. and Israel about the "separation wall" as a "misunderstanding" from the American side, which he claims was due to the Palestinians trying to convince the Americans that the wall was harming their interests and creating new facts on the ground! Israeli sources said that Sharon was preparing to notify President Bush of his intention to pursue the constructions.

A look at the current political maneuvers of the Sharon government and the position of the Bush administration towards them reveals that both parties are being tested to see to what extent they are really willing to achieve a peaceful, just and permanent settlement. For decades, the Palestinians have been victims of the Israeli occupation and the American tremendous support for the Jewish country, which is encouraging it to ignore the international resolutions.

President Bush played along with his radical Rightist ally Sharon, in the issue of "replacing" the Palestinian leadership, and considering him a welcome visitor to the White House and a "man of peace." President Bush praised the Palestinian Premier and declared his trust in him and in his will to implement the Roadmap, which calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005. Hence, Sharon and Bush are the ones to bear the responsibility of the success or failure of the current international peace plan, and the success or failure of the Palestinian Prime Minister, whom they both said they wanted to reinforce his status.

If the current truce does not end now, it will most probably soon because of Sharon' s obstinacy and insistence on ending it, because he does not want the Palestinians to be free and sovereign, and is working on creating "Eretz Israel." This man must be carefully watched, and must not be allowed to destroy the opportunity of achieving peace.