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Fact Files Palestine Issue Since Oslo Accords
Contents Preface
1. Maps Tracing the History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Preface
Subsequent to the election of Mahmoud Abbas as President of the Palestinian Authority on 9 January 2005, the Israel-Palestine peace process, in spite of pitfalls, seems to have gained some momentum. Abbas is for a peaceful and non-violent struggle to secure the Palestinian demands: withdrawal of Israeli army and removal of Israeli settlements from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem to be capital of the Palestinian state and the right of return of refugees to their homes in Israel. After a summit at Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh on 8 February, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a truce to end four years of violence in which about 3225 Palestinians and 950 Israelis are reported to have been killed. Abbas expects that the ceasefire will lead to a “new era of peace and hope.” US President George W. Bush affirmed on 21 February: … a settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is now within reach. … We are determined to see two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. The Factfile provides information on the Palestine issue. It includes UNSC resolutions (1947-2004), 1993 Declaration of Principles (Oslo Accords), the road map by Quartet (2003), press reviews, statements, interviews, articles, and a chronology of events.
Noor ul Haq
Islamabad
Maps Tracing the History of the Israeli-
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Facts on Israel’s Wall: |
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Upon Completion
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Projected Length of Wall: |
832 km, more than double the length of the Green Line.1 |
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Location of Wall: |
Only 6% of the wall will be within 100 meters of the Green Line. |
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Land to be de facto Annexed into Israel: |
47.6% of the Occupied West Bank |
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Percentage of Settlers Outside Wall: |
88.6%
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Percentage of Palestinians to be Trapped inside Wall: |
89.5%
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Number of Palestinians Isolated Between the Wall and the Green Line: |
249,000 (10.5% of the Palestinian West Bank population). Of this, approximately 20,000 Palestinians will be living in the “closed zone.” |
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Number of Palestinians who will be Separated from their Land by the Wall: |
329,000 (13.8% of the Palestinian West Bank population)
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Current: |
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Length of Wall: |
More than 200 km |
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Number of Palestinians Living in the “Closed Zone”: |
12,000 living in 20 towns/villages. |
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Location of Wall: |
To date, more than 124 km of the Wall is more than 1 km inside the Occupied West Bank. |
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Acres of Land Confiscated for Wall Construction: |
approximately 8,000 |
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Acres of Land Isolated between Wall and the Green Line: |
89,500 = 6.1% of the Occupied West Bank for current Wall. However, this will increase to 15% upon completion. |
The Green Line is approximately 320 km. The projected length consists of 652 km approved by Israel in October 2003 and June 2004 as well as the projected Wall in the Jordan Valley (132 km) announced by PM Sharon in March 2003. An additional 48 km wall may be built around the colony of Ma’ale Adumim.
PLO Negotiations
Affairs Department, September 2004
<http://www.nad-plo.org/f19.php>
In Exclusive Interviews, Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas
Survey the Future
Dec. 6 issue - Yasir Arafat's death has opened an unexplored landscape of hopes and hazards for Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, having just quelled a revolt within his own Likud Party over plans for a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, is trying to ignore assassination threats. And the going is no less risky for the new Palestine Liberation Organization leader, Mahmoud Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen), who narrowly escaped death in a Gaza gunfight only three days after Arafat died. Last week NewsWeek's Lally Weymouth talked with Sharon at his Shikmim Farm outside Tel Aviv and with Abbas at his Ramallah office. Both leaders spoke about the need to steer history on a new course. Excerpts:
Ariel Sharon
Weymouth: What made you decide that you would lead this country in a new direction and disengage from Gaza?
Sharon: I believe we have to find a solution to the situation here. The left cannot do it. The right is against it. I felt that it was my responsibility to bring an answer to the problem. In the past we did not have any partners, so I came up with this unilateral disengagement plan.
By doing this, you have opponents threatening not only your political career but also your life.
I don't worry about my life. Arabs always wanted to act [against me] but now the Jews are doing this. So for me, it is a strange situation. As one who defended Jews all his life, I now have to be secured against Jews. But I am fully committed to the plan.
After Arafat's death, do you think you might have a Palestinian partner?
I have met Abu Mazen many times and he was against terror, because he did not
think it would bring a solution to the Palestinians. Now it depends on whether
the [new Palestinian leadership] can bring an end to terror and incitement.
Then there might be a window of opportunity.
Will you coordinate your disengagement plan with the new Palestinian
leadership?
I am going to make every effort to coordinate our disengagement plan with the
new Palestinian government—one that can assume control over areas we evacuate.
You recently asked the Palestinian Authority to end incitement in broadcasting. Have you moderated your demands?
There are things they can do immediately—stopping incitement in the Palestinian broadcasting and the press. But that did not replace my demand for a cessation of terror.
Your chief of staff said publicly that Israel missed an opportunity to bolster moderate Palestinians when Abu Mazen was prime minister. He wants prisoner releases.
We are not going to release any murderers.
What will Israel do to facilitate the Palestinian elections?
We will take all the necessary steps to enable them to conduct their elections with as little interference as possible—by opening the roads and taking our forces out of their towns.
Are you ready to meet with Abu Mazen?
When they would like to meet, we will meet.
Do you worry about Iran's getting a nuclear weapon?
Iran is making every effort to possess a nuclear weapon. It seems that the steps taken by the IAEA and the Europeans are insufficient to stop Iran's nuclear program. The only real solution is a major international effort to exert economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran and to bring the issue to the U.N. Security Council, where sanctions can be imposed.
How big is Iran's role in instigating and financing terror on the West Bank and in Gaza?
Close to 80 percent of all terrorist activity in Samaria [the northern West Bank] was directed and financed either by Hizbullah or the Iranians. Iran continues to increase its involvement in terror attacks inside Israel, particularly through a small but radical minority of Israeli Arabs, which Iran supports and directs.
What is Syria's role?
Syria continues to provide shelter, sanctuary, operational bases and logistical support to terrorist organizations.
Reportedly, you gave Secretary Powell some secret information about the Iranian nuclear program.
We had a very good meeting with Secretary Powell. It's a very friendly administration. Maybe we've never had such a friendly administration.
Do you think there will be a lot of resistance [to a Gaza withdrawal] from the settlers?
There might be. We will make every effort that it be done quietly.
The Palestinians and Americans are saying the Israelis have got to stop targeted killings in the West Bank if the new Palestinian government is going to succeed.
It's our responsibility to secure Israeli lives.
In 1988 you started talking about separation from the Palestinians.
I suggested in 1988 during the government of Shamir that in order not to be
pushed back to the '67 borders, which is something Israel cannot accept, it
would be a good idea to divide the area—that Israel would hold those areas
which are strategically important for its defense.
Are you going to hand the [settlers'] houses to the Palestinians?
We will discuss that. There will be no political initiatives other than the
Roadmap to peace. And Israel will not evacuate under fire. We prefer a
coordinated evacuation but we will not tolerate any attacks during our
withdrawal. We are speaking about thousands of people—children, babies, women,
old people, animals.
Are you going to run again for prime minister?
Yes, the answer is yes. [The disengagement] is complicated and one should not do anything but help the disengagement plan go forward. I don't think that anybody will be able to do it except me.
Mahmoud Abbas
Weymouth: Many say that Arafat's death is a turning point. Do you see it that way?
Abbas: Arafat was a symbolic leader for the Palestinian people. I did the negotiations [for the Oslo peace agreement], but without Arafat, it would not have passed.
How do you envision the upcoming Palestinian elections?
The elections will take place for the presidency on Jan. 9.
Do you think you will be elected?
Supposedly. Hopefully.
In the United States, Prime Minister Sharon is perceived to be a man who has
changed and is now willing to abandon Gaza. How do you see him?
I received many signs from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and from the
Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, that Sharon will help us in the
elections.
He's going to let East Jerusalemites vote?
Yes, and he will [ease] checkpoints here and there.
Do you like Sharon's idea of unilateral disengagement from Gaza?
We are ready to take [Gaza] when we rebuild our security apparatus. If you
tell me [do it] now, I'll say I cannot, but I'm working very hard to rebuild
the security apparatus.
Disengagement must wait for you to rebuild your security apparatus?
Now we have some sort of chaos, especially in Gaza.
Reportedly, your security services and your jails have been destroyed.
We have to rebuild and rehabilitate. It will take some time. The Europeans are
ready to help us. The Egyptians are ready to help us with training and with
equipment. We are in need of many things.
I understand people are afraid to go out of their houses [in the West Bank].
Now, we are not controlling anything in the West Bank. Until now we are under
full occupation and we're asking the Israelis to withdraw from the cities and
the villages.
What will you do about Hamas?
I started a dialogue with Hamas, PIJ [Palestinian Islamic Jihad] and the Al Aqsa Brigades. I cannot say that we have reached an agreement. Our goal is to cool down the whole situation, to stop all kinds of violence and terror. We will ask the Israelis to stop their assassinations and house demolitions.
Reportedly, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are backed by Iran.
I cannot say that I have evidence that they are backed by Iran.
They almost killed you when you went to Gaza.
No, it was random shooting. Two [people] were killed. But they didn't intend to kill me.
There was widespread disappointment after Oslo when the Palestinian Authority failed to fight Hamas.
We fought Hamas in 1996. Now things have changed. We have to deal with them delicately. We have to ask them to stop everything—to have law and order.
What will they ask of you in return?
They want to participate in the parliamentary elections. I said yes, why not? They want to participate in the leadership. I said OK. They want—and we want them—to be inside the civil society, not outside. Once they become parties inside the civil society, I believe it will be a major change in our lives.
Sharon, reportedly, is under threat of assassination because of his plan to disengage.
I think he has received some warnings. [But] he is a strong man. He's strong in his government. I am still in the beginning.
Do you think Sharon is getting out of Gaza to keep the West Bank?
I don't know the way he thinks. I don't know if he wants Gaza to be first and
last.
When are you going to meet with him?
After the elections, I'm ready to meet at any time with Sharon.
Why did you start talking about how you would never give up the right of return?
I didn't say that. I'm not talking about anything beyond the Roadmap. According to the Roadmap, there should be a just and agreed-upon solution for the refugees according to [U.N. Resolution] 194. President Bush said that there should be a two-state solution; the Palestinian state should be independent, viable and contiguous.
Israel's chief of staff has said Israel missed a chance in your first term.
They missed many chances. They didn't help me. I concluded a ceasefire for 52
days. They didn't give me anything—lift any roadblocks, release any prisoners,
nothing at all. After that they said, 'We're sorry that we didn't help Abu
Mazen.' The Americans said the same, but what was the use? The government
collapsed. Now if they repeat the same experience with us, it will be
disastrous.
This time, what would you like to see Israel do?
They should ... stop the wall. I believe it is uncivilized to build this separation. They should stop all kinds of settlement activities, even what they call natural growth, and they should remove the outposts and release prisoners.
On the Israeli side it will always be the same question: can you curb terror?
This is one of our objectives—to cool down the whole situation, to stop
everything.
Do you see this as a second chance for the Palestinians?
Of Course. For the region and the international community as well. But if we miss this opportunity, there is no one to be blamed but ourselves.
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan. 9 - Mahmoud Abbas, who opposes continuing violence
against Israel, declared victory Sunday night in the election for president of
the Palestinian Authority after two surveys of voters leaving the polls showed
him winning by a large margin.
"We offer this victory to the soul of the brother martyr Yasir Arafat and to our people, to our martyrs and to 11,000 prisoners" in Israeli jails, Mr. Abbas, 69, told his supporters here.
Honking horns, waving flags and firing gunshots into the air, supporters celebrated an expected victory. The strong margin, if it is borne out in final results, should help give the quiet, cerebral Mr. Abbas the ability to remake and reinvigorate the Palestinian Authority and to try to put an end to violence.
Based on the voter surveys, released moments after the polls closed at 9 p.m., Mr. Abbas is expected to win election to a five-year term with about 65 percent of the vote, more than 40 percentage points ahead of his nearest challenger in a field of seven. Official results are not expected until Monday.
In Washington, President Bush welcomed the victory of Mr. Abbas, calling it "a historic day for the Palestinian people and the people of the Middle East," as administration officials prepared to increase the tempo of their involvement in the region while cautioning that Israel and the Palestinians must both take concrete steps to capitalize on the election of the new president.
It was the first presidential election in nine years, made necessary after the death of Mr. Arafat on Nov. 11. The voting was judged by international observers to be generally free and fair, with little interference from Israel, which eased travel curbs on Palestinians and largely halted military activity in the territories.
But there was concern about a turnout that was lower than expected on a chilly but sunny winter's day, and Palestinian election officials decided to keep the polls open two hours longer than originally planned. The election officials first said that Israeli restrictions at checkpoints and confusion at Jerusalem polling stations were the reasons for the extension. But the announcement came after reports of low turnout in some cities, including Ramallah, where election workers at one polling place, Al Qarami School, said that only 30 percent of those registered had voted by 4:30 p.m. The officials then acknowledged that they wanted more people to vote, because only 30 percent of the 1.8 million or so eligible voters had cast their ballots by noon.
The officials also declared during the late afternoon that voters who faced travel difficulties because of security restrictions, and so could not make it to their home polling places to cast their ballots, as was originally required, would be able to vote at any polling place by showing an identity card.
The voting was extended last month for municipal elections and in 1996, too, when the last presidential vote was held. Then, as now, the radical Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad called on their followers to boycott the vote.
One of the voter surveys estimated turnout at about 65 percent, but actual figures will not be available until Monday. In partial municipal elections last month in 26 towns and villages, turnout was 81 percent.
Mr. Abbas, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the candidate of the main Palestinian faction, Fatah, faced little real competition. His main challenger was an independent, Mustafa Barghouti, 50, a medical doctor and a human-rights campaigner.
Mr. Abbas was looking for a sizable popular mandate to provide him the legitimacy and authority to make difficult internal reforms, to reorganize Palestinian security services and to negotiate with Israel.
Despite their boycott call, Hamas spokesmen made it clear on Sunday that they would work with an elected president. Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, told reporters that Hamas could have run its own candidate if it had really wanted to undermine Mr. Abbas. "Our view is not to undermine," he said, but he insisted that armed resistance to Israel would continue, despite Mr. Abbas's call for a cease-fire.
Mr. Abbas, known as Abu Mazen, called the election a source of pride for Palestinians as he voted in Ramallah. "This process is taking place in a marvelous fashion and is an illustration of how the Palestinian people aspire to democracy," he said. He urged women in particular to exercise their right to vote.
Dr. Barghouti, while noting some voting irregularities, including complaints that the ink put on voters' thumbs to prevent fraud could be washed off, also praised the election. "I felt my dream is coming true," he said. "This is a great step for the Palestinian people, a good test of our institutions and proof to the world that we can establish an independent state." He called the election "free, and I hope fair."
Ekram Quraan, a graphics designer monitoring the vote at a school, called the day historic. "For us, it happens once in a lifetime" she said.
Waleed Obeidallah, a Palestinian-American, said: "This is milestone in our lives, and hopefully the peace process will be reignited. Israelis always say that they have no partner for peace, and now we are electing a president, and there are no excuses anymore."
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian legislature, spoke of a new process of democracy to hold leaders accountable. But she was most struck by the context. "This is a unique case of a people under occupation being asked to hold free and fair elections when they themselves are not free," she said. "I think it's unique in history. But this is a nation adamant to vote. It's an important internal test, and I think it's a turning point."
Michel Rocard, leader of the largest group of international observers, from the European Union, said there were few problems with the election despite Dr. Barghouti's complaints. There were some difficulties for voters in East Jerusalem, where Israel required Palestinians to vote in post offices, as if they were casting absentee ballots, given Israel's claim to sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Senators Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, and John E. Sununu, Republican of New Hampshire, led a delegation from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Mr. Biden said the election was "an important statement for the Palestinians and their pride and maturity, and it can change the world's attitudes toward the Palestinians after the death of Arafat."
Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said: "It has been a very good day. The moment is historic." He promised further European aid.
Israeli officials have made it clear in recent days that they support Mr. Abbas and that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his top ministers would like to meet with him as soon as possible. Israeli officials say they are willing to release more Palestinian prisoners and talk to Mr. Abbas about a more permanent easing of security measures.
The Israeli defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, said last week that he was willing to give a newly elected Palestinian leadership responsibility for security in Gaza and the major cities of the West Bank.
But Israel also wants Mr. Abbas to move quickly to reorganize his security services and to crack down in a serious and committed way on Palestinian militants attacking Israel and its civilians, as the Palestinians have promised to do in the first stage of the plan known as the road map for peace. The Israelis have promised to stop new settlement activity.
In a possible sign of solidarity with Palestinians opposed to the vote, the Lebanese group Hezbollah detonated a bomb under an Israeli jeep on Sunday along Israel's northern border, killing an Israeli officer. Israel responded with artillery fire and an airstrike and was investigating reports that an officer with the United Nations monitoring force was killed.
Steven
Erlanger,
The
New York Times,
10
January
2005
<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40817FC345D0C738DDDA80894DD404482>
That Mahmoud Abbas would win the Palestinian election was never in doubt. The question is how will his victory change a conflict that has in recent years crushed the Palestinian population and brought waves of terror to Israelis.
His election was probably the moment of greatest hope for the two sides since the Taba talks of early 2001 but behind any optimistic words it prompted in Ramallah, Jerusalem, Gaza or Washington lay one uncomfortable fact.
The intractable differences that have beset peacemaking all along remain unchanged.
Mr Abbas, popularly known as Abu Mazen, has pledged to be as unyielding as Yasser Arafat on the Palestinians' minimum conditions for peace:
· Israeli withdrawal from all the West Bank and Gaza Strip, equating to 22% of Palestine before the creation of Israel in 1948
· East Jerusalem to be the capital of the new Palestinian state
· A negotiated resolution for Palestinian refugees based on their right of return to homes in what is now Israel.
There is no sign that Israel is ready to accept any of these, leaving prospects for a final peace settlement seemingly as remote as ever.
Decisive Choice
Some Palestinians have been saying, therefore, that it won't be long before Mr Abbas will be singled out by Israel and the United States as an "obstacle to peace" just as Yasser Arafat, the previous elected Palestinian leader, was.
That said, there have been chinks of light opened up by the election of Mr Abbas.
Palestinians - so long accused by Israel of nursing a pathological culture of hatred towards it - have decisively chosen a man who favours negotiation and openly opposes what he sees as the counter-productive violence of the intifada.
That man can now finally step out from behind the shadow of Arafat - a figure who was seen by many as an obstacle to Palestinian aspirations to build a modern, democratic state, despite his centrality to the Palestinian national cause.
He is promising to reform the chaotic, corrupt and ineffective Palestinian Authority created by Arafat, bring order to the unruly security forces and rein in the armed militias that seized control of some Palestinian towns during the intifada.
A revival of peace talks may follow these things.
Meanwhile Israel - aware that it needs to do something to bolster the leadership of a man it says it can do business with - may begin easing some of the measures that make life in the occupied territories such a misery that it fuels Palestinian militancy.
Unique Opposition
The election itself - some administrative irregularities and problems with Israeli restrictions notwithstanding - was open and transparent enough to set standards in a region not known for democratically electing its rulers.
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MAHMOUD ABBAS Moderate head of main political faction Fatah
Seen as someone Israel will talk to
Willing to talk peace with Israel
Wants end to Palestinian armed uprising
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Criticism is rife, not least for the two-hour extension in voting and the mid-stream modification in registration rules that went with it.
Some critics believe it was prompted by the ruling Fatah movement's desire to increase the turnout - and therefore the credibility of Mr Abbas's election - and it may have allowed multiple voting.
But the very fact that one of those critics, runner-up Mustafa Barghouti, was able to run a vigorous campaign in opposition to Fatah, and win a respectable share of the vote, is almost unique in the Arab world.
It must be stressed, though, that in many cases electors were unwilling to be identified by the BBC as his supporters "until after the result" - a sign that they viewed the vote as secret but nevertheless feared repercussions for supporting the wrong candidate.
And we must remember that the militant group Hamas, which represents large swathes of the Palestinian population, boycotted the vote.
Israel will now be waiting for signs of Mr Abbas tackling the militant groups who spearheaded the intifada that has cost approximately 1,000 Israeli lives since September 2000.
Palestinians - who have had more than 3,000 people killed by Israeli forces in the same period - will look for solid improvements in their lives, both from Israel and from the institution building and reform programme promised by Mr Abbas.
Martin Asser, BBC
News,
14 January 2005
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4161769.stm>
Mahmoud Abbas Elected President: The Challenges
Ahead
On 9 January 2005, Palestinians in the Occupied Territories elected Mahmoud Abbas president of the Palestinian Authority. Abbas claimed victory over six other candidates with 62 percent of the vote. The organized, transparent election surprised many in the international community, however for Palestinians it was a day carried out with respect for the rule of law, similar to the smooth transfer of power within the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinian Authority (PA), and Fateh following the death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
With the election behind him, Abbas now faces several challenges from his own people and the international community. Can he build on the mandate given to him and widen his base among Barghouti supporters? Will Israel enable him to deliver on promises made to the international community?
The Challenges Ahead: Palestinians will almost immediately look to Abbas to improve their quality of life. After over four years of violence, the Palestinian economy has greatly deteriorated, as has Palestinian civil society. Israeli closures, military incursions and hundreds of checkpoints—which separate Palestinians from Palestinians, and Palestinians from vital services—have pushed the Palestinian economy to the verge of collapse. For this to change, Israel must cooperate with Palestinians and allow the free movement of people, goods and the delivery of vital services. Israel must allow Palestinian laborers, many of whom Israel does not consider to be security risks, to return to their jobs in Israel. Israel should remove checkpoints and cooperate with Palestinian officials regarding border crossings. Such moves by Israel are necessary to create the positive atmosphere among Palestinians that Abbas needs to resume political negotiations with Israel.
On his part, Abbas will have to act on his words. He will have to begin taking
steps to end the lawlessness in many parts of the Occupied Territories—a
condition created as a result of Israel’s destruction of the PA and
Palestinian security forces. Abbas should immediately begin reforming the
security forces by consolidating the various services and launch a weapons
collection campaign. These two factors will bring an end to the “militarized”
uprising. As conditions improve and negotiations resume on the basis of
international law, Palestinians will be able to give negotiations a chance.
Abbas must also address Palestinian grievances regarding corrupt
government officials. He will need to create a government of competent
ministers and strengthen and support democratic institution building. He must
allow freedom of political expression and continue to dialogue with Hamas,
which expressed its opposition to the presidential elections by discouraging,
not forbidding, its members from voting. Hamas’ decision not to use arms to
disrupt the election and its participation in last month’s municipal
elections, as well as its planned participation in the upcoming legislative
election, are encouraging signs that Abbas may not face insurmountable
difficultly in bringing Hamas closer to national political participation.
The United States should be careful not to repeat the mistakes of the past with Abbas. He will need political and financial support from the U.S to help him strengthen his mandate and sustain the credibility he gained in the election. The U.S. should ensure that Israel take immediate, concrete steps to withdraw its aggravation of daily life in the Occupied Territories. At the same time the U.S. must bring the two sides back to the negotiating table and ensure that the Gaza Disengagement Plan is a part of, not separate from, the Road Map. The U.S. mediators must listen to Palestinian concerns and not adopt carte blanche Israeli positions regarding the final status issues such as Jerusalem, borders, refugees and settlements.
A U.S. financial package for vital services such as health care, schools, infrastructure and job creation will ease Palestinian hardship and help Abbas as he heads into negotiations with Israel.
The main
challenge for Abbas, Israel and the U.S. is to not allow the democratic
process in Palestine to slip into anarchy but to build on the opportunity to
achieve peace and justice. The election, praised by international observers as
fair and free was carried out under occupation. The three sides must now work
together to make the Palestinian state a free, democratic, viable, and
independent state that can continue to serve as a model to the Arab world.
Samar Assad is Senior Analyst at The Palestine Center- Washington, DC.
Samar Assad, 14 January 2005
<http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2005/jan/jan14.html>
Who Envies Abu-Mazen?
Now it’s official: “the First Democracy in the Arab World” or “the Second Democracy in the Middle East” has been born.
The Palestinian elections have impressed the world. Until now, if elections were held in any Arab country at all, there was only one candidate, and he received 99.62% of the vote. Yet here there were seven candidates, there was a lively election campaign and the winning candidate got only 62%.
The truth is, of course, that Palestinian democracy existed already. In 1996, the Palestinians held elections for the presidency and the parliament, monitored by international observers. Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian struggle for liberation, was not the only one standing; another candidate, Samikha Khalil, a respected woman, did garner almost 10% of the vote. But because of Arafat’s dominant personality, the insufficient separation between the branches of government and the relentless Israeli defamation campaign against him, many people around the world did not recognize the Palestinian democracy.
Now the situation is different. Nobody can deny the near-miracle that has happened: the clean transition from the Arafat era to the era of his successors, and the fair elections held under strict international supervision. And, most importantly, democracy was not imposed from the outside, at the whim of a foreign president, but grew from below. And not under normal conditions, but under a brutal occupation.
The whole world acknowledges the Palestinian democracy. That, by itself, creates a new political situation.
Much now depends on the personality of Abu-Mazen. He is setting out under the shadow of his great predecessor. Those who succeed a Founding Father always have a problem at the beginning, like the heirs of Bismarck or Ben-Gurion.
Just think of the man who succeeded Gamal Abd-al-Nasser, the founder of modern Egypt and the idol of the entire Arab world. When Nasser died, I asked my friend, Henry Curiel, what kind of person his almost unknown successor was.
Curiel, who founded the first (mainly Jewish) Egyptian Communist party, had a razor-sharp mind. In Paris he had set up a kind of international center of assistance for liberation movements the world over, while maintaining close ties to his homeland. His answer was short and sharp: “Sadat is a simpleton.”
He was not alone in this view. Egyptians used to tell a joke about the dark spot on Sadat’s brow: “At every meeting of the Free Officers Committee (that was then ruling the country), Nasser would ask his colleagues to express their opinion. One after the other they stood up and spoke. At the end, Sadat too would get up to speak. Nasser would put his finger on his brow and gently push him back into his chair, saying: Oh, sit down, Anwar!”
Yet upon assuming the presidency, Sadat astounded the world. He sent his army across the Suez Canal, achieving the first significant military victory ever over the Israeli army. His visit to Jerusalem was a brilliant act without precedent in history. Never before had a leader visited the capital of the enemy while still in a state of war.
Abu-Mazen has lived all his life in the shadow of Arafat. He was not a military leader, unlike the adored Abu-Jihad, who was murdered by Israel. He was not in command of the security apparatus, unlike Abu-Iyad, who was murdered by Abu-Nidal. Since 1974, he was closely associated with Arafat’s historic efforts to achieve a political settlement with Israel, and in charge of the contacts with the Israeli peace forces. I myself met him for the first time in Tunis, in 1983.
I shall not be surprised if Abu Mazen, as the president of the Palestinian State-in-the-Making, exhibits talents and attributes that did not find their proper expression during the Arafat era. He may yet become the Palestinian Sadat.
Of course, Abu-Mazen is very different from Sadat. The Egyptian leader had a dramatic flair (like Menachem Begin), he loved big gestures (like Arafat). Abu-Mazen’s style is the very opposite.
And another huge difference: Sadat was in absolute control of a big country. He could afford to ignore different views. Abu-Mazen does not enjoy this luxury.
He brings with him to his job a valuable dowry: his relationship with the President of the United States.
George Bush is a simple fellow. He likes some people and hates others, and this decides the policy of the greatest power on earth. He likes Ariel Sharon and fawns on him. Since he has never been in battle, he admires the combat-rich Israeli general. Sharon personifies for him the American myth – the annihilation of the Indians and the conquest of the territories. Arafat, on the other hand, reminded him of an Indian chief, whose language is unintelligible and whose ploys are satanic.
When Bush saw Abu-Mazen in Aqaba, a respectable person in a business suit, without beard or keffiyeh, he liked him on sight. That’s why he congratulated him this week and invited him to the White House. The question is whether Abu-Mazen can translate this attitude quickly into political achievements.
The situation presents Sharon with a difficult dilemma. His natural inclination is to do unto Abu-Mazen what he did so successfully to Arafat: demonize him and cut his ties with America. Already he is muttering darkly about Abu-Mazen’s unwillingness to destroy the “terrorist organizations”.
But Sharon knows that he must behave with the utmost care, so as not to make Bush angry. As long as Bush thinks that Abu-Mazen is O.K., Sharon must not be seen to undermine him. This, too, gives Abu-Mazen a chance.
So what can he do?
His first task is to come to terms with the refusal-organizations. No leader can conduct national policy with armed factions firing in the opposite direction.
Ben-Gurion was in a similar situation before the foundation of Israel, when faced with the Irgun and the Stern Group who acted independently. Once he tried to integrate them into a unified “Hebrew Revolt Movement”, at another time he handed their fighters over to the British police. But it is essential to remember: Ben-Gurion started the decisive confrontation – by shelling the Irgun ship Altalena - only after the State of Israel had already come into being. Then the two organizations were incorporated into the new Israeli army.
Anyone who says that Abu-Mazen is ready or able to start a civil war against Hamas does not know what he is talking about. Palestinian public opinion would not stand for it. Most Palestinians believe that without the armed struggle, Sharon would not be talking of withdrawing from Gaza. They are ready for a cease-fire in order to give Abu-Mazen a chance. But they do not want the liquidation of the fighting organizations, because it may be necessary to renew the armed struggle if Abu-Mazen can’t convince the Americans and the Israelis to enable the Palestinians to realize their national aims.
In his dealings with Hamas, Abu-Mazen, like Arafat, will prefer a combination of negotiations, political pressure and mobilizing public opinion. He will have to convince the armed factions to accept the national strategy that is adopted by the leadership. In return, he will have to welcome Hamas into the political system, the PLO and the parliament.
The attack at the Karni crossing this week was a demonstration of power by the armed factions. It was a classic guerilla action, much as the recent destruction of an army post on the “Philadelphi Axis”. The organizations want to prove that they have not been vanquished, but rather that they have achieved a draw with the Israeli army. If a cease-fire is arranged, it will not be a sign of weakness on their part. In the same way, the Yom Kippur attack preceded the Egyptian-Israeli peace, and the Hizbullah guerilla war preceded the withdrawal from Lebanon.
If Abu-Mazen achieves such a cease-fire, he will be able to address his main task: to win over Israeli and international public opinion and to change the policy of the United States.
Sadat succeeded in both. But Sadat was dealing with Menachem Begin, who was willing to relinquish Egyptian territory in order to continue his struggle against the Palestinians and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. Sharon, too, opposes the creation of a Palestinian state in all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with its capital in East Jerusalem. But Abu-Mazen, like Arafat, cannot and will not be satisfied with anything less than what is now a sanctified aim.
That is another huge difference between Sadat and Abu-Mazen: Sadat came to Jerusalem only after he was secretly assured that Begin was ready to give back all of Sinai. Sharon, on the other hand, is promising Abu-Mazen nothing at all.
Abu-Mazen was sworn in today. Many hope for his success, very few envy him.
An Israeli author and activist. He is the head of the Israeli peace movement, "Gush Shalom"
Uri Avnery, 15 January 2005
<http://www.amin.org/eng/uri_avnery/2005/jan15.html>
PLO Calls Halt to Attacks
AL QUDS, Jan 16: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday gave his army orders to crush militants in the Gaza Strip as the Palestine Liberation Organization called for an end to attacks that "harm the national interest".
"The current situation is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue," Sharon said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting as he accused new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas of doing nothing to stop the attacks.
"The Tsahal (army) and the security forces have received orders to operate without any limits on time or their modus operandi to act against the terrorist organizations. "These instructions will remain valid as long as the Palestinians fail to lift even a single finger" against the armed factions, he added.
The order is further proof that Sharon has already lost his patience with Abbas, who was only sworn in as Palestinian leader on Saturday, over his failure to bring factions such as radical Islamic movement Hamas to heel.
He has already ordered a freeze to all contacts with the Palestinian Authority in the aftermath of an attack on a border crossing between Gaza and Israel which left six Israelis dead.
The executive committee of the PLO, which is led by Mr Abbas, said on Sunday that attacks which gave Israel an "excuse" to block progress in the peace process had to stop.
"The committee gave its full support to Abu Mazen's (Abbas's) inauguration speech to stop all military acts that harm our national interest," said a statement after the decision-making body met in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Such attacks merely "give an excuse to the Israeli position which is aimed at sabotaging Palestinian stability and the implementation of the roadmap," the committee added in reference to a troubled Middle East peace plan.
In his inauguration speech on Saturday, Mr Abbas denounced militant attacks for undermining the atmosphere needed for a "credible, serious peace process" but he stopped short of announcing how he intended to halt the attacks.
Israeli Interior Minister Ophir Pines, who joined Sharon's new coalition last week, said it was time for Abbas to take firm action against the men of violence.
"Abu Mazen has clearly said that he is opposed to terrorism but now his words must be translated into action," said Pines. "He must prove his determination to confront the terrorists."
Mr Abbas was due to travel to Gaza on Wednesday for talks with the factions aimed at reaching an agreement on a cease fire, foreign minister Nabil Shaath said as he criticized the new orders for the army from Sharon. -AFP
Dawn,
17 January 2005
<http://www.dawn.com/2005/01/17/top14.htm>
Joint Palestinian-Israeli Public Opinion Poll
In The Post Arafat Era, Palestinians and Israelis are more willing to Compromise: For the First Time Majority Support for Clinton’s Permanent Status Settlement Package
These are the results of the most recent poll conducted jointly by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Total Palestinian sample size is 1319 adults interviewed face-to-face in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 120 randomly selected locations between December 30 and 31, 2004.The margin of error is 3%.The Israeli sample includes 501 adult Israelis interviewed by phone in Hebrew, Arabic or Russian between January 9 and 10 2005. The margin of error is 4.5%.
The poll was planned and supervised by Dr. Yaacov Shamir, Truman Fellow and professor of Communication and Journalism at the Hebrew University, currently at the US Institute of Peace, and Dr. Khalil Shikaki, professor of Political Science and director of PSR.
Summary of Findings:
The joint poll aimed at examining possible changes in Palestinian and Israeli public attitudes in the post Arafat era regarding six basic elements of Israeli-Palestinian permanent status negotiations: (1) Final borders and territorial exchange, (2) Refugees, (3) Jerusalem, (4) A demilitarized Palestinian state, (5) Security arrangements, and (6) End of conflict. Questions regarding similar and identical elements were asked in December 2003. While the 2003 elements were presented as constituting the main components of the Geneva Initiative, this poll made no mention of the Geneva initiative and the elements were presented as constituting a possible permanent status agreement. The poll also sought to revisit a question asked in June 2003 regarding public willingness to accept a settlement that would contain a mutual recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people and Palestine as the state of the Palestinian people. The findings indicate a significant increase toward more dovish views among both Israelis the Palestinians compared to the situation 12 and 18 months ago. Here are the main findings:
(1) Final Borders and Territorial Exchange
Among Palestinians 63% support or strongly support and 35% oppose or strongly oppose an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with the exception of some settlement areas in less than 3% of the West Bank that would be swapped with an equal amount of territory from Israel in accordance with a map that was presented to respondents. The map was identical to that presented to respondents in December 2003. At that time, support for this compromise, with its map, stood at 57% and opposition at 41%.
Among Israelis 55% support and 43% oppose a Palestinian state in the entirety of Judea Samaria and the Gaza Strip except for several large blocks of settlements in 3% of the West Bank which will be annexed to Israel. The Palestinians will receive in return territory of similar size along the Gaza Strip. In December 2003, 47% of the Israelis supported this component while 50% opposed it.
(2) Refugees
Among Palestinians, 46% support and 50% oppose a refugee settlement in which both sides agree that the solution will be based on UN resolutions 194 and 242. The refugees would be given five choices for permanent residency. These are: the Palestinian state and the Israeli areas transferred to the Palestinian state in the territorial exchange mentioned above; no restrictions would be imposed on refugee return to these two areas. Residency in the other three areas (in host countries, third countries, and Israel) would be subject to the decision of these states. As a base for its decision Israel will consider the average number of refugees admitted to third countries like Australia, Canada, Europe, and others. All refugees would be entitled to compensation for their “refugeehood” and loss of property. In December 2003, only 25% agreed with an identical compromise while 72% opposed it.
Among Israelis 44% support such an arrangement compared to 35% who supported it in December 2003.
(3) Jerusalem
In the Palestinian Public 44% support and 54% oppose a Jerusalem compromise in which East Jerusalem would become the capital of the Palestinian state with Arab neighborhoods coming under Palestinian sovereignty and Jewish neighborhoods coming under Israel sovereignty. The Old City (including al Haram al Sharif) would come under Palestinian sovereignty with the exception of the Jewish Quarter and the Wailing Wall that would come under Israeli sovereignty. In December 2003, an identical compromise had a similar reception with 46% supporting it and 52% opposing it.
Among Israelis however, only 39% agree and 60% disagree to this arrangement in which the Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem including the old city and the Temple Mount will come under Palestinian sovereignty, the Jewish neighborhoods including the Jewish quarter and the Wailing Wall will come under Israeli sovereignty, East Jerusalem will become the capital of the Palestinian state and West Jerusalem the capital of Israel. In December 2003 41% supported this arrangement and 57% opposed it.
(4) Demilitarized Palestinian State
Among Palestinians 27% support and 61% oppose the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that would have no army, but would have a strong security force and would have a multinational force deployed in it to ensure its security and safety. Israel and Palestine would be committed to end all forms of violence directed against each other. A similar compromise that contained all these elements with the exception of the part on the deployment of a multinational force received in December 2003 the support of 36% and the opposition of 63%.
Among Israelis 68% agree and 30% disagree to this arrangement compared to 61% who agreed and 38% who disagreed to it a year ago in December 2003.
(5) Security Arrangements
In the Palestinian Public 53% support and 45% oppose a compromise whereby the Palestinian state would have sovereignty over its land, water, and airspace, but Israel will have the right to use the Palestinian airspace for training purposes, and would maintain two early warning stations in the West Bank for 15 years. A multinational force would remain in the Palestinian state and in its border crossings for an indefinite period of time. The task of the multinational force would be to monitor the implementation of the agreement, and to monitor territorial borders and coast of the Palestinian state including the presence at its international crossings. In December 2003, a similar compromise that contained these same elements with the exception of the part on the multinational force received the support of 23% and the opposition of 76%.
In the Israeli Public 61% support and 37% oppose this arrangement compared to 50% who supported it and 46% who opposed it a year ago in December 2003.
(6) End of Conflict.
In the Palestinian Public 69% support and 29% oppose a compromise on ending the conflict that would state that when the permanent status agreement is fully implemented, it will mean the end of the conflict and no further claims will be made by either side. The parties will recognize Palestine and Israel as the homelands of their respective peoples. An identical question received in December 2003 the support of 42% and the opposition of 55%.
In the Israeli Public 76% support and 23% oppose this component in the final status framework. In December 2003, 66% of the Israelis supported it while 33% opposed it.
The Whole Package
Among Palestinians 54% support and 44% oppose the whole package combining the elements as one permanent status settlement. In December 2003, 39% supported and 58% opposed an identical overall combined package presented in the context of the Geneva Initiative.
Among Israelis 64% support and 33% oppose all the above features together taken as one combined package. A year ago only 47% of the Israelis supported and 49% opposed a similar overall package presented in the context of the Geneva initiative.
The main difference between the December 2003 and the December 2004 versions presented to both Israelis and Palestinians is that while the first version stated that the package was that of the Geneva initiative, the second did not. In addition, in presenting the elements of the compromise in December 2004, we merged the parts dealing with the multinational force (presented in 2003 as a separate element) into the two elements of the demilitarized state and the security arrangements.
Mutual Recognition of Identity
Among Palestinians 63% support and 35% oppose the proposal that after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and the settlement of all issues in dispute, including the refugees and Jerusalem issues, there would be a mutual recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people and Palestine as the state of the Palestinian people. In June 2003, only 52% of the Palestinians supported this proposal and 46% opposed it.
Among Israelis 70% support and 16% oppose the mutual recognition of identity proposal. In June 2003, 65% of the Israelis supported it and 33% opposed it.
It should be emphasized that these figures have been obtained after a prolonged period of reduced violence between the two sides and during the Palestinian election campaign. In addition as mentioned above the current survey has been detached from the Geneva initiative context within which the December 2003 questions were asked.
Summary Table of the Findings
|
Changes in Support for Clinton’s Permanent Settlement Framework Among Israelis and Palestinians in the Last Year |
||||
|
|
Israelis |
Israelis |
Palestinians Dec. 2003 |
Palestinians Dec. 2004 |
|
1) Borders and Territorial Exchange |
47% |
55% |
57% |
63% |
|
2) Refugees |
35% |
44% |
25% |
46% |
|
3) Jerusalem |
41% |
39% |
46% |
44% |
|
4) Demilitarized Palestinian State |
61% |
68% |
36% |
27% |
|
5) Security Arrangements |
50% |
61% |
23% |
53% |
|
6) End of Conflict |
66% |
76% |
42% |
69% |
|
Overall Package |
47% |
64% |
39% |
54% |
|
Mutual Recognition of Identity |
65% |
70% |
52% |
63% |
This joint survey was conducted with the support of the Ford Foundation Cairo office and the Japanese Government.
18 January 2005
<http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2005/jan/jan182.html>
Mid-East Press Looks to Truce
With Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas reporting significant progress in his talks with militants to end attacks on Israel, the press on both sides acknowledges his achievement in producing several days of calm.
Palestinian commentators say Mr Abbas has seized the initiative, and rally to his flag. Israeli comment is also cautiously optimistic, with even conservative commentators looking to Israel for a response.
After President Mahmoud Abbas's statements about progress in the national dialogue about a ceasefire, what is required now is a clear Israeli commitment, and an intensive international push, to translate this mutual commitment into a resumption of the peace process. Otherwise, all the Palestinian leadership's hard work will come to nothing.
Al-Quds (Palestinian), from editorial
The Palestinian factions feel and truly understand that the conditions surrounding the Palestinian cause - both at home and abroad - have changed. Abu Mazen [Mr Abbas] has a broad public mandate to end the intifada's militarisation and prioritise the political approach.. Our people have tired of their continuing harsh living conditions influenced by some of the resistance operations.
Al-Ayyam (Palestinian), from commentary by Ashraf al-Ajrami
Developments behind the scenes, the dialogue and what is happening on the ground lead us to believe that the factions have taken on board the need to adapt, revise their thinking and consider a ceasefire... The realism of Abu Mazen's policy may yet snatch more and more of the political initiative from the [Israeli] government's hand, because the Palestinians have swept away the first obstacle to the roadmap.
Al-Ayyam, from commentary by Talal Awkal
The deployment of Palestinian security forces in the no-man's-land in the northern Gaza Strip is the first test of its kind for the Palestinian Authority's ability to control its territories... The deployment itself is an achievement for the new presidency. Any attempt by Palestinian factions to penetrate this deployment will look like a bid to scupper the democratic march.
Al-Ayyam, from commentary by Ghasan Zaqatan
Now the Palestinians will look with disdain at any patronising political expressions from Israel about goodwill gestures... We are now in a competitive negotiating position because our achievements since President [Yasser] Arafat's death are the test of our self-worth.
Al-Ayyam, from commentary by Hasan al-Batal
We should not lose any time in our struggle on the internal front [for reform], and on the external front [for talks with Israel]. This struggle now demands that we apply all our strength and resolve to reconstructing the Palestinian Authority's institutions. But we need the tools which will enable us to engage in this political and diplomatic struggle and pursue it until victory. The question is: Can we fight both these battles at the same time?
Al-Ayyam, from commentary by Samih Shbaib
Whether Abu Mazen manages to broker a ceasefire agreement that can ride out the many potholes on its road to fruition, the chairman has already chalked up one considerable achievement: he has brought about a turn-around which makes it clear that the changes in the Palestinian leadership have created a new basis for a different reality, a change that binds the Israeli leadership to urgently change the old hard disk that drives its analysis and response systems.
Yediot Aharonot (Israeli), from editorial
Abu Mazen's desire to broker a ceasefire with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, their acknowledgement of him as a legitimate and patriotic leader with whom they can do business, the deployment of Palestinian security forces in the northern Gaza Strip, and the lull in the attacks on Sderot - these all open the way, for the first time, to an end to the armed intifada. But the change will not occur without something in return from Israel. Abu Mazen will want to prove that quiet pays, that his long-standing opposition to violence was justified and that without violence, the Palestinians can achieve things, too. For this to happen, a mental and practical change on the part of Israel is needed. Israel will have to declare a ceasefire publicly in return for the Palestinian truce, and it will have to honour its declaration even if stumbles across an opportunity to strike at a strategic or random target.
Haaretz (Israeli), from editorial
The strategy of Hamas is to agree to a let-up to facilitate the Israeli withdrawal and subsequent rehabilitation of life in Gaza, and thereafter to participate in the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council... These things may certainly arouse hope for relative quiet in the near term. But this is a quiet liable to end at any moment for a number of reasons. One of them is the fact that even during the desired period of calm, the production of mortar shells and rockets in Gaza continues at full throttle... Sooner or later, information will accumulate at Israeli intelligence about the production and storage of this materiel, and additional information about tunnels and terror activists... The moment that Israeli restraint can no longer be maintained is also the moment that the quiet will end.
Haaretz, from commentary by Danny Rubinstein
The ceasefire has not yet been officially declared, but the word on the Gaza streets yesterday was that the war is over. For four days now, daily life in Gaza has been calm... Hamas and Islamic Jihad spokesmen may hasten to deny they have agreed to a ceasefire, but on the ground - and this is where it matters - the winds of hope are blowing.
Yediot Aharonot, from commentary by Roni Shaked
This ceasefire is short-lived, say the residents of Sderot, it will not hold. They are most certainly right. Any reasonable analysis of the interests, impulses and character of those involved in the Middle East wars leads to one conclusion: the exchange of fire will be renewed. It may take a month, a year, or maybe even just a week, if not because of Hamas, because of one of the ephemeral terrorist organizations, or Iran, or Hezbollah, or because the contacts between Israel and the Palestinians grind to a halt. The challenge is to enjoy the pause as if there were no more terrorism to come, and to prepare for a renewal of terrorism as if there were no ceasefire.
Yediot Aharonot, from commentary by Nahum Barnea
BBC News,
24 January 2005
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4201337.stm>
The weekend deployment of over 3,000 police by the Palestinian Authority along Gaza's border with Israel presents a new hope for cessation of hostilities between the two sides.
The police have been deployed to prevent rocket attacks by Palestinian militants against neighbouring Israeli villages. Israel has praised the latest move by President Mahmoud Abbas, with its deputy prime minister calling it "really impressive".
Meanwhile, Mr Abbas has been holding consultations with Islamic radical groups in Gaza, urging them to cease attacks against Israeli targets so that the stalled peace process can be restarted. Since the beginning of the intra-Palestine dialogue in Gaza last Wednesday, there has been a lull in hostilities from both sides - the longest so far in months since the second Intifada began in September 2000.
The US and Israel had ostracized Yasser Arafat and broken off all contact with him. They see Mr Abbas as someone they are willing to talk peace with. His decision now to start a dialogue with hard-line Islamists such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad to forge a united Palestinian stance before restarting peace negotiations with Israel should be seen as an effort to initiate a healing process.
There are indications from Gaza that the militants respect the mandate given to Mr Abbas by the Palestinian people and that Hamas is considering the idea of accepting a Palestinian state comprising the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with Al Quds as its capital.
This is a significant step on the part of the militants who have long seen the destruction of Israel as the only means to reclaim a Palestinian state. The challenge before Mr Abbas is now to build on this, bring Hamas and other radical organizations into the mainstream of politics and persuade them to opt for the political process rather than pursue a violent struggle.
Israel will have to give up its own policy of state terrorism. Tel Aviv's decision to ease restrictions on Palestinians entering Israel proper from Gaza following last Friday's police deployment by the Palestinian Authority is a good beginning. Ending occupation of the Palestinian territories by pulling out Israeli troops from there would be the next logical step forward.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the beginning of the second Intifada. Palestinians have lost some 4,000 lives - a majority of them unarmed civilians - including a number of radical leaders who have been target-killed by Israel.
The Israeli death toll has reached the 1,000 mark, with tit-for-tat attacks continuing from both sides. But the biggest casualty of it all has been the peace process, with President George Bush acting on behalf of the so-called Quartet comprising the US, EU, UN and Russia, first launching a roadmap to peace plan in April 2003 and then reneging on it.
Mr Abbas has now vowed to jumpstart the process but he cannot do that alone. A viable Palestinian state will have to be at peace both with itself and with Israel. While he is expected to set about taking care of that at his end, Israel and the US will have to do much more. As Israel's patron, the onus of building on this new hope for peace rests squarely on the US.
Editorial, Dawn, 24 January 2005
<http://www.dawn.com/2005/01/24/ed.htm>
Palestinian Factions Fuel Optimism of Ceasefire
Accord
GAZA CITY -- Radical Islamist groups said Monday they had narrowed their differences with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas over his calls for a ceasefire but insisted Israel must reciprocate.
And in the West Bank, Israeli bulldozers resumed construction of a controversial section of the vast separation barrier deep inside Palestinian territory.
Senior Israeli officials meanwhile were divided over how to respond to Abbas' efforts to restore calm after four and a half years of violence, with the hawkish Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the government should not be obliged to reciprocate.
Abbas, who has been in Gaza since January 18 in a bid to persuade factions such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad to lay down their weapons, expressed confidence in a television interview Sunday that an agreement could be reached soon.
Both groups echoed his optimism on Monday as a key mediator in their talks said that an unofficial "cooling down" period was already in place.
"We have reached, in principal, agreement on important issues and the differences are very narrow," Mushir al-Masri, a spokesman for the radical Islamist group, told Agence France-Presse.
"Everyone on the Palestinian side is determined to have a collective position," he added.
Abbas, elected president of the Palestinian Authority on January 9, is understood to be trying to tempt the factions into a change of strategy by dangling the carrot of participation in the political process.
While both Hamas and Jihad boycotted the presidential contest they have agreed to take part in July's legislative elections and in municipal polls, which are due to take place in Gaza later this week.
Masri said the discussions focused on political participation, including the idea of Hamas joining the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
"Several issues were discussed, including the internal situation, corruption and political participation inside the PLO and the Palestinian Authority," he added without giving further details.
Nafaz Azzam, part of the Jihad delegation, said there had been agreement on many core issues, while remaining differences could be ironed out at a later date.
Both factions were unequivocal however in their insistence that Israel must not sit on its hands.
"Of course there can be no talk of a ceasefire without a price being paid by Israel," Masri said.
Ziad Abu Amr, a former Palestinian cabinet minister who is seen as playing an instrumental role at the truce talks, confirmed that the factions had agreed to a period of quiet while awaiting Israel's response.
"The Palestinian parties have agreed to calm the situation and we are waiting to see if Israel is ready to respond to that then to hold a truce," he told Al-Quds newspaper.
But Netanyahu said he saw no reason for compromise by Israel.
"I don't see why Israel must give something," he told army radio.
"They are the side that transgressed ... that tried to use terror to press for the terrible results they sought."
Deputy Prime Minister and Labour party leader Shimon Peres however, praised Abbas, telling army radio: "Abu Mazen has made enormous efforts against terrorism but this does not signal that he has total control."
Meanwhile, a Palestinian man who was critically injured when Israeli troops opened fire on his car in the southern West Bank late last month, died Monday, his family told Agence France-Presse.
Yasser Jabarin, 30, sustained a critical head injury on Dec. 26 when troops fired on his car at a checkpoint at the southernmost tip of the West Bank.
His death brought to 4,716 the overall toll since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, including 3,661 Palestinians and 981 Israelis, according to an Agence France-Presse tally.
In the northern West Bank, Israeli bulldozers began working on one of the most controversial sections of the separation barrier deep in Palestinian territory after an eight-month pause when the construction was halted by a court order.
Palestinian security sources in Salfit town, just south of the Jewish settlement of Ariel, said three bulldozers began work in the late morning, clearing land belonging to Salfit and to the neighboring village of Iskaka.
Work on the Ariel section of the vast barrier was halted on June 25 by order of the Israeli supreme court following an appeal lodged a month earlier
by the Salfit mayor.
Agence France-Presse, World News, 25 January 2005
<http://news.inq7.net/common/print.php?index=1&story_id=25375&site_id=38>
Abbas Visits Moscow for Talks with Putin
The Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, was today holding talks with the
Russian president, Vladimir Putin, at the Kremlin as he attempted to win
Moscow's support prior to peace talks with Israel.
Mr Putin expressed hope of renewed impetus in the Middle East peace process following Mr Abbas's succession of Yasser Arafat, and said he would "work actively" to help. Russia has traditionally played a secondary role to the US in Middle East peace efforts, but Arab nations have expressed recent interest in an increased contribution from Moscow.
Analysis in Russia's Gazeta daily newspaper today suggested Mr Abbas's trip - his first outside the Middle East since his election - showed that he intended Russia to be an ally in talks with Israel.
Reports suggest the peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis could begin on February 8. They would be the first direct negotiations between the two sides since 2000.
In a further sign of progress, Israel was preparing to transfer responsibility for security in several West Bank towns to the new Palestinian leadership this week - the latest move towards securing a permanent ceasefire.
The move follows more than a week of relative quiet after Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades agreed to Mr Abbas's attempts to bring all sides into a ceasefire.
However, there were reports of violence today, with Palestinian and UN officials saying a 10-year-old Palestinian girl had been shot dead by Israeli tank fire while inside a UN school in a Gaza Strip refugee camp.
The Palestinian officials said the girl had been hit in the head as she walked inside the school, and that a second girl had been wounded in the incident. Israeli troops also killed a 65-year-old man who had entered an unauthorised area near an army post.
Speaking in Moscow, Mr Putin told Mr Abbas: "Life in the region goes on, and in Palestine there are many problems that have been waiting to be resolved for decades. We strongly hope that you ... will be able to take steps toward improving the situation in respect to Israel as well as the socio-economic situation in Palestine.
"We are ready to work actively as before, together with the international community, to help solve all these problems."
Mr Abbas expressed his gratitude to Russia, and said it could be critical in helping to achieve what he called "a historic chance for peace".
"We hope that the position of Russia, the support and help given both on the bilateral basis and as part of the quartet of international mediators, will have a decisive importance for reaching a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East," he said.
Earlier, Mr Abbas told the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, that he had worked hard to make Moscow his first foreign destination following his election earlier this month. "It shows the respect the Palestinian people feel toward the Russian people, and it shows the important role that Russia plays on the world arena, above all in the Middle East," he said.
The Palestinian leader also met Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament. "We have always supported you in your difficult fight for independence," Mr Gryzlov told him. "Today, we are seeing quite favourable conditions for a peaceful settlement."
Mr Abbas, who received his doctorate from Moscow State University, told Mr Gryzlov that he had warm memories of his student days in the city.
Russian officials said the private talks with Mr Abbas would focus on Palestinian-Russian relations, Iraq, democratisation and reforms in the Middle East.
The Syrian president, Bashar Assad, visiting Moscow last week, played up Russia's influence on the world stage and secured the writing off of most of his country's multi-million dollar debt to Moscow.
Mark Oliver, Guardian, 31 January 2005
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1402548,00.html>
JERUSALEM, Jan. 30 - Israel is prepared to hand over security control of
several West Bank cities to the Palestinians in the next few days, Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz said Sunday, in the latest sign of increasing cooperation
between the sides.
The Israelis and Palestinians have resumed security and diplomatic discussions this month, and if the process goes smoothly, Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, are expected to meet on or around Feb. 8, both sides said over the weekend.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected in the region a few days earlier, giving added significance to any top-level Israeli-Palestinian meeting as all the parties explore ways to revive peace talks.
Mr. Sharon, who has been prime minister for nearly four years, refused to deal with Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader who died in November. Mr. Sharon's last meeting with a senior Palestinian leader was during the summer of 2003, when he held discussions with Mr. Abbas, who was then the prime minister.
The two sides are already holding security talks. Mr. Mofaz met late Saturday night in a Tel Aviv hotel with Muhammad Dahlan, a former security chief who is negotiating on behalf of the Palestinian leadership.
"We talked about handing over responsibility, as has started in the Gaza Strip," Mr. Mofaz told army radio on Sunday. "We believe that in the next few days, they will get responsibility over other towns in the West Bank."
The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei, speaking in the West Bank city of Ramallah, called the security meeting "very successful."
The Palestinians say that in the West Bank, they expect to be given control of Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, along with Jericho, Tulkarm, Qalqilya and possibly Bethlehem.
The Palestinians are demanding that Israel pull back its security forces to positions they held before the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000. In the early days of the fighting, Israeli forces made only limited forays into Palestinian cities and towns.
But as the violence increased, Israeli troops carried out a major invasion of the West Bank in the spring of 2002, at the height of the Palestinian suicide bombing campaign. Israeli forces have operated in or near Palestinian cities in the West Bank since that time.
If Israel pulls back from Palestinian cities, Palestinians would have much greater freedom to move about, easing one of the great frustrations they face daily. But Israel says easing travel restrictions in the past has led directly to an increase in attacks against it.
Palestinian security forces have deployed throughout the Gaza Strip over the last week, and violence in the territory is down considerably.
At the regular Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday, Mr. Mofaz told ministers that Palestinian attacks had dropped by up to 75 percent in recent days.
"It's still not a cessation of terror," he said. "But they have shown a readiness to continue to assume responsibility and press ahead with security cooperation."
Mr. Abbas, who was elected three weeks ago, has won a pledge from leading militant groups to suspend attacks temporarily, and Israel has praised his efforts.
Israel said Friday that it would halt offensive military operations in Gaza and sharply reduce them in the West Bank in response to the steps taken by the Palestinian leadership.
While violence is down, it has not stopped. Israeli soldiers on Sunday shot dead a Palestinian man who had entered an area off limits to Palestinians along the Gaza-Egypt border, the military said.
In Jerusalem, Jewish settlers and their supporters held a huge demonstration on Sunday evening outside Israel's Parliament building to protest Mr. Sharon's plan to withdraw settlers from Gaza. The Israeli news media estimated the crowd at more than 100,000.
The settlers, many dressed in orange, have staged several such demonstrations in recent months, and now maintain a permanent vigil outside Parliament. The settlers and their backers are demanding a national referendum on the withdrawal plan, or new national elections, though opinion polls have consistently shown that two-thirds or more of Israelis support Mr. Sharon's proposal.
Mr. Sharon has described a referendum as a stalling manoeuvre and says he will press ahead with the evacuation of the more than 8,000 settlers in Gaza, along with several hundred of the approximately 200,000 in the West Bank. The withdrawal is planned for this summer.
Greg Myre, New York Times, 31 January 2005 <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/international/middleeast/31mideast.html?oref=login>
Rice Says Viable Palestinian State is the Key
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that there couldn’t be peace in the Middle East unless the Palestinians gain a state that satisfies their aspirations.
Israel also must recognize that the Palestinian state, which she said was "within our grasp," must be viable and contiguous — meaning with enough land to function well.
Due in Israel and the West Bank for talks next Monday, Rice telegraphed her message in a conversation with State Department employees.
"I don't think any of us doubt that without a Palestinian state that is viable, that can meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people, that there really isn't going to be a peace for either the Palestinian people or the Israelis," she said.
Rice also called on Arab states to stop incitement to violence, but her emphasis was on Israel having to yield territory and "creating conditions in which a new Palestinian state could emerge."
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has volunteered to give up Gaza and a few Jewish settlements on the West Bank, but otherwise he has not indicated how much additional land he would turn over to a Palestinian state.
Her remarks in a State Department auditorium preceded a meeting with Sharon's chief of staff for an assessment of prospects for peacemaking with the Palestinians.
The unannounced meeting with Dov Weisglass was designed to bring Rice up to date on the prospects of Sharon holding talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and on chances of a cease-fire.
Israeli Ambassador Daniel Ayalon said Weisglass was emphasizing, "the importance of broadening security cooperation so that it will lead to more cooperation for disengagement" in Gaza.
Rice is planning to see Abbas on the West Bank. She has pledged to play a personal role in Mideast diplomacy, and her talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area will be her first effort to insert the Bush administration in a process in which the two sides seem to be making progress on their own.
Rice intends to stop in Israel on a trip to Europe that begins on Thursday.
Her predecessor, Colin Powell taking his cues from President Bush played a limited personal role after deciding Yasser Arafat was an inept and corrupt leader and involved in attacks on Israel.
Arafat's death and the election of Abbas have opened what many perceive as an opportunity for negotiations on an overall accord.
Initially, the Bush administration is trying to get Israel and the Palestinians to comply with a road map that technically has been accepted. However, the two sides have been slow to implement all provisions.
On the Israeli side this includes the dismantling of all outposts on the West Bank. An open question is whether the administration will try to restrict further Israeli construction at settlements.
In Jerusalem, Jewish settlers and their supporters protested outside parliament for a second day. They oppose Sharon's plan to remove all Israelis and all troops from Gaza and to turn it over to the Palestinians as a first step toward statehood.
There was no report from State Department officials about Rice's meeting with Weisglass and other Israeli officials. However, the press office issued a statement urging Israel and the Palestinians to end violence.
The statement responded to the killing of a 10-year-old Palestinian girl in a Gaza schoolyard. Boucher's office issued a statement saying "the death of any innocent individual especially children is a tragedy."
Barry Schweid, AP Diplomatic Writer,
31 January 2005
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050201/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_mideast_3>
Q&A: Mid-East Summit
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, the first such occasion after nearly four years of bloodshed. The BBC News website looks at the significance of the summit.
What has the summit achieved?
It has been a summit for speeches and lofty declarations rather than the hammering out of contentious issues.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced a cessation of violence against Israelis wherever they are - formalising an informal ceasefire agreed last month with Palestinian militant groups. "The calm which will prevail in our lands starting from today is the beginning of a new era," Mr Abbas said.
He also urged all sides, Israel, Arab allies and the international community, to intensify their efforts to implement the peace plan known as the roadmap and "protect the newborn opportunity of peace".
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared a more nuanced position - saying that, if there is quiet from the Palestinian side, the Israeli army would not stage any raids into their territory.
But he also issued an impassioned pledge to the Palestinians.
"I assure you that we have a genuine intention to respect your rights to live independently and in dignity... I have already said that Israel has no desire to continue to govern over you and control your fate," Mr Sharon said.
What has brought the two sides together?
This summit is happening less than a month after Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority.
In that time he has managed to persuade the Palestinian militant organisations to stick to an informal ceasefire. In return Israel has scaled back its military operations in the Palestinian territories.
That brief lull, and Israel's endorsement of the Palestinians' choice to replace Yasser Arafat, have opened the way for the summit.
What are the challenges ahead?
The two sides have set up committees to address the issues of Israel releasing Palestinian detainees and pulling troops back from the Palestinian towns in the West Bank.
If the ceasefire holds it could set in motion a return to substantive peace negotiations on a final settlement, though this is some way off.
This process could be bolstered by an apparently revitalised level of US engagement during President George W Bush's second term. This re-engagement is a direct result of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and Mr Abbas' success at temporarily restraining the militants.
Meanwhile, Israel is set to press on with its unilateral plan to withdraw troops and settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
The hope is that this disengagement will help stimulate progress. But many Palestinians feel that Israel sees the Gaza withdrawal as a means of strengthening its hold on areas of the occupied West Bank where most of its settlers live.
Is this the beginning of the end of the conflict?
Not necessarily, despite the fine words uttered in Sharm al-Sheikh.
The informal ceasefire could be a hostage to either side's impatience or provocation. Israel is suspicious of anything that isn't the comprehensive disarmament of militant groups. Palestinians suspect Israel is getting what it wants - cessation of violence - without having to make any concessions on its military occupation of their territory.
The resolution of all the difficult issues, which divide them, remains a long way in the future.
What is new, and the main source of renewed hope, is the apparent determination of all sides to get somewhere this time.
BBC News, 8 February 2005
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4245725.stm>
U.S. Prods Israel for Hard Choices on Palestinians
JERUSALEM, Feb. 6 - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, proclaiming that "a time of optimism" had arrived in the Middle East, conferred with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday and called on Israel to make "hard decisions" in negotiations with Palestinian leaders as they wage their own fight against militants.
"We will have to, all of us, make certain that there is an effective fight against terrorism, because security and terrorism are at the core of peaceful existence," Ms. Rice said after a meeting with Israeli leaders. The hard decisions, she added, "must be taken in order to promote peace and to help the emergence of a democratic Palestinian state."
She did not elaborate on these decisions to be made by Israel, but Bush administration officials say Israel needs to proceed with its withdrawal of forces from West Bank cities, its lifting of roadblocks and checkpoints throughout the occupied territories, and the possible release of Palestinian prisoners. An Israeli official said Ms. Rice also asked Israeli leaders not to undermine the political standing of Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian president.
The visit by Ms. Rice on her first trip abroad as secretary of state heightened optimism toward eased tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. She arrived only a few days before Mr. Sharon was to meet Mr. Abbas for a summit at the Egyptian resort Sharm el Sheik, the first such high-level contact between the sides since the Palestinian uprising known as the intifada began four years ago.
What exactly could come from that meeting remained unclear? But Palestinian and Israeli officials have indicated that Mr. Abbas may announce a long-term cease-fire with the Israelis, and that Israel could reciprocate and formalize an agreement not to hunt wanted Palestinian militants unless they are engaged in planning or carrying out an attack on Israel.
The two sides have been discussing such an agreement, under which wanted Palestinians would be asked to sign a pledge to stop their attacks, surrender their weapons and remain in their hometowns. Under such an agreement, other militants would be granted conditional amnesty and invited to join the Palestinian police force.
Ms. Rice spoke to reporters after she met with the Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, and before a working dinner with Mr. Sharon. She planned to meet with Mr. Abbas on Monday at the Palestinian headquarters in Ramallah, the burial place of Yasir Arafat. Despite the publicity surrounding Ms. Rice's visit, no disclosures were made of new steps being taken by Israelis or Palestinians. Although Ms. Rice's mere presence raised some hope for more movement, American and Israeli officials said it would be better now for the United States to stand aside and let Israelis and Palestinians work together.
Apparently some discussion had occurred about whether Ms. Rice would go to Sharm el Sheik, for the Palestinian-Israeli summit meeting on Tuesday, which also will be attended by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah II of Jordan. But a Bush administration official said the idea had been dropped.
"It's a good thing when the parties and the regional leaders can push this forward on their own," Ms. Rice told an Israeli television interviewer. "You needn't worry. The United States will be there whenever needed."
An Israeli official said that in her private meeting with Mr. Shalom, Ms. Rice had urged Israel to act to ease conditions for Palestinians to shore up the political standing of Mr. Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. Specifically, the official said, she warned Israel not to make unilateral steps, such as expanding settlements in an area near Jerusalem that would undercut Mr. Abbas.
Mr. Shalom, in turn, assured Ms. Rice that Israel was pleased with certain moves by Mr. Abbas, such as deploying Palestinian security forces in Gaza, stopping rocket attacks from Gaza to Israel and lowering the level of incendiary talk aimed at inciting attacks on Israelis, the Israeli official said.
On the other hand, he said, Mr. Shalom warned that the Palestinians had yet to dismantle the "terrorist infrastructure" of militant groups and were relying instead of accommodating these groups with a cease-fire, which Israel views merely as a "time out" from attacks with the potential for renewing them.
After the dinner between Mr. Sharon and Ms. Rice, another Israeli official who was in attendance asserted that the secretary of state was satisfied with steps Israel had taken to ease conditions in the West Bank and Gaza but that "they would like to see more down the road."
"If anyone hinted at pressure on Israel, I saw none of it," said the official, adding that Mr. Sharon and Ms. Rice also discussed threats to the peace negotiations, including what they said was concern over a Russian plan to sell shoulder-mounted missiles to Syria that could eventually get into the hands of Hezbollah or other anti-Israel groups.
Richard A. Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said that Ms. Rice and Mr. Sharon also discussed an American proposal for a "security mechanism" to help the Palestinians improve control over their security forces, but it was unclear whether it would have the power to monitor threats or incidents or oversee the exchange of intelligence between the sides.
Ms. Rice flew here on Sunday afternoon from Turkey, where she had sought to assure officials that the United States was committed to maintaining Iraq's territorial unity and to opposing any effort by Kurds to break away in the north, a step that could lead to attacks on Turkey by its Kurdish minority.
In another goad to the peace negotiations, Ms. Rice called on Arab countries to accelerate their aid to the Palestinian Authority to help it meet payrolls and establish a civilian infrastructure, including ministries and a judiciary.
American officials say that $400 million pledged by Kuwait, Qatar and other Persian Gulf countries has not come through, and could help pay for such necessities as retirement benefits for Palestinian militias and welfare payments of $100 a month to poor Palestinians.
Earlier on Sunday, during a cabinet meeting, Israel signalled more flexibility on freeing some Palestinian prisoners, including a few involved in attacks against Israelis.
Israel intends to release about 900 Palestinian prisoners, but has said it will not release those who have been convicted of murdering Israelis.
The Sharm al-Sheikh summit is expected to be largely ceremonial, with the substance of the agreements worked out in advance. Still, it will help Mr. Mubarak at home and in the region, and do the same for Mr. Sharon, who still faces difficult internal political battles over his budget and his plan to pull all 8,500 Israeli settlers out of Gaza.
Ms. Rice's agenda with Mr. Sharon also includes a discussion of Israeli promises under the peace plan known as the road map to halt new settlement activity and to dismantle up to 50 illegal West Bank settlement outposts erected since March 2001, said Paul Patin, spokesman of the American Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Ms. Rice has said that the United States is also looking for ways to help the Israelis and Palestinians coordinate the Gaza withdrawal and to train Palestinian police.
Steven
R. Weisman and Steven Erlanger,
New York
Times,
7 February 2005
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/07/international/middleeast/07mideast.html?
pagewanted=2&ei=5094&en=f0ff8772b53251ce&hp&ex=1107752400&oref=login&partner=homepage>
Mid-East Leaders Announce Truce
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have declared a truce to end four years of Middle East violence.
Mr Abbas said the ceasefire, which begins immediately, would lead to a "new era of peace and hope".
Mr Sharon vowed to cease military action against Palestinian targets after militant groups halted violence.
In response, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was the best chance for peace in years.
Mr Sharon and Mr Abbas did not sign a formal ceasefire deal. Their talks were wide-ranging and also included agreements on the release of Palestinian prisoners and the handover of five West Bank towns to Palestinian control.
The meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh was the highest-level discussion between the two sides since the Palestinian intifada (uprising) began more than four years ago.
Israeli officials said after the summit that Mr Sharon had invited Mr Abbas to his farm in southern Israel.
Speaking in Paris, the US secretary of state welcomed the truce.
"Success is not assured, but America is resolute," said Ms Rice.
"This is the best chance for peace we are likely to see for some years to come - and we are acting to help Israelis and Palestinians seize this chance."
The BBC's Heba Saleh in Sharm al-Sheikh says Mr Abbas so far seems to have secured an informal truce by Palestinian factions, but it is not clear whether they will accept the Israeli offer.
The Hamas militant group gave a lukewarm reaction to the summit, with its representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, saying the ceasefire declarations were "not binding" on its members.
Mr Hamdan told the Associated Press news agency that Mr Abbas had taken a "unilateral stand" that was "not the result of the outcome of an intra-Palestinian dialogue".
New Era
TV pictures showed Mr Abbas and Mr Sharon smiling as they shook hands across a table at the talks.
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INTIFADA TOLL 3,225 Palestinians killed by Israelis (3,135 by military in the occupied territories, 54 by military inside Israel, 34 by settlers in the occupied territories) 950 Israeli killed by Palestinians (431 inside Israel, 218 settlers, 218 soldiers on duty in the occupied territories Source: B'tselem |
"We have agreed on halting all violent actions against Palestinians and Israelis, wherever they are," Mr Abbas said.
"The calm which will prevail in our lands starting from today is the beginning of a new era."
Mr Sharon said: "For the first time in a long time, there is hope in our region for a better future for us and our grandchildren."
He said Israel had made some painful sacrifices for the Palestinians.
"To our Palestinian neighbours, I would like to promise that we have a genuine intention for you to live in independence. We do not want to control your lives," he said.
Mr Sharon also said the two sides had agreed on transferring "certain Palestinian areas" from Israeli to Palestinian control.
Under the arrangement, Israel will withdraw its troops from Jericho and four West Bank towns within three weeks, Palestinian negotiator Hassan Abu Libdeh said later.
Agreement was also reached on the release of Palestinian prisoners, officials from both sides said. A batch of 500 would be freed soon, with another 400 to follow later, they said.
Envoys to Return
The talks were also attended by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who hosted the summit, and Jordan's King Abdullah.
Mr Mubarak hailed the "positive spirit" of the meeting, saying: "The task is very great, but our hopes are greater."
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters at the summit that Egypt and Jordan would soon be returning their ambassadors to Israel after a four-year absence.
Mr Sharon had refused to meet the previous Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, saying he was an obstacle to peace.
But since Arafat's death and the election of Mr Abbas as president of the Palestinian Authority, the Israelis believe they have a partner they can do business with, says BBC World Affairs Correspondent Paul Welsh.
BBC News,
8 February 2005
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4245353.stm>
Full Text of Sharon Declaration
The full text of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's declaration of a ceasefire with the Palestinians at the Sharm al-Sheikh summit.
Good afternoon.
I would like to thank you, the President of Egypt, Mr Hosni Mubarak, on your welcome initiative and the kind hospitality for this important summit.
We all hope and pray that this day will be remembered as the day on which the process began to move forward towards completion, towards the goal of a tranquil, dignified and peaceful life for all the peoples of the Middle East.
I also wish to convey special congratulations to Your Majesty, King Abdullah, on the birth of your son Hashem and on the occasion of your birthday.
May you live a long life filled with joy, and be able to lead your people to tranquillity and prosperity, and hopefully we can, together, strengthen the relations between us.
Congratulations are also due to you, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Mahmoud Abbas, on your impressive victory in the Palestinian Authority elections.
Your victory and the path on which you wish to lead your people can mark a direction of real change to your people, which will affect the entire region.
I hope that you will be able to lead your people on the path of democracy and maintenance of law and order, until the establishment of an independent and democratic Palestinian state.
Fragile Opportunity
2005 began as a year of great opportunity for all the peoples of the region, first and foremost for Israelis and Palestinians. We must all ensure that this opportunity is not missed.
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We have an opportunity to break off from the path of blood, which has been forced on us over the past four years. We have an opportunity to start on a new path.
For the first time in a long time, there exists in our region hope for a better future for our children and grandchildren.
We must move forward cautiously. This is a very fragile opportunity that the extremists will want to exploit. They want to close the window of opportunity for us and allow our two peoples to drown in their blood.
If we do not act now, they may be successful in their scheme.
There is only one answer to them: We must all announce here today that violence will not win, that violence will not be allowed to murder hope.
We must all make a commitment not to agree for a temporary solution, not to allow violence to raise its head, but to act together, determinedly, to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, to disarm and subdue it once and for all. Only by crushing terror and violence will we build peace.
I have no intention of missing this opportunity, because we must not let the new spirit, which grants our peoples hope, pass us by and leave us empty-handed.
That is why we have acted quickly and with determination, with an understanding of the needs of the Palestinian side. Over the past few days, we reached a number of understandings with our Palestinian colleagues, which will enable us to grant both people’s tranquility and security for the near future.
Gaza Disengagement
Today, in my meeting with Chairman Abbas, we agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere and, in parallel, Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians anywhere.
We hope that today we are starting a new period of tranquillity and hope. Furthermore, we agreed on a process of transferring security responsibility for Palestinian areas.
I informed Chairman Abbas of our intention to take a series of confidence-building measures: Soon, we will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and also establish a joint committee to explore (the) future release of prisoners.
We wish to conduct genuine and honest dialogue in order to transform these first steps into a sound basis for the foundation of our relations.
I am determined to carry out the disengagement plan, which I initiated. The disengagement plan was initiated by a unilateral decision.
Now, if new change does emerge on the Palestinian side, the disengagement can bring hope and become the new starting point for a co-ordinated, successful process.
The disengagement plan can pave the way to implementation of the roadmap, to which we are committed and which we want to implement. We are prepared to actively fulfil all our obligations, and expect the other side to carry out all its obligations.
Only actions and not words - this is the only way to attain the vision of two states living side by side in peace and tranquillity.
Difficult Steps
With your permission, I wish to address the citizens of both peoples:
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To our Palestinian neighbours, I assure you that we have a genuine intention to respect your right to live independently and in dignity.
I have already said that Israel has no desire to continue to govern over you and control your fate. We in Israel have had to painfully wake up from our dreams, and we are determined to overcome all the obstacles, which might stand in our path in order to realise the new chance, which has been created.
You too must prove that you have the strength and the courage to compromise, abandon unrealistic dreams, subdue the forces, which oppose peace and live in peace and mutual respect side-by-side with us.
To the citizens of Israel, I say: We have passed difficult years, faced the most painful experiences, and overcame them. The future lies before us.
We are required to take difficult and controversial steps, but we must not miss the opportunity to try to achieve what we have wished for, for so many years: Security, tranquillity and peace.
And one final call to our hosts and to the Arab leaders of the region: Come let us join hands and create a new atmosphere of openness and tolerance in our region.
Together we can build a dam against the radical forces of yesterday, which threaten to carry us all into a whirlpool of blood and hatred.
Together, we can promote relations between us and ignite a first ray of hope for all the people of the Middle East. Together, we can ensure our peoples lives of freedom and stability, prosperity and peace.
May we all be found deserving of this great opportunity, which we have been granted.
BBC News,
8 February 2005
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4247233.stm>
Full Text of Abbas Declaration
The full text of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's declaration of a ceasefire with the Israelis at the Sharm al-Sheikh summit.
In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate.
President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, His Majesty King Abdullah II, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and gentlemen: I should like first to express thanks and appreciation to President Hosni Mubarak and Egypt for hosting this meeting in continuation of the effective Egyptian role in sponsoring the peace process in our region.
I would also like to thank His Majesty King Abdullah for his efforts and the efforts of the Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan in this regard. I would like to congratulate his majesty the king and Queen Raniya on their new born, Prince Hashim. I would also like to congratulate the king on his birthday.
We have agreed with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to stop all acts of violence against Israelis and Palestinians, wherever they are.
The calm that our land will experience starting today is the start of a new era, a start for peace and hope. It is the beginning of peace and hope.
What we have announced today not only represents the implementation of the first articles of the roadmap drafted by the Quartet Committee, but is also an important step representing a new chance for the peace process to regain momentum and to get back on track, so that the Palestinian and Israeli peoples might regain hope in the possibility of achieving peace.
I believe we are all aware of our great and joint responsibilities to enhance and develop this chance.
This will be done by rapidly seeking to regain the spirit of partnership in peace and in the future, by entrenching reciprocity and by refraining from unilateral steps.
Differences
From now, we must work to protect our announcement by facilitating the appropriate mechanisms that will ensure implementation.
What we have agreed upon today is but a start on bridging the gap and differences between us.
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We have differences on several issues, which may include the settlements, prisoner releases, the wall, the closure of Jerusalem institutions and other issues.
We shall not be able to settle all these issues today, but our stand on them remains clear and firm.
Intensifying efforts to fulfil our obligations will lead us to another commitment from the roadmap: Resuming the final status negotiations with the aim of ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, which started in 1967, and settling all the final status issues - Jerusalem, refugees, borders, settlements, water and other issues postponed until the final status negotiations, in accordance with the aforesaid points of reference outlined in the roadmap.
Mr president, your majesty, Mr prime minister: Less than a month ago, the Palestinian people headed for the ballot boxes to take part in presidential elections held following the death of President Yasser Arafat.
In their memorable, democratic practice, the Palestinian people reiterated through these elections their adherence to the choice of a just peace; a peace that will finally end decades of war, violence and occupation; a peace that will mean the establishment of a Palestinian state or an independent, democratic state of Palestine side-by-side with the state of Israel in accordance with the provisions of the roadmap.
Freedom and Independence
From the city of Sharm al-Sheikh, the city of peace, I reiterate, in the name of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian National Authority, our adherence to the peace process points of reference, the resolutions of international legitimacy, the agreements signed between the PLO and the government of Israel, and the roadmap.
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I stress our eagerness to honour and implement all our obligations. We will not spare any possible effort to protect this new chance for peace, which has been made possible by what we announced here today.
We hope that our brothers in Egypt and Jordan will continue their good efforts. We are also expecting the Quartet Committee to perform its tasks to ensure speedy progress along the Palestinian-Israeli track, together with efforts to reinvigorate the peace process on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks.
It is time for the Palestinian people to regain their freedom and independence. It is time for an end to long decades of suffering and hardship. It is time for our people to enjoy peace and the right to lead a normal life like the rest of the world under the rule of law, under one authority that is the only party allowed to carry weapons, and through political pluralism.
We look forward to seeing this day as soon as possible, for the language of dialogue to replace that of bullets and cannons and for co-existence and good neighbourliness to replace the [Israeli separation] wall. This is in order to offer our children and grandchildren, Palestinians and Israelis, a different, promising tomorrow.
Here is a new chance for peace to be born in the city of peace today. So let us all pledge to protect it until the hope of peace becomes reality, becomes a daily reality in this region.
BBC News,
8 February 2005
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4247327.stm>
Press Split Over Sharm Al-Sheikh Summit
Newspapers in Israel and the Arab world are divided over the outcome of the summit in Sharm al-Sheikh at which the Israeli and Palestinian leaders pledged to work for peace.
Palestinian commentators are largely sceptical about the Palestinians achieving real gains from the summit, while papers in the rest of the Arab world have varied views, with a Syrian daily believing it is Washington that calls the shots.
Israeli newspapers echo their Arab counterparts, with some commentators arguing the summit could prove a breakthrough, and others remaining cynical.
The optimism of the second Sharm al-Sheikh summit is premature. It has failed to reach an agreement on Palestinian demands. The ambiguity surrounding the Israeli position is a nightmare which threatens any serious hope for peace and love.
Editorial in Palestinian Al-Quds
The Sharm al-Sheikh summit has ended without any tangible results. The summit has allowed Israel to make progress towards normalising its relations with the Arab world.
Commentator in Palestinian Al-Hayat al-Jadidah
Experience has taught us not to expect much from the Israeli government that utters one word about peace and a hundred others about war.
Commentator in Al-Hayat al-Jadidah
This summit is rather a better preparation for Sharon's [Gaza disengagement] plan than it is a preparation for launching a comprehensive peace process.
Commentator in Palestinian Al-Ayyam
Both sides will start to evaluate the intifada. Palestinians and Israelis have changed. Both sides need a strong peace.
Commentator in Palestinian Al-Ayyam
The Sharm al-Sheikh summit provides a new opportunity for implementing the roadmap and is a test of Israel's intentions.
Oman's Al-Watan
The Sharm al-Sheikh summit is a new station along the same road, the map of which is controlled by the adversary acting under the guidance of the American peace sponsor.
Editorial in United Arab Emirates' Al-Bayan
The summit is merely a link in the chain of events since Oslo that have never reached their final destination.
Commentator in Lebanon's Al-Anwar
Yesterday's four-way summit in Sharm al-Sheikh was a turning point for reactivating the Middle East peace process which has been stalled for years.
Editorial in Egypt's Al-Ahram
The Sharm al-Sheikh summit was held at an opportune time, and was an opportunity to test everyone's real intentions.
Editorial in Jordan's Al-Dustur
The moment the USA wants it to happen, a just and lasting political solution for all the disputes in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria can emerge from Sharm al-Sheikh or any other summit.
Commentator in Syria's Al-Thawrah
What we saw in Sharm al-Sheikh yesterday was not reassuring, nor were the statements being made over there. The outcome was an obvious one: A first step. But a first step to where? It is evident that the gap between the two sides is still huge.
Commentator in London-based Al-Hayat
The Palestinian people will emerge the biggest losers from the summit, just like they were in all previous summits. They will lose their intifada and their resistance, and could also find themselves facing internal sedition which could develop into a civil war.
Commentary in London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi
Regardless of everything agreed upon - either secretly or in public - at Sharm al-Sheikh yesterday, the important thing is this: the past four years have convinced both the Israelis and the Palestinians that it is necessary to change their policies and attitudes, and that they have no option but to reach a compromise.
Commentator in London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat
It is very easy to be cynical about yesterday's summit, to criticise the ceremony, to scorn it, be apathetic towards it. We have already been in Sharm and we have already returned to it for the second and third time. But it is impossible to deny that Sharon's way triumphed yesterday. It triumphed over the Americans, the Europeans, Mubarak, and the Arab world. It triumphed over Sharon himself. In the end - between the settlers' demonstrations, the protests of the [Likud] rebels and the lack of trust on the left and the right - the world has adopted his formula.
Commentary in Israel's Yediot Aharonot
The claim that all that happened at the Sharm summit was 'only words' ignores the intensity of dialogue between leaders as a factor that shapes and changes national consciousness. Words that try to touch the depth of the prejudices and to change them are truly important words.
Editorial in Yediot Aharonot
The success of the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit was that this time the security issues were linked to a relatively clear political track - the disengagement plan of the Sharon government, which one way or another will lead to the implementation of the political roadmap. The summit thus signalled good intentions and readiness for a good start, but as much as it was a good start, it remains but a start.
Editorial in Israel's Haaretz
We listened to the speeches at the Sharm al-Sheikh summit much as one would to the boy who cried wolf. Even those prone to euphoria, who were swept away by the historic handshake on the White House lawn in September 1993, could hardly, after all we have been through, feel as excited by the handshakes and declarations made on Tuesday at Sharm...
What is remarkable about Abbas' statement is that it reflects so little Palestinian change over the past 12 years. The Palestinians have not begun to give up their claim to a Palestinian right to live on both sides of the Green Line.
Editorial in Israel's Jerusalem Post
Something has changed. Mainly, Arafat's disappearance and the great weariness of both peoples of the bloodbath of the last four years. But the biggest change is that Israel's government is headed by a true man of the right, a settlers' master. If the old principle of clinging on to every sod of earth has changed so dramatically, this is a sign that many things in the region can change.
Commentator in Israel's Maariv
BBC News, 9 February 2005
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4249637.stm>
Israelis and Palestinians Cautiously Optimistic on
Road Ahead
JERUSALEM, Feb. 9 - The day after the Israeli and Palestinian leaders announced a truce, Israel outlined additional steps on Wednesday to ease travel restrictions on Palestinians and raised the prospect of a follow-up meeting between the leaders soon.
Israeli and Palestinian commentators expressed varying degrees of optimism after the summit meeting on Tuesday in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, seeing a strong level of commitment by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority.
But the pitfalls facing the two leaders were also on display.
Armed Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, emphasized that they were not obligated by the cease-fire announcement and said they would consult with Mr. Abbas before deciding whether to abide by it.
Hamas has pledged a temporary halt to its attacks, but Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the group, described this as a "break in the resistance and not a stop to the resistance."
In a related development, Mr. Abbas has sent an envoy, Abdel Fattah Hemayel, to Lebanon to urge the guerrilla group Hezbollah to halt its support for attacks against Israel that could jeopardize the truce, The Associated Press reported.
In Israel, members of Mr. Sharon's party, Likud, are trying to block or delay his planned withdrawal of Israeli settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip this summer.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and the speaker of Parliament, Reuven Rivlin, both prominent Likud figures, called for a national referendum on the Gaza withdrawal. Mr. Sharon has rejected the demand, calling it a stalling tactic that would divert attention from the dialogue that is developing between Israelis and Palestinians.
Mr. Shalom said a referendum was the best way to minimize public divisions over the pullout plan.
The steps announced by Israel on Wednesday will allow 1,000 Palestinian laborers and 500 traders in Gaza to enter Israel daily. In the West Bank an additional 2,000 Palestinian workers will be permitted into Israel, bringing the daily total to more than 17,000. Before the fighting began, some 150,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza entered Israel every day, mostly to work.
Israel also intends to remove some major checkpoints in the West Bank and pull back troops from the outskirts of five Palestinian cities in the West Bank, Israeli officials said.
The truce comes while overall violence is relatively low, though there are still daily incidents.
On Wednesday, a Palestinian man was shot in the abdomen and seriously wounded as he walked near a Jewish settlement in southern Gaza, Palestinian officials said. Medics told Reuters he later died. The military said that soldiers had fired warning shots when four Palestinians had neared a security fence in the area but that it was not aware of hitting any Palestinians.
A Hamas member was killed in southern Gaza when a bomb he was handling exploded prematurely, Palestinian officials said.
Israeli officials said Mr. Sharon and Mr. Abbas could meet again in another week, at Mr. Sharon's large ranch in southern Israel.
As the two sides begin holding regular discussions at several levels, the Israelis want to concentrate on security issues. Israel is also focused on its Gaza pullout and says it is not yet prepared to move to the full-scale peace talks that are the aim of the Middle East peace plan known as the road map.
In contrast, Palestinians want to resume peace talks quickly.
"Now there is a will and some momentum for peace talks," said Hanan Ashrawi, a prominent Palestinian legislator. "It is imperative that they begin as soon as possible. If a political process is not created rapidly, the letdown for Palestinians will be enormous."
Greg Myre, The New York Times, 10 February 2005 <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/international/middleeast/10mideast.html?>
Israel's Faith in 'Peace Partner'
Earlier this week we got perhaps the most vivid illustration yet of how Israel views the new Palestinian leader.
On Thursday morning, dozens of mortar shells were fired by Hamas fighters into Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. Hamas said they were responding to the earlier killing of a Palestinian man.
In the past, similar acts have been swiftly met with force by the Israeli army, but this time was different.
So far there has been no military response - and that is because Israel is willing to give Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas some time.
Hour of Truth
A spokesman from the foreign ministry said that Mr Abbas is seen as a partner in peace.
In the last couple of days, he said, "we have seen him moving in the right direction".
Security sources are also impressed with Mr Abbas' leadership.
It is clear that at some point, if such attacks continue, Israel will counterattack.
As the Israeli defence minister has said: "This is the hour of truth for the Palestinian leader."
But at the moment, in the words of one source, no-one is giving up on Mr Abbas.
This does not just go for the political establishment.
Most Israeli citizens did not trust - indeed they disliked - the former Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.
When asked their feelings on his successor, they are hesitant - but hopeful that perhaps he can help bring the peace that everyone here so craves.
Also important in all this is Israel's key ally.
Earlier this week, the new US secretary of state visited the region.
Condoleezza Rice made it clear that the US would work with Mr Abbas and she encouraged both sides to make tough decisions in order to capitalise on the new opportunities presenting themselves.
Israel is under huge pressure not to scupper those opportunities.
Matthew Price,
BBC News,
11 February 2005
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4257601.stm>
War with Israelis is Over: Abbas
NEW
YORK, Feb 14: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared on Monday that the
war with Israelis is effectively over and that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon is speaking "a different language" to the Palestinians.
He listed release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel as his top priority.
In his first interview with the New York Times after being elected president, Mr Abbas made special mention of Mr Sharon's commitment to withdraw from Gaza and dismantle all Israeli settlements there and four in the West Bank, adding that "is a good sign to start with" on the road to "real peace". "And now he has a partner."
Mr Abbas also affirmed that he had persuaded Hamas and Islamic Jihad to respect the mutual declaration of a truce that he and Mr Sharon announced last Tuesday at their first meeting in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.
He said the war with the Israelis would be over "when Israelis declare that they will comply with the agreement I made in Sharm el Sheikh, and today our comrades in Hamas and Jihad said they are committed to the truce, the cooling down of the whole situation, and I believe we will start a new era".
Mr Abbas spoke with confidence and humour in fluent English. He also spoke of several developments, the paper said. While he is happy to coordinate Israel's withdrawal from Gaza with Mr Sharon, he said in the Times interview that the Palestinians need a political horizon looking toward a real state.
At their meeting in Sharm el Sheik, Mr Sharon had made many positive commitments, Mr. Abbas said, offering to form a joint committee to discuss releasing the 200 or so Palestinian prisoners held since before the 1993 Oslo accords, and the pullback of the Israeli military in the West Bank and the reopening of Gaza's seaport.
Mr
Sharon also spoke "about the Palestinian independent democratic state" and
"about the occupation, never to be an occupier anymore," Mr Abbas said.
Correspondent,
Dawn, 15 February 2005
<http://www.dawn.com/2005/02/15/int7.htm>
Bush’s Speech in Brussels [Extract]
…Our greatest opportunity and immediate goal is peace in the Middle East. After many false starts and dashed hopes and stolen lives, a settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is now within reach.
America and Europe have made a moral commitment: We will not stand by as another generation in the Holy Land grows up in an atmosphere of violence and hopelessness.
America and Europe also share a strategic interest. By helping to build a lasting peace, we will remove an unsettled grievance that is used to stir hatred and violence across the Middle East.
Our efforts are guided by a clear vision: We're determined to see two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.
The Palestinian people deserve a government that is representative, honest and peaceful. The people of Israel need an end to terror and a reliable, steadfast partner for peace. And the world must not rest until there is a just and lasting resolution to t
