The British invitation to the Palestinian Authority to come in January to London for talks about Middle East peace has been welcomed with unusual warmth. This may seem the more surprising because British officials have made little secret of the fact that one of the proposed subjects for discussion will be the reform of the Palestinian Authority itself. Any such reform is likely to pose a question mark over the political future of its leader Yasser Arafat.
In the Palestinian camp, however, the view, informed by the desperate situation at home under Israeli occupation, is doubtless that any avenue which may offer a route toward peace must be explored. The talks in London, in which some other Arab countries also are expected to join, are likely to be more productive than any meetings held in Washington, where Secretary of State Colin Powell managed this week to deliver his government’s analysis of international terrorism and the Iraq crisis without once referring to the plight of Palestine.
The British are certain to argue that changes in the way the Palestinian Authority runs itself could enhance international support for its cause. While there is some justice in such a proposal, it should be remembered that the Palestinian Authority had hardly begun functioning before the suicide bombings began, giving the Israelis the opportunity to clamp down even harder than before. There can be few legitimate governments whose leader has been besieged for months within his own ruined headquarters and who is not permitted to come and go freely from his country on overseas visits.
London should not go back on the acceptance by Foreign Minister Jack Straw that the question of Palestinian leadership must be a matter for the Palestinians, as and when elections can be held without Israeli interference. However, the big question is to what extent Tony Blair and his government are acting on their own initiative, rather than with the tacit backing of the Bush administration. History lays the responsibility for half-a-century of Palestinian misery firmly at London’s door, but no British government these days has any real power to influence events in the region, unless its actions are sanctioned by Washington. The subtlety of British diplomacy, welcome as it may be in contrast to the increasingly kick-down-door US approach, will be worthless, if Blair, who clearly enjoys his role as a world statesman, is actually singing off the same song sheet as the Bush White House.
It is fortunate that the British effort is not the only one. Besides the efforts from the rest of the Arab world, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia are all also pursuing ways to create a settlement. Convoluted though it may be, there is virtue in this diverse approach, in that there will be no single, make-or-break meeting, so easily stalked by failure. The talking will continue in different places, until it seems that a deal is in sight, when the big meeting will be called.
However, unfortunately, nothing will happen unless the United States signs up, and is then prepared to drag the Zionist regime of Ariel Sharon back to the peace table, to look a deal squarely in the face.
