A US-sponsored Middle East peace conference on the Arab-Israeli conflict is being proposed as early as November. The State Department has suddenly come alive with activity as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returns from her summer break. A State Department spokesman has suggested she may begin a program of Middle East visits next week. He went on to explain there would now be considerable diplomatic effort, working on the “modalities” of the conference and on the “outcomes”.
On the face of it, this initiative ought to be welcome. However, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal was entirely correct to point out that the conference would be “pointless” unless key issues are addressed, such as Jerusalem, the borders, Palestinian autonomy and the other areas that formed part of the 2002 Peace proposals that emerged from Arab Summit in Riyadh. Israel was offered peace and normal relations with Arab states in return for withdrawing from the territories it has occupied illegally for the last 40 years and a just settlement for Palestinians, including the refugee problem. Prince Saud hinted strongly that the Kingdom would have no part in any conference that did not have these fundamental issues on its agenda. His view has been echoed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other Arab foreign ministers who want the event to host real negotiations and not merely be a diplomatic horse-and-pony show.
There is indeed absolutely no point in a peace conference that is nothing but a charade designed to bolster the pretence that Bush is still serious about brokering a peace. It will not only waste time but it will also waste the hopes of all in the region, particularly the Palestinians who dream of the day when substantive negotiations will take place and lead to a settlement that will transform the Middle East, opening the doors to peace and prosperity and slamming them shut on extremism and bigotry — in both Israel and the Arab world.
Everything rests on the agenda of the proposed meeting. This, says the State Department, is still being formulated as part of intense diplomatic efforts. This strongly suggests the concerted use of smoke and mirrors. The other three members of the Quartet, Russia, the EU and the UN may be lured into attending because it is part of their responsibilities. The Israelis will put on the mask of sweet reason and endorse the conference. And finally the agenda will be so nebulous, so lacking in initiatives and, most important, in a timetable for action, that most will be loath to attend. Thus Bush, having gone through with the travesty of negotiations, will be able to say he tried but it failed because the Arab world did not commit itself to the process.
However, if this is a genuine attempt for peace will be made clear by the focus and intensity of the agenda. The issues are well- known. No intense diplomacy is required. Just set them down clearly and all the participants will be there.
