THE GREATER AMERICAN engagement in the Middle East conflict in the days and weeks ahead begins today in Louisville when the United States is expected to lay out its vision for the creation of a Palestinian state.
Representing official US policy, State Secretary Colin Powell is expected to call for a major Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories. As a condition for moving forward, Powell will call for the Israelis and Palestinians to implement the cease-fire that the CIA brokered in June and the confidence-building measures recommended in the Mitchell report. The report recommends a total freeze on Jewish settlement construction, which Powell will call for in the speech. In addition, he will call for a third Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza, to be followed by peace negotiations on final status issues such as borders, refugees and Jerusalem. Israeli security will also feature prominently in the speech.
From this key address, the Palestinians are hoping for a clear road map that will lead them through the forests to the promised land of a viable state. Israel is convinced Powell’s initiative will not go beyond the parameters Ariel Sharon has set for him — a vague endorsement of statehood but no to any negotiations under fire and no to any solution imposed on Israel against its wishes.
The speech is but one more sign of US commitment to an eventual Palestinian state. The word Palestine recently entered the lexicon of US government vocabulary. Until now, American officials had always referred to the possibility of a Palestinian state, but had never called it Palestine. George W. Bush’s use of Palestine in his speech to the UN General Assembly last week was deliberate and reflected a shift in policy. Bush told the assembly the United States was working toward the day when two states — Israel and Palestine — live peacefully together within secure and recognized borders as called for by the Security Council resolutions. No American president had ever made such a statement. Although Washington has backed the creation of a state, the name Palestine has been a sensitive issue since it would imply a Palestinian presumption to all the pre-1948 territory, including Israel.
At the UN, Bush could have further strengthened America’s increased concern over the Palestinian cause by meeting Yasser Arafat personally but passed up the chance. As president, Bush has received Sharon twice and a third meeting is expected in early December. By contrast, Bush has issued no invitation to Arafat, who was a frequent White House visitor during the Clinton administration. This distinction has led to some bruised diplomatic feelings on the Palestinian side for, a White House meeting confers considerable prestige. But translating Bush’s commitment into concrete steps does not begin or end by meeting Arafat. Such grip and grin snapshots do not make or break the peace. What hampers efforts is that nearly a month after they went in, Israeli tanks still occupy Jenin and Tulkaram and lay siege on four other Palestinian West Bank cities. The army is also stepping up its search, kill, and destroy incursions in numerous West Bank and Gaza villages.
Another obstacle are US right-wing conservatives who exert an unusual degree of pressure on a president. They operate a concentrated, pro-Israeli campaign over which Bush and many of his people have little real control and has kept the US administration from a real reassessment of US policies toward the Palestinians.
It is an open secret that today the hawks and doves among Bush’s closest associates are locked in a fierce struggle. Most prominent among them are Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice. They are determined to avenge the terrorist attacks that shock America; they are also fervent supporters of Israel. Facing them is Powell, who is increasingly isolated and who is described by insiders as the only reasonable person in the Bush administration. That claim will be tested today.
