SO little was there to discuss during the Mideast visit of Condoleezza Rice and so little analysis after the fact, that people have been wondering why she embarked on the visit in the first place. By all accounts, the US secretary of state had no fresh ideas to offer to revive what used to be called the Middle East peace process. Aides on all sides had played down the prospects of any progress; it seems they were right.
To be fair, the challenges facing Rice are complex, and there are no easy solutions. The Hamas government has thus far resisted heavy diplomatic, economic and military pressure from abroad. Diplomatic isolation, the freezing of funds, the arrest of its ministers, and even deadly gun battles between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza have not led Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his colleagues to change their stances. Even when Rice was still in the region, Haniyeh was emphatically stating the Hamas position that it would not be pushed from power or recognize Israel, in effect saying he will not give in to international pressure.
Infighting between Fatah and Hamas is no longer confined to mutual recriminations and staged demonstrations but has escalated into street fighting, with no holds barred. The landslide victory won by Hamas in the January parliamentary elections created a two-headed authority with two clashing legitimacies. Fatah and Hamas entrenched themselves in long-held positions, with Fatah refusing to give up any of the powers it enjoyed and Hamas unwilling to make the required political concessions. And as attempts to peacefully resolve outstanding problems between the two diametrically opposed Palestinian factions fail, extremists on both sides have come to the fore. For the time being the two groups are locked in a bloody struggle with recriminations abounding on both sides.
Much could have been accomplished during Rice’s visit — aid sent to Gaza, the routes for agricultural exports opened, help given in restoring the electricity supply, the number of Palestinian workers in Israel increased, talks held with the PA chairman and prime minister, a unity government encouraged.
None of this happened not just because of Palestinian infighting, but because of American passivity as it looks on. At one time Washington formulated the road map for an agreement but has since done little about implementing the accord, reduced to asking politely for an Israeli overture to open the Karni crossing soon.
Rice came for a purposeless visit at perhaps the lowest point of the Bush administration, ravaged in the opinion polls by the Iraq war. She paid lip service to the “two-state solution” and easing the humanitarian distress in the territories. Even if she had something to offer, she did not bring with her the authority and the clout to put it into practice. She is walking in lockstep with a president who is not prepared to recognize Hamas or push Israel to talk with the movement. Thus he is helping to maintain the status quo, which such trips can do little to change.
