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A Comprehensive Mideast Peace Is a Fantasy

[Ha'aretz] Zvi Bar'el - This is how the Arab League summit in Doha is looking. Host Qatar is not getting along with Egypt. Jordan is furious with Qatar because Al Jazeera, owned by the emirate's ruling family, reiterated the claim that the late King Hussein was a CIA agent. Egypt and Syria are still not reconciled. Saudi Arabia has embarked on a pan-Arab reconciliation effort, but with limited success. The Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, have not reached an agreement. And Iraq is still considered suspicious, in part because it is under Iranian influence. It's also a scene that should raise thoughts about the concept of the Arab initiative, which passed during the 2002 Arab League summit in Beirut, to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from all the territories. The initiative offer depends entirely on across-the-board Arab support. Without it, there is no point. Will Iraq, which follows Iranian dictates, make peace with Israel just because of a peace agreement with the Palestinians? Will Lebanon, whose policy is dictated by Hizbullah, agree to peace with Israel even if a peace agreement is reached with Syria? And what will the Palestinians propose? Peace in Ramallah and war in Gaza?
2009-03-31 06:00:00
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