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The Paris Talks Represent a Victory for the Palestinians

(Foreign Affairs) Grant Rumley - For the Palestinians, the Paris conference represents a twofold victory. For one thing, it shrinks the role of the U.S. from chief mediator to mere participant. In the broader international community, the logic goes, the Palestinians believe they will find a more sympathetic audience, especially among their European allies. As Nabil Shaath, a senior Fatah party official, said in February, "Anything is better than American control of the negotiations." For another thing, by moving the peace process away from bilateral negotiations and toward a multilateral forum, the Palestinians hope the conference could result in binding international parameters for a future Palestinian state. The origins of the Palestinians' conference strategy lie in last summer's Iranian nuclear deal. In the talks that produced that agreement, Palestinian leaders saw world powers coming together to sign a diplomatic agreement over Israel's strenuous objections. The meeting in Paris will most certainly bolster Ramallah's confidence in its internationalization campaign. The writer is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
2016-06-03 00:00:00
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