The contacts of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his foreign minister Shimon Peres with a number of high-level Palestinian officials have given the impression that the tide may be changing in the region towards calm after such a long period of mutual violence. This impression was reinforced by word that an agreement had been reached between Peres and Legislative Council Speaker Ahmad Qrei’, a news report quickly denied by the Israeli minister.

Even the limited level of optimism some observers have relayed over the current situation as a result of these contacts has dwindled since Sharon’s statements. Following his meeting and that of Peres with the Palestinian officials, he clarified his point of view, which did not include anything new or any change regarding a general political settlement or an acceptable mechanism for calm.

Anyone who examines the conditions the Israeli premier wishes to impose on the Palestinian side before agreeing to put an end to his government’s oppression against the Palestinian people and the siege on President Arafat finds them nothing less than crippling. Or perhaps they are yet another political tactic intended to consolidate the current situation and prevent an end to the acts of violence. In this regard, the move may be no different from the provocative military activities of Sharon’s government every time it finds itself faced with the possibility of resuming negotiations or determining the mission of American envoy to the region Anthony Zinni, for example.

It is neither reasonable nor logical for Palestinians to wage a civil war or that the Palestinian Authority launch a campaign against certain sectors of the Palestinian people. Nor is it logical that this Authority turn into a police force to protect Israel at a time when the occupation and settlement expansion continues and when the horizon carries no hint of a possibility that Sharon’s government may recognize the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people.

Instead, the Israeli prime minister has announced his rejection of even the most modest of proposals, which his foreign minister is said to have offered to the Palestinian Legislative Council speaker. It has still not been officially confirmed that this proposal included the establishment of a Palestinian state on a limited area of land in return for a ceasefire understanding.

The Israeli premier’s insistence on confining negotiations with Palestinians to security issues and drawing a line when it comes to political issues only confirms that he has not changed his well-known tune, which relies on military force as the only way to contain Palestinian national aspirations. This only increases the feelings of pessimism and despair towards the possibility of reaching – in the near future – an initial understanding between the two sides that would lead to the immediate resumption of the political process where it left off in Taba, according to the Clinton proposal. The suffering of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples will thus increase and will threaten security and stability in the region as a whole.

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