Sharon again plays ventriloquist with Bush as his dummy, writes Ibrahim Nafie In spite of the profound grief that gripped Palestinians at the death of Yasser Arafat Palestinian leaders have handled this period of transition admirably. As stipulated by the Palestinian constitution the speaker of the Legislative Council, Rouhi Fattouh, is serving acting PA president while presidential elections are organised. The Fatah leadership has been handed to the movement's political bureau chief Farouk Qaddumi, the PLO chairmanship to Mahmoud Abbas and the directorship of the National Security Council to Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. In addition, Abbas has set into motion a dialogue with the various Palestinian factions with the purpose of reaching agreement on a framework for formulating a collective national vision for the peace process, and officials from across the Palestinian political spectrum have expressed their determination to maintain law and order and undertake their part in promoting the resumption of negotiations within the framework of the roadmap. Then President Bush cast a pall over these encouraging signs during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on 12 November. A Palestinian state might just possibly see the light of day by the end of his second term, he said, and then only if the Palestinians establish a democratic system that fights "terrorism" in Palestine. Bush's statements, in effect a rebuff to Blair's call for an international conference on peace in the Middle East in spring 2005, mark an enormous backtrack on his pledge of June 2002 to create an independent Palestinian state by 2005. The plan he unveiled to achieve this end was the roadmap. Not that the plan ever got on to the road. Sharon dug in his heels and only acquiesced to the plan after inserting 14 "reservations". Then he convinced the US administration that all the problems on the Palestinian- Israeli track boiled down to a single individual -- Arafat -- and that as long as Arafat held any power there would be no point continuing peace efforts. Now that Arafat has passed away and Palestinian leaders have demonstrated their ability to rally, conduct a peaceful transfer of power and restore the order necessary to enable them to assume their commitments, the US president appears and tells them that the establishment of a Palestinian state is contingent upon the establishment of a democratic government in the occupied territories that fights "terrorism". It requires no great stretch of the imagination to see Sharon the ventriloquist behind what is essentially a recipe for the evasion, not the creation, of a state. The Palestinians should not be surprised at this latest US-Israeli manoeuvre. It has always been the case that when the Palestinian leadership fulfils its obligations it is then faced with yet another set of new and unanticipated demands. Today, though, something even more insidious is afoot. The Palestinians and their leaders know that the latest US-Israeli demand -- a Palestinian democracy that fights terrorism -- is designed to precipitate civil war in Palestine. They are perfectly aware that the democracy is mere window dressing and that what the US and Israel really want is a Palestinian authority that will declare war on all Palestinian resistance organisations, including those within the Fatah movement. Not only would such a course be political suicide for any PA government, it would plunge Palestinian society as a whole into a dark and endless tunnel of internecine warfare. The Palestinians are at a difficult and dangerous threshold. More than ever the factions must place the Palestinian cause above partisan interests and settle their differences by dialogue not arms. They have a stark choice, either they cement ranks and reach a consensus over a unified national platform or they plunge headlong into chaos from which only Israel will benefit. Arafat had worked to sustain unity among the Palestinian ranks as he pursued of a national strategy for gradually extending Palestinian control over the occupied territories. With his departure it has devolved upon Palestinian leaders from all factions to keep the principles he stood for alive and to give their full support to the new leadership elected by the Palestinian people. They must bear in mind that if Arab countries and the international community are to be effective in supporting their struggle to realise their legitimate rights they must demonstrate the political maturity necessary to engage in a rational national dialogue that will lead them to a collective and binding national agenda that places the interests of the Palestinian people above all else. Simultaneously, we appeal to Bush to reconsider his position and to work in coordination with the other members of the Quartet and Arab countries towards the resumption of negotiations and the implementation of the roadmap. When the Quartet adopted this plan it envisioned the creation of a Palestinian state within less than two years. This still seems a reasonable timeframe for reaching a just and comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian cause, which is the aim of all who seek true peace and lasting stability in the region. If, on the other hand, Bush persists in his stance he will effectively kill hope, fuel despair and anger, and drive the region over into chaos and violence.
