The Palestinians are again promised a state -- sometime, somewhere, but who knows how, Dina Ezzat reports Members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) that fell for the promise of now outgoing President George W Bush to see a viable and independent Palestinian state established before the end of this year must have been brought to sobriety by the language of political texts adopted this week in New York during meetings of the International Quartet and the UN Security Council on the fate of the Middle East peace process. The Quartet statement and the Security Council resolution were not devoid of all positive signs. However, the lack of commitment and resolve -- despite the announced intention of continued engagement on the part of the international community -- makes it hard for sceptics to anticipate any possible breakthrough. Indeed, the Quartet statement -- more positive than the Security Council resolution -- was offered a lukewarm reception in the Arab world. Libya, the only Arab member on the UN Security Council, declined to vote for the resolution that was adopted by the other 14 members. Libya's representative to the UN said that Security Council action had been sparse over the past 60 years and that its words had rarely, if ever, been translated into deeds. Compensating the aggressor (Israel) and shrugging off the victim (the Palestinians) was how Libya profiled UN Security Council Resolution 1850. The considerable high-level Arab presence in New York this week, including that of several Arab foreign ministers and the Arab League secretary-general, in the Quartet meeting and talks leading to the Security Council resolution failed to make a difference, Arab diplomats admit. "We tried hard to include a few amendments to the text of the resolution, but both its co-sponsors [the US and Russia] declined. We ultimately decided that it was at least offering the basics and renewing world commitment to conclude a peaceful settlement of the Arab- Israeli struggle," said an Arab diplomat who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly from New York. The main concern on the Arab side is that the language of the documents issued in New York this week was "loose". Unspecified are the next steps towards the promised Palestinian state. The meetings of the Quartet and the Security Council, the last to be attended by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, did not go far beyond encouraging Palestinians and Israelis to keep talking and negotiating within established terms of reference for the peace process. "The resolution reiterated the founding principles of the Middle East peace process, but beyond that it fell far short of what we, as Arabs, would have wanted in terms of condemning or even criticising the continued Israeli occupation of Arab lands, especially the Palestinian territories," commented one Arab source from New York. He added that the Security Council resolution did not even contain clear demands of Israel to end its violations of international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territories, "although the Quartet statement makes some clearer references to this matter". Russian Foreign Minister Serge Lavrov argued, during a joint press conference following the Quartet meeting, that the statement of the Quartet addresses the "crisis over Gaza" and rejects Israel's "settlement policies". Arab diplomats insist, however, that this was not echoed in the Security Council resolution -- certainly not in a manner that would prompt a change of behaviour on the part of Israel. Palestinian sources in Cairo are not hiding their frustration at American reluctance to accommodate legitimate Palestinian demands in the Security Council resolution in relation to condemning the construction of illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories or assessing the impact of the occupation on the lives of Palestinians. In the analysis of Arab diplomatic sources, the best part of the Security Council resolution is that it marks taking the peace process back to the direct consideration of the council, hence "internationalising" the conflict. The US, Arab diplomats add, will remain the key sponsor of the peace process, but by involving the international community at a larger scale Arabs may secure more involved and honest US brokerage. "What the resolution does is to put the international community on record in believing in the irreversibility of the Annapolis process -- bilateral negotiations towards a two-state solution," Rice said during a joint press conference with other Quartet participants in New York. Speaking at the same press conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon stated: "We look forward to working closely, from the outset, with the administration of President-elect Obama to achieve the goal of a two-state solution and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace." For Ezzedine Choukri-Fishere, professor of international relations at the American University in Cairo, the basic positive point about the Quartet statement and the Security Council resolution is that their language embarks on a new discourse that is no longer hostage to the destructive idea that qualified Palestinians as "terrorists" and portrayed Israel as being in a perpetual state of self-defence. In fact, there is a clear recognition in the Quartet statement that the PA is making progress on issues related to security and that extremism is not exclusively Palestinian (the resolution refers to the extremism of settlers). "We have departed from the context where the Middle East peace process was approached from the perspective of the war on terror. This is a very important development that sets the stage for a new phase of engagement by the next US administration," Choukri-Fishere said. He added, "If we combine this new [discourse] with the fact that the UN Security Council decides to 'remain seized of the matter', then we get a new stage for a new beginning." Choukri-Fishere admits that developments to follow will not necessarily be easygoing. He acknowledges that Arabs have much work to do, especially in relation to securing Palestinian reconciliation, which was called for in the Quartet statement. He also referred to the need for all concerned parties to work on securing calm on the ground to allow for the positive and prompt engagement of the Obama administration. The New York meetings came against a backdrop of uncertainty over developments on the ground as Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal indicated that the truce between Hamas and Israel, due to expire on 19 December, may not be renewed in view of the frustration of Palestinians and factional leaders with continued Israeli violations of the terms of the truce, especially the harsh siege maintained on Gaza. The Quartet statement called for a prolonged truce between Hamas and Israel. Egyptian sources say that it is not enough for the international community -- as represented in the Quartet -- to call for the continuation of the truce. Steps to help maintain this truce are required, especially in relation to curbing Israeli intentions to launch major operations inside Gaza. "We would not be too surprised if the extension of the truce is put over to the inauguration of the new US administration, given that Hamas would want to send some positive signs to the Obama administration," commented an Egyptian source. Arab diplomats suggest that the whole matter of the Middle East peace process is likely to be put on hold for a few weeks until Obama enters the White House. According to some Arab diplomats, what happened in New York this week was "basically a ceremony to please Rice and to bid her goodbye". "The Bush administration wanted a show to indicate that its efforts on Middle East peace, even if not conclusive, were productive. But what exactly did they produce? Nobody knows," commented a Cairo-based Arab diplomat.
