Doaa El-Bey covers Egypt's parliamentary elections which are almost upon us and the scepticism shared by many over another Israeli settlement freeze US attempts to persuade Israel to impose a 90-day freeze on settlement construction in return for political and military incentives were regarded by many writers as a setback to peace. Mohamed Hussein Al-Momani wrote that the settlement file has become a card in the hands of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to adjust the pace of negotiations or stop it altogether if he wishes. "If Netanyahu has good intentions and a genuine will to achieve historic peace, he would not have used the file to slow down the peace process," Al-Momani wrote in the independent Jordanian political daily Al-Ghad. The decision to end the previous freeze on settlement construction, though there was tangible development in the direct negotiations then, proved that Netanyahu was not serious in his quest for peace. However, the writer found another possible freeze and the return to the negotiating table worrying because the US is relying on progress via negotiations and the ability of the Palestinians and Israelis to reach a peace agreement that would pave the way to a halt to all settlement building and the establishment of a Palestinian state in 90 days. And that is a political adventure. The vagueness of the phase after the suggested 90- day freeze if the negotiations fail at the end of that period was another worrying factor to Al-Momani. On the other hand, a careful reading of the US incentives to Israel showed that the cards used by the Palestinians seemed to worry Israel. As a result, Tel Aviv is keener to guarantee US support in international forums in order to be able to confront any Palestinian attempt to get international recognition of a Palestinian state. And that is an important factor that should be systematically used as a card vis-à-vis Netanyahu's political procrastination, Al-Momani concluded. The editorial of the Qatari daily Al-Raya read that the decision of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to reject a resumption of the direct negotiations unless East Jerusalem is included in a decision to freeze settlement building is the least that could be done under the present difficult Palestinian and Arab situation. Abbas's decision, the editorial added, should be supported and built upon by the Palestinians and Arab states. "It is not logical to resume the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations while the latter is Judaising Palestinian lands on which the expected Palestinian independent and sovereign state will be established." However, it is clear that US efforts to resume negotiations did not aim to achieve a just and comprehensive peace. Linking US political and security support to Israeli to a one-off freeze on settlements for less than 90 days would harm the Palestinian cause and the prospects of peace in the region, the edit explained. Israel, which has practised political procrastination for the last two decades -- ever since the negotiations started -- will not recognise the rights of Palestinians or implement UN resolutions calling for the withdrawal from lands occupied in June 1967 and allow the return of Palestinian refugees, all in 90 days. Thus, the edit concluded by calling on Arab states to support the Palestinians in their new stand which is likely to face US pressure because it rejected a return to the negotiating table without a complete freeze on settlement building. They are also required to look for options that would guarantee the legitimate rights of the Palestinians. Omar Gifteli wrote that it was clear the latest US manoeuvring regarding the settlement issue left no shadow of a doubt that Washington had fully espoused the Israeli vision regarding the peace process and confirmed that Obama's pledges in his Cairo speech were mere pledges that would never see the light in light of a firm US policy that aims to please Israel. What the writer saw as disturbing in US policy was not that it is limiting the Palestinian issue to the settlement problem, but the fact that it is taking the principle of justice, law and UN resolutions lightly. "What consecutive racist Israeli governments have done and are still doing is simply criminal. Tel Aviv should be questioned and tried rather than being rewarded for these acts by more generous US financial, political and military support," Gifteli wrote in the Syrian political daily Tishreen. The latest US offer to Netanyahu, he added, is the best proof that the US disregards international laws: settlements for instance, is a violation of international law and Palestinian rights. In addition, Jerusalem has been an Arab, Islamic and Christian country for hundreds of years. It was part of the land occupied by Israel in June 1967 and the capital of the Palestinian state. How then could the US support an Israeli decision to exclude the city from a freeze on settlement building, Gifteli wondered. Khaled Al-Dakhil wrote that the US incentives to Israel and the Arab indifference to these incentives were causes of astonishment. The bunch of political and military incentives that the US decided to give to Tel Aviv in return for a 90-day halt to settlement building reconfirmed the line that every administration abides by in dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict. The US, he explained, did not look at the conflict as a process between two parties who both have rights and interests, but as a process in which the Palestinians and the Arabs are supposed to adapt to the political and cultural requirement of what the US considers the right of Israel to exist and to identify its security needs as a Middle Eastern state. He agreed with Gifteli that the incentives represented clear indifference to international law because settlement building on occupied lands is a violation of international law before it is a violation of Palestinians' rights. Al-Dakhil found Arab reaction to America's continuous support for Israel even more astonishing. The Arab states insist on ignoring or belittling the danger of US indifference to Arab and Palestinian interests. Thus, Al-Dakhil reached the conclusion that the Palestinians should seriously consider options other than direct or indirect negotiations. The state of Arab weakness and consequent US indifference indicated that peace negotiations are useless. Negotiations should be stopped after they proved to be barren for the past 15 years, Al-Dakhil added in the London-based independent political daily Al-Hayat.
