Rice meets Abbas as the road map to peace lies in tatters

What the Hell is Condoleezza Rice doing in the Middle East? We are told she is there to "re-energise the Road Map".

The Road Map?

This, you will remember, was Bush's plan unveiled in the Rose Garden on 24 June 2002 promising a Palestinian state by 2005. It called on the Palestinians to enact democratic reforms and called for the Israelis to cease settlement building.

Of course, when the Palestinians elected Hamas the US and the EU decided to punish the people of Palestine for making a democratic choice that they disagreed with and immediately imposed a harsh regime of sanctions that have resulted in government employees whose wages have been unpaid for months and have led to such food shortages that Palestinians have been forced scavenge for food on rubbish dumps.

Indeed, since the kidnap of Gilad Shalit (remember him?) the Israelis have initiated a bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip that has killed hundreds of civilians that continues to this day although it is largely unreported in the national press.

Indeed, Israel continues to hold most of the Palestinian government in Israeli jails.

Besides all this, Israel have - since Bush announced his Road Map - decided to build their security wall which steals Palestinian land making a mockery of Bush's demand that Israel cease settlement building. And actual settlement building has continued apace anyway, despite Bush's demands.

On top of this, we have recently had the US supporting the Israeli war against the people of Lebanon and the civilian population of Gaza.

It is, to say the least, a very strange time for Condi to be waltzing into the Middle East to re-energise the Road Map. It is very hard to believe that her motives will be greeted as genuine.

Ms Rice, who was lectured on Tuesday by the leaders of Egypt and Saudi Arabia about the link between the Palestinian conflict and others in the Middle East, acknowledged Palestinian hardship after talks with President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. "I told the President we are very concerned, of course, about the humanitarian conditions," she said. "I said we would redouble our efforts to improve conditions for the Palestinian people."

But she gave no sign of any softening in the administration's stance that could lead to the lifting of the international economic sanctions aimed at forcing the Islamic Hamas government to recognise Israel and renounce violence.

So Condi has arrived in the region with nothing to offer. No lifting of sanctions, no appeals for the Israeli bombardment of Gaza to stop, no calls for the release of their leaders who have been imprisoned by the Israelis.

Indeed, nothing other than the statement, "I said we would redouble our efforts to improve conditions for the Palestinian people", which is a sick joke as she is refusing to lift the sanctions that are causing the people so much pain in the first place.

I am finding it very hard to work out what the Hell she is actually doing there.

The Hamas Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, was scathing about her visit, saying she "cares only to rearrange this region and to rearrange the Palestinian scene in a way that serves the American and Israeli agenda."

The American viewpoint is so seriously skewed in Israel's favour that they have actually become an impediment to any chance of peace in the region. Her visit is worse than a waste of time, it is an insult.

If they seriously want peace in the region they should hand control of the negotiations over to the Europeans, the Russians and the Chinese. As long as people like Condi are in charge, the memory of their disgraceful backing of Israel's campaign against the civilian populations of Lebanon and Gaza will mean that no-one will take their intervention seriously.

Nor should they. The US search for "peace in the Middle East" is nothing less than a very bad joke.

THE ROAD MAP TO NOWHERE

Four years after George Bush unveiled his Middle East plan, Condoleezza Rice arrived to find peace as far away as ever

The road-map promise

Palestinian "terror infrastructure" to be dismantled and "visible efforts" made to arrest attackers of Israelis.

What happened

Suicide bombings against Israelis continue despite publication of the road map, backed by George Bush. Israel begins building "separation barrier", which is condemned as an illegal land grab. Palestinian government undermined by Israel, which targets militants.

The promise

Israel to freeze all settlement activity and dismantle illegal outposts.

What happened

Some illegal outposts are dismantled although settlers return. Governments of Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert forge ahead with settlement blocs on occupied land in the West Bank. Unilateral Israeli moves have created new "facts on the ground" which will complicate future final status negotiations on a two-state solution.

The promise

"Free, fair and open" elections to be held in Palestinian territories.

What happened

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is elected in January 2005. But rival Hamas wins 2006 elections. Abbas's authority is irreparably weakened, and talks with Hamas on coalition government break down.

The promise

Creation of an independent Palestinian state with provisional borders in 2003.

What happened

Unilateral pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank is completed in September 2005. But Gaza subjected to economic blockade and military incursions continue. Ehud Olmert unveils unilateral separation plan, which threatens to leave the separation barrier as a new border.

The promise

Two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians, to be achieved by 2005, to lead to comprehensive peace.

What happened

Israel launches full-scale war in July after Hizbollah militia in Lebanon, allied to Syria and Iran, capture two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border incursion.

Click title for full article.

tag: Condi, Rice, withdrawal, pull-out, Israel, Palestine, Road Map, Lebanon, Gilad Shalit, , United, States, Bush