Visit underlines US feebleness

One would have thought that a visit by President George W. Bush to Israel and the Occupied Territories would involve a major breakthrough in the stalled peace negotiations. If not a breakthrough, then an historic gesture, a landmark commitment, at least a promise that the daily hardships endured so visibly by the Palestinian people under occupation would end immediately. But we got none of that. If anything the presidential visit to the beleaguered Holy Land underlined the feebleness of US influence on the outcome of the negotiations. The so-called honest broker looked bemused, sometimes indifferent to the realities that millions of people on both side of the divide now face as a result of an entangled conflict.

The American president, making his first - and most likely his last - visit to the Palestinian territories failed to deliver one thing that the people of this region need most: hope. Yes he believed a peace treaty will be signed before he leaves office in less than a year, but on the ground the impediments to a just and durable peace were visible for all to see. Bush could not get an Israeli commitment to halt and dismantle Jewish colonies built on what would be the future Palestinian state. He could not even convince the Israelis to make a grand gesture to mark his visit, like prisoners release.

'Jewish state'

Instead he talked about the special relationship that his country has with Israel and about the latter's need to maintain its identity as a Jewish state. He did talk about colonies, which he saw as his motorcade sped unimpeded through barricades and fortifications from Occupied Jerusalem to Ramallah. But that was not the Palestinians had hoped to hear. They wanted more, obviously, as they repeated how colonies and the barrier wall have torn to pieces what is left of their homeland, now less than 20 per cent of historic Palestine.

Unlike the Palestinians, the Israelis were not looking for specific policy positions on colonies or anything that might, in their view, determine the course of negotiations. Bush has always been viewed as a friend of Israel, the man who shunned the late Yasser Arafat and abandoned the Palestinian National Authority when Israeli tanks stormed through its territories.

Bush talked about terrorism and held the PNA accountable to the firing of missiles from Gaza, where it has no control, against Israeli towns. There is no doubt that while the Israelis were happy with the president's visit, the Palestinians were not. Yes senior PNA officials talked about the symbolism of having received the president of the United States. But beyond that life for millions in the Occupied Territories will not change for the better as a result.

That is why a sombre mood prevailed while the president met with Mahmoud Abbas before being whisked away in a helicopter to tour the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. Cold and damp weather reflected Palestinian dejection. And that is why Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza marched to denounce the visit. For a president who committed himself to a two-state solution many years ago, a man whom many Palestinians see as having allowed their historic leader to endure three years in confinement - in the same place where he met with Arafat's successor a few days ago - before his mysterious demise, the Palestinians expected much more from Bush.

But then no one knows really why the American president became suddenly interested in bringing peace to the Holy Land in his final year in office. It's such a big task, and if the United States was really focused on concluding this mission, then why didn't it move sooner?

The answer is simple really. The Palestinians know, in fact the Arabs, the Europeans and the entire world know, that Washington is so biased in favour of Israel, there is no way that a just and comprehensive peace deal will ever be reached in the near future. But why make a move now?

Few successes

The Bush presidency has seen its Middle East strategy crumble in many areas. In the fight against terrorism, it has scored few successes and suffered many defeats. Bush prepares to leave the While House while Osama Bin laden is still at large. The Iraq experiment has gone terribly wrong and America's image in the Arab and Muslim worlds is a nightmare for any public relations guru.

Meanwhile, Iran is as defiant as ever, if not more and Washington's foreign policy makers are facing challenges in Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the Sudan, while the Arab moderates are becoming increasingly frustrated.

With this in mind it is no wonder that the Bush team, especially Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, would turn to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in hope of scoring some wins for her boss. It's a legitimate motive but one that does not necessarily entail a good deal for the Palestinians, if any.

The fact of the matter is the US will take the gamble, even as pretence that it is in fact doing something noble for the sake of the region. But if the Palestinians, and the Arabs behind them, were hoping to see an aggressive Bush drawing lines in the sand for Israel on colonies and others, then they will be disappointed. The visit is over and the Holy Land remains both as troubled and volatile as ever.

Osama Al Sharif is a journalist based in Amman.