Real change in US policy needed

Stop me if you've heard this one before. & "This is the most critical year ever for Palestinian-Israeli diplomacy. & If we don't get diplomacy back on track soon, it will be the end of the two-state solution."

This statement with which Thomas Friedman has opened one of his articles in the New York Times may be the best concise description of what has become of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Friedman, however, hastens to add, "I've heard that line almost every year for the last 20, and I've never bought it. Well, today, I'm buying it. We're getting perilously close to closing the window on a two-state solution, because the two chief window-closers - Hamas in Gaza and the fanatical Jewish colonists in the West Bank - have been in the driving seats."

Despite the 'non-creative chaos' that the Palestinian cause is passing through today at the hands of its leaders and at Israeli leaders' hands, there is an urgent need for Palestinian unity.

As Obama's administration has shown a serious interest in the Middle East, it must also be sensitive to the fact that, before thinking of making peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis, its first step should be helping in making peace between the Palestinians themselves, because Hamas is a major player in any Palestinian peacemaking deal. Friedman's article concludes the second task for the US, Israel and the Arab states is finding a way of 'bringing Hamas into a Palestinian unity government'.

This is also the line of thinking of many Western and Israeli politicians and writers including Stephen Cohen, who has argued that, in the long run, "Israel's interests lie in assuring the presence of a Palestinian negotiation partner, who has enough legal status among his people to be able to sign deals and execute them. In the absence of Hamas from the Palestinian decisionmaking process, there shall be no meaning for any Israeli-Palestinian peace process".

US President Barack Obama has declared he will work on solving all problems in the Middle East. US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has explained the new administration cannot postpone matters and it will work on a regional approach on the basis of a two-state solution.

This has caused people in the region to feel at ease, particularly after George Mitchell has been entrusted with tackling the issue.

Mitchell is well known for his report to former president Bill Clinton on Al Aqsa Intifada, a report that has been rated as highly unbiased.

Having called on the Palestinians to bring an end to their "terrorist" attacks, Mitchell also called upon the Israelis to bring an end to their colony-building activities. The insistent question, however, is whether Mitchell will be successful in his delicate task?

One may find the answer in a declaration made by former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni "that Mitchell will not offer new American viewpoints and will not try to enforce new policies upon Israel".

One, therefore, may be apprehensive about the possibility the American policy may not change. Still, one cannot ignore the change in that policy in line with Obama's declared policy regarding world issues.

This means the world will soon get to know the new policy may not give priority to Israel vis-à-vis the rest of other states in the region. It may call for a revival of the 'Arab Peace Initiative' and may also stop looking at Hamas from the angle of being nothing but a 'terrorist' movement.

Indeed, the new US policy in the region started when the Obama administration declared its involvement with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Such a declaration is reminiscent of James Baker and Henry Kissinger, who had made numerous trips between Tel Aviv and the Arab capitals trying to solve the problem.

In a recent article published in Le Figaro, Pierre Rousselin says: "It is obvious boycotting Hamas and besieging Gaza has begotten no solution nor has it weakened this movement. The question is how to negotiate with a movement that is associated with terrorism and does not have a good relationship with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The possible solution lies in the Egyptian initiative that calls for a national unity government. At this stage, it is imperative for the new [US] administration to follow up with the efforts exerted on the basis of the Egyptian initiative and to urge all Palestinian parties to adopt it."

He adds: "When the Makkah Accords were signed in 2007 between Hamas and the PNA, the US, with the purpose of ruining all exerted efforts, refrained from its role and responsibility. This resulted in Hamas imposing, at gunpoint, its hegemony over the whole of the Gaza Strip. This time, the US will be able to take a responsible stand. Mitchell is going there carrying with him the new face of the White House. It is the commencement of a new important historical period..."

To wind up, one cannot find a better word than the epilogue of Friedman's article giving a piece of advice to the Obama administration: "So, just to recap: It's five to midnight and before the clock strikes 12 all we need to do is rebuild Fatah, merge it with Hamas, elect an Israeli government that can freeze colonies, court Syria and engage Iran - while preventing it from going nuclear - just so we can get the parties to start talking. Whoever lines up all the pieces of this diplomatic Rubik's Cube deserves two Nobel Prizes."

Professor As'ad Abdul Rahman is the Chairman of the Palestinian Encyclopedia.