The meeting today in New York between President Barack Obama, President Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reflects the American President's insistence upon holding a tripartite meeting. Nonetheless, it should not be considered to be the start of the negotiations between the Palestinian National Authority and the Israeli government. In this regard, President Obama badly needs this meeting because otherwise, he would have to admit that his efforts in what concerns the Palestinian-Israeli conflict since last January went all in vain. Meanwhile, Abu Mazen had only accepted to take part in the meeting because of U.S. pressure, and because he also needs to ensure that he has continuing American support. As such, he had no choice, but I heard him say in Paris two weeks ago that if the American side insisted upon holding the meeting, then he will attend, and present the Palestinian point of view. It will then end at that, because most definitely, he will not engage in any negotiations unless the settlements come to a complete halt. There can be no resolution to the conflict with Netanyahu in power, even if the settlements are to be stopped, as he may freeze their construction for six months, or claim to have done so while construction carries on, with emphasis on East Jerusalem where settlers are active in purely Palestinian neighbourhoods such as the neighbourhood of al-Sheikh Jarrah. In fact, Netanyahu's government is still dreaming of the Greater Israel, a dream that will only end in the destruction of the current state of Israel. This is because the prospect of not reaching a solution will mean that Israel will one day face a terrorist attack with weapons of mass destruction, whether by al-Qaeda or other similar organizations, for which the people of the entire region will pay the price. The Arab stance, meanwhile, is solid. This is a rare occurrence, and so is the fact that there is a consensus on the need to stop all settlement activities as a condition to engage in negotiations, while there is a parallel determination to not offer any compromises or incentives to Israel in return for a settlement freeze. Netanyahu will not stop the settlements, however, and is a professional impostor whose words carry little to no credibility; the Israeli newspapers yesterday were even congratulating themselves for his [Netanyahu's] steadfastness in front of Obama. When the Obama administration started demanding that Arabs launch initiatives of goodwill toward Israel, the Saudi Foreign Minister His Royal Highness Prince Saud al-Faysal rejected this demand, and declared that normalization will only follow the signing of a peace treaty and the establishment of a Palestinian state, and not before. Also, His Royal Highness Prince Turki al-Faysal, the former Saudi intelligence chief, wrote an article after that in the New York Times. In this article, he said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible before the Arab and Islamic worlds, and that the Kingdom cannot deal with Israel until the illegal occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and the Shebaa Farms ends. Moreover, Prince Turki, a former ambassador to London and Washington, stressed that Arabs will not give any incentives to Israel for it to withdraw from lands that it does not have any rights to in the first place. Following this, 240 members of Congress sent a letter to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia demanding it to take “dramatic steps” towards Israel. The Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubeir then responded by saying that gradual steps, or provisional initiatives to built confidence will not succeed. What is required instead are full scale negotiations which start with the issues of the final status but that do not end there, and which should include the issues of border demarcation, Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees. Then came the celebrations of Laylat al-Qadr [the 27th of Ramadan], where President Hosni Mubarak gave a speech in which he said that the time has come to end the suffering of the Palestinian people, and that this people's cause is the key to peace and security in the Middle East. He also said that the hearts of Muslims will remain drawn to Jerusalem and to the Aqsa Mosque. I believe it quite likely that the Arab position remains firm for lack of any other options, and my personal conviction in this regard is that there can be no peace with Netanyahu's terrorist and criminal government, and that all attempts by Obama who is truly trying to achieve what 11 presidents before him failed to do, will be thwarted. Of course, Israel is the main cause behind this, because the successive governments there do not want peace. However, the other cause is the American Congress itself, which the Israeli lobby has bought and placed under its control. As such, both houses of Congress have almost unanimously voiced their support for the war on Lebanon in 2006, and the war on Gaza earlier this year. In fact, the senators and representatives in the Congress are still working for Israel: before the above-mentioned letter, AIPAC had collected 329 signatures in the House, and 76 in the Senate for a letter sent by Israel's elected agents to President Obama last May, and which demands that he works directly and closely with Israel. Also, 56 members of Congress visited Israel during their summer recess last month. These members of Congress are accomplices in all Israel crimes against the Palestinians, and are a true obstacle to peace as much as the Netanyahu government is. Thus, the meeting in New York today is nothing but a photo opportunity – no more, no less.
