The Annapolis pact: peace in the Middle East by the end of 2008
Annapolis. U.S. president George Bush, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert, agreed on a common goal to reach peace in the Middle East and create an independent Palestinian State by the end of 2008. At the opening of the Annapolis conference, president Bush read a pledge from the three leaders: “We express our determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples; to usher in a new era of peace, based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition; to propagate a culture of peace and nonviolence; to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis.” “We agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception, as specified in previous agreements,” Mr Bush added, reading the joint statement. “We agree to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations and shall make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008.” The peace talks will start on December 12 and continue biweekly after that. After Mr Bush was done reading the last-minute agreement, the leaders shook each other’s hands and posed for a symbolic picture. The US president then read his speech, in which he said it was the right time to relaunch the Middle East peace talks. “First, the time is right because Palestinians and Israelis have leaders who are determined to achieve peace,” Mr Bush said. “Second, the time is right because a battle is under way for the future of the Middle East and we must not cede victory to the extremists. Third, the time is right because the world understands the urgency of supporting these negotiations.” “Today, Palestinians and Israelis each understand that helping the other to realize their aspirations is the key to realizing their own, and both require an independent, democratic, viable Palestinian state,” Mr Bush added. “Such a state will provide Palestinians with the chance to lead lives of freedom, purpose and dignity. And such a state will help provide Israelis with something they have been seeking for generations: to live in peace with their neighbors.” “We now begin the difficult work of freedom and peace”, Mr Bush added. The White House has spent a lot of time in the last few days to try to define what would be a successful outcome for the Annapolis conference. George Bush repeated that Annapolis was the start of the process. “Our purpose here in Annapolis is not to conclude an agreement. Rather, it is to launch negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians,” Bush said. “For the rest of us, our job is to encourage the parties in this effort and to give them the support they need to succeed.” In his speech, Mahmoud Abbas repeated some key Palestinian demands. “We need East Jerusalem to be our capital”, he said. Disagreements on core thorny issues such as Jerusalem and the questions of Palestinian refugees, have derailed previous peace talks. The three leaders pledged to tackle those issues but did not give any indication how they would do it. Mahmoud Abbas also asked Palestinians to trust him and promised that “future is coming”. “To my people, hours of distress will end in the face of your resolve and determination”, he added. Following Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also read a speech. He said he would have had many reasons not to come to Annapolis but also said he came “to extend on behalf of the Israeli people and of the State of Israel a hand in peace”. He also challenged the Arab states “to end the boycott and alienation toward the state of Israel”. Afif Safieh, representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Washington, is happy about the outcome of Annapolis. “Only optimistic people can make history, he said during a gathering with reporters during the conference. As former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing would say, we must help History to make the right choice”. According to him, “America is starting to bypass its self-asserted diplomatic impotence”. “I am often bored as Palestinian diplomat and I understand you can be skeptical about the future round of negotiations, he told the reporters. What is new is that president Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took the commitment with the world as their witness that on December 12 multi-layered negotiations on the core issues will start. I believe that the revitalization of the Quartet, the monitoring mechanisms and the renewed engagement of the Americans, are encouraging signs”. Mark Regev, spokesman of the Israeli government, said there was still a “substantive gap” between the two camps but assured that the Bush administration had the confidence of both the Israelis and the Palestinians to tackle the thorniest issues. He also said that that the Palestinian State had to be “viable”. Tuesday night, U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice closed the conference by congratulating its participants. Mrs Rice spoke of “incredibly significant achievements” between Israelis and Palestinians but did not mention the last-minute compromise reached before the opening of the conference. Israelis and Palestinians had to to drop the paragraph mentioning the issues in the joint declaration read by Mr Bush in order to present a unified front. The U.S. State Secretary acknowledged that the issues such as the question of Palestinian refugees are “challenging”. “But difficult to resolve does not mean impossible to resolve.”, she concluded. “Failure is not an option”. Annapolis / Jean-Cosme Delaloye CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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