A Palestinian source has told Haaretz that there is still too much of a gulf between the positions of Israel and the Palestinians, who are currently working on a joint document ahead of a peace conference set for next Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland.
The sources says that in the draft, a copy of which has been obtained by Haaretz, the PLO’s opening stance in the Palestinian proposals is weak, and gives up on issues that were once presented as a counterweight to Israeli demands, such as combating terror. (Click here to view a copy of the document.)
Do download that document, it’s interesting to see how much has been left out, and I particularly like the final line, reproduced below.
Also note at the beginning, there’s gap in the line about who will support the document besides the US. With the Arab mini-summit going on right now, we’re about to see if the main Arab states will go into this even though no significant agreement has been reached. If Saudi Arabia says no, there will be a lot of pressure on Mubarak not to go. And the Israelis and Palestinians are bickering over whether to call the whole thing a “document” or “statement”!!!
Do you remember a few months ago, when the big issue was to lower expectations in advance of Annapolis?
Good source at state with long experience said in their view it’s all just another round of meaninglessness. People took about 5 seconds to not-very-seriously wonder if maybe it was real this time and quickly recognized yet again it was White House games. If Dennis Ross was never serious (and he wasn’t, not when it came to the real issues where he preferred to pretend that process alone was meaningful despite how it allowed Israel to keep on creating destructive facts on the ground), don’t expect Condi or Bush to be when their only concern is keeping a handful of dictators in the region lined up with them against Syria and Iran.