Comment at end
27th November, 2007
OVER BEFORE IT’S STARTED?
The Annapolis meeting has opened and you get the feeling it’s about to close with promises of getting started properly next month! It seems a long way to go and a lot of air miles just to show willing!
It started three hours or so ago, as I write, that is 09:00 EST, 14:00GMT. Annapolis is five hours behind us here in the UK, so by 00:30am tomorrow morning, Tuesday 28th, it’ll be all over.
The headline news is that “US President George W Bush has said the Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to make every effort to reach a peace agreement before the end of 2008″.
Hmm … mm
Perhaps there WILL be something more substantial to report later tonight. As I write we still have just over seven hours of talks to go.
Despite Syria’s dismissal of the conference, as already having “failed”, it has more to gain than most from this conference. As Iran’s ally it has to speak carefully on its participation at Annapolis. It achieves a long-sought opening with Washington, an end to its isolation among Arabs, and perhaps even movement on the Golan Heights.
U.S. officials are hoping the meeting could mark a start to moving Syria out of its alliance with Iran and the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups. But Syria is being cautious, probing how much it can get before it goes too far and strains its close ties with Iran.
Go here for further historical analysis: Syria’s gain, Iran’s loss?
President Bush video from Annapolis.
TIMETABLE:
ANNAPOLIS SCHEDULE
1400 GMT (0900 Washington time): Arrivals
1440-1530 GMT: Closed meeting between Bush, Olmert and Abbas
1600 GMT: Speeches by all three leaders
1700 GMT: Three sessions on international support, economic and institutional development and regional peace
0030 GMT: End of meeting press conference
More updates later if they haven’t all flown home by then.
From the BBC website:
US President George W Bush has said the Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to make every effort to reach a peace agreement before the end of 2008.
Bush’s vision: A viable Palestinian state at peace with Israel.
Opening a Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, he said formal negotiations to create a Palestinian state would begin next month. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the talks must include all final status issues. He said East Jerusalem should be the capital of a Palestinian state.
He also called for an end to the occupation of Palestinian lands seized in 1967 and a halt to the expansion of Jewish settlements in disputed lands.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is also at Annapolis as are senior Syrian and Saudi Arabian delegates.
Low expectations
Mr Bush said he wanted to find a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before he leaves office in early 2009.
In a speech to the diplomats and representatives from more than 40 countries and international organisations, Mr Bush said the goal of creating a Palestinian state to co-exist in peace alongside Israel would not be easy.
“Such a state will provide Palestinians with the chance to lead lives of freedom, purpose and dignity,” Mr Bush said.
“And such a state will help provide Israelis with something they have been seeking for generations: to live in peace with their neighbours.”
He said the first formal negotiating session would begin next month.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as well as Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad are in attendance.
Their presence is regarded as vital, but expectations of any substantial progress at the meetings at the naval academy in Annapolis remain low.
The Bush administration hopes that the meeting will act a catalyst for the first Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in seven years - a programme of meetings over the next year or so which will lead to a Palestinian state.
Before arriving in Annapolis, Prince Saud was quoted by Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper as saying that the Bush administration had promised the negotiations would be completed within a year.
Observers say the fact that the summit is being hosted by the US and has attracted the participation of Saudi Arabia and Syria, two Arab states that do not recognise Israel, is critical to chances for success.
Wider tensions
BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen in Washington says there are a number of issues that could scupper any chances of a deal - in particular the absence of Palestinian faction Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and Israel.
Hamas controls the internal affairs of the Gaza Strip and says it will not be bound by anything decided in Annapolis.
In Gaza on Tuesday thousands of people joined a rally protesting against the talks, many of them chanting “Abbas is a traitor” and “We will not recognise Israel”.
In the West Bank, one person was killed in a protest against the conference.
Palestinian security forces broke up several protests against the Annapolis gathering, including one in the town of Ramallah. One man was killed in Hebron, Palestinian medical officials said.
There was a further large protest in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
In Jerusalem, Israelis had gathered at the Western Wall on Monday to protest against the conference, with Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu labelling the meeting “a continuation of one-sided concessions”.
The wider tensions in the Middle East are also a concern, with many fearing that problems with Iraq, Iran and Lebanon could derail any peace process, our correspondent says.
The Annapolis talks also involve members of the Middle East Quartet, UN Security Council and G8 industrialised nations.
Our correspondent says that both Mr Abbas and Mr Olmert believe they are not going to get a better chance to forge a peace, in part because of their own political weakness and in part because of the way the Middle East is changing.
On Monday, Mr Olmert told reporters: “This time it’s different because we are going to have lots of participants in what I hope will launch a serious process of negotiations between us and the Palestinians.”
Mr Abbas said: “We have a great deal of hope that this conference will produce… expanded negotiations over all permanent-status issues that would lead to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian people.”
Go to the BBC website for further links and background reading.
Tags: annapolis, blair, bush, december meeting, donor conference, israel, middle east
November 27, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Heres hoping for the best. Though, the Middle East being…..the Middle East; I would definately lprepare for the worst.
Don’t let Iran play with nukes.
November 27, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Hi John,
Well, so far I’m not too impressed by the announcements. All that way to say ‘we hope to do something another time’. Still, that’s diplomacy. I expect the thinking is that just getting people to meet AT ALL is a start. Look in the other guy’s eyes, kind of stuff.
I wonder if the next step is to persuade one or two about including Hamas next time, or even persuading (or, on the other hand, isolating) Iran?