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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met in Jerusalem on 30 March with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad

Barak, Rice and Fayyad met. This is how a Palestinian joke would begin these days. Unfortunately, this week, it was a real story. The joke, however, remains. Even a superficial examination of the results of the highly publicized meeting highlights the glaring gaps and the serious problematic that arises.

The statements by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice—who is visiting the region this week—and the State Department stressed the importance of what they referred to as “quality of life and the security of ordinary people on both sides,” as a step in implementing the Roadmap. These steps include, primarily, the removal of roadblocks, improvements in checkpoint infrastructures, redeployment of Palestinian Authority security forces and expansion of their responsibilities and steps to promote economic developments.

Most Palestinians feel cynical about these statements. Past experience proves that despite repeated statements by the Israeli government about “improvements in life quality” or “loosening restrictions” on checkpoints, reality on the ground hardly changes and, if anything, everyday life has taken a turn for the worst. There is no reason to believe that things will be different this time.

Moreover, even if these pledges were to be fully implemented, they barely scratch the surface of the moves necessary to make a genuine difference, and are far from dealing with the real issues needed to achieve a just peace. How significant can the removal of 50 roadblocks be when there exist 539 illegal roadblocks dissecting the West Bank (OCHAoPT report, 11.7.07) and hindering movement between Palestinian towns and villages? And what about the complete siege of the Gaza Strip? The continuing construction of the Apartheid Wall on Palestinian lands? The ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements? Despite past Israeli commitments, new construction projects have been repeatedly authorized in the Palestinian territories, in addition to expansion of the existing 161 settlements and 96 outposts throughout the West Bank. These settlements, illegal under international law, not only take over Palestinian land and resources, but render unviable any future Palestinian state or economy.  The pledges coming out of this latest meeting almost completely ignore such critical issues.

The responsibilities and equipment being pledged for Palestinian security forces also have a limited effect in improving the quality of life for ordinary Palestinians.  These moves fail to guarantee the security of Palestinians, as Israel still de-facto maintains control over all Palestinian areas. One hundred and sixty-four Palestinian were killed and nearly 500 injured since the beginning of 2008. The recent meeting and pledges fail to offer any guarantees to end Israeli attacks on Palestinian areas, and Palestinian security forces are there only to further implement Israeli security policies.

The economic moves promised also fall short of improving the life of ordinary Palestinians. These include advancing the establishment of two industrial zones and increasing the number of laborers allowed to work in Israel by 5,000, in addition to easing restrictions on the movement of businessmen and enabling an economic conference to be held in Bethlehem in May. These moves fail to address some of the major issues hindering the development of Palestinian economy, namely the absolute Israeli control of Palestinian resources and over the movement of people and merchandise within Palestinian territories and between them and the outside world.

Most importantly, however, this meeting failed to address the core issues in the negotiations: borders, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and water. These issues, of central importance to the achievement of a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis, are being postponed in order to weaken Palestinian demands. By failing to implement a freezing of settlements, as demanded by the Road Map which is ostensibly the basis of the Annapolis process, Israel is encouraged to continue encroaching on Palestinian rights. By establishing facts on the ground, Israel seeks to impose a situation in which Palestinians will be pushed to agree, once again, to a far from satisfactory agreement during the final status negotiations.