Daily Star Editorial - The Daily Star, 18 November 2006
 
 
BEIRUT - It is too soon to know whether the Middle East has received an early Christmas gift in the form of a workable peace initiative for Palestine and Israel, but the three wise men who have proposed it deserve credit for focusing world attention on the region`s most intractable problem. The five-point plan unveiled by Spanish Premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, French President Jacques Chirac and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi is only the latest of several recent attempts on the part of international leaders to breathe new life into a moribund peace process. Shortly after the end of the war in Lebanon this summer, Qatar launched a fresh push for a return to peace negotiations, and Doha`s move was followed by the Arab League`s renewed commitment to a Saudi-penned peace initiative. Then British Prime Minister Tony Blair renewed his calls for a resolution to the conflict, telling a U.S. panel that any solution to the problems in Iraq must come as part of a broader strategy for regional peace.

In fact the only major world leader who has not yet jumped on the peace bandwagon is U.S. President George W. Bush. The American president has vowed to see the creation of a Palestinian state before he leaves office, but he has so far done very little to accomplish that objective.

Bush`s absence from the peace drive is made up for, however, by the presence of a growing number of international leaders who are recognizing the benefits of securing an agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis. The participation of these leaders makes the prospects for a return to negotiations look less bleak, even as the killing rages on in Gaza.

Another cause for optimism is the re-emergence of European diplomacy on the global stage. Throughout Bush`s first term, Europe`s diplomatic role in the Middle East was eclipsed by a heavy-handed and hawkish American foreign policy. But difficulties in Iraq, along with other failures in foreign policy, have forced a rethink of U.S. strategies in the region and have made it necessary for the president to adopt a more cooperative stance toward his allies across the Atlantic. Bush`s manoeuvring room has diminished even further now that many of his fellow party members have been voted out of Congress. The time is ripe for the Europeans to take the lead in reviving the peace process.

Now that European leaders have put the peace process at the top of their agenda, it is all the more urgent for the Palestinians to complete the formation of their unity government. The first task of the newly appointed Palestinian premier ought to be to visit Europe for talks with Zapatero, Chirac, Prodi and Blair.

There is no guarantee that the newly launched European peace blueprint will bear any fruit. Indeed, the Israelis, who have scuttled several peace initiatives in the past, have already flatly rejected the European proposal. But an emerging international consensus on the urgent need for a peace agreement could provide the necessary momentum to finally rid ourselves of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which has for far too long been a source of regional instability.

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This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews)