For The Love Of God, Where’s The Progress?
In Israel-Palestine, high-level peace efforts appear to be going nowhere. It has been two months since the international meeting took place in Annapolis to jumpstart negotiations but the general feeling “is that talks between Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia are taking place in an alternate universe.” (Haaretz) The meetings are irregular and, to most observers, far too infrequent. Livni and Qureia are meeting only once a week, while Olmert and Abbas talk merely once every two weeks. Nor does either side have proper negotiating teams (Israel has only five people involved, for instance) and the discussions have been criticized for being conducted largely in secret.
Both sides have come under fire for their failure to make any visible headway. Haaretz reports one Knesset member as saying: “This is not what a serious negotiation looks like. Where are the negotiating teams? Weekly meetings will not lead to an agreement even in 20 years.” Furthermore, it is not clear, given the fragility of Olmert’s government, whether any agreement reached could actually be carried out. The Israeli Shas Party, a key political partner, has indicated that it will leave Olmert’s coalition if talks lead to a division of Jerusalem.
Not much to hope for in the near future, I’m afraid.
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DLS
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Slamfu
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Don Quijote
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